SEO for CBD Companies

The CBD industry has been growing rapidly in the last few years. The global CBD market was valued at USD 2.8 billion in 2020, with the trend expected to grow. The demand for cannabis products is mainly due to the belief that it has many health and wellness properties. Besides that, CBD legalization in many US states and around the world is a major factor boosting the production of CBD products.

As more and more CBD companies are established, so is the competition. If you have been running an online business for some time now, you know how challenging it is to get website traffic and generate leads. The case isn’t different for CBD companies.

You need to invest in cannabis search engine optimization (SEO) to get the most out of your CBD company.  An excellent cannabis SEO strategy will help improve your search engine rankings and rank high in relevant search results. In this article, we look at how to develop an excellent CBD SEO strategy for CBD companies. Read on!

What is SEO, and Why Does it Matter for CBD Companies?

Like anything else, people start with a Google search when looking for a CBD company or CBD products. Gone are the days when people relied on yellow page listings and newspaper ads when searching for a company in your area. If you want people to find your CBD company when searching for CBD brands, you need to consider SEO for CBD companies.

SEO is a technique to help improve your search engine ranking. In other words, SEO is a way to help your target audience find your website online.

SEO is a vital component of any effective digital marketing strategy. Google and other search engines have algorithms that determine where to rank a website on search engine results. More specifically, Google ranks more relevant websites higher on search results.

With the many CBD companies, you need a powerful cannabis SEO marketing strategy to stand out from the crowd. Without a proper SEO plan, it is easy to get lost in the sea of CBD content. To that end, here’s why you need SEO for your CBD company:

Establish Brand Awareness

Following the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, many CBD companies have been established. Today, it is not uncommon to see banners advertising CBD products when driving down the street in various states. The case isn’t different in the online world as it is common to see many CBD websites and stores marketing and selling CBD products. From health food stores to hand salons to gas stations-everyone is trying hard to get their share of the growing CBD market.

Since cannabis has been illegal for a long time, there’s little information about its use, benefits, and side effects. Besides, several cannabis variations are used to make CBD oils and tinctures, which determine the product’s effects on users. Educating your customers about CBD should be part of your CBD marketing strategy. SEO will help get your content indexed and ranked on top of search results for your customers to see.

Good cannabis SEO and a good website design make it possible for customers to find your content online. It helps increase inbound organic traffic and improve your rankings on search results.

Prove Legitimacy

Your CBD is not just a selling platform: It is more of a marketing place. There’s a special place for websites that appear on top of search results, especially those that achieve this organically.

To get the top spot on Google, you need to create and publish high-quality and relevant CBD content that answers questions your target audience may have. If people find your content valuable, they will stay longer on your website, click through your content, and most likely share your content, improving your domain authority.

 

Generate More Leads

Good SEO is an excellent source of leads for your CBD company. Strategies like content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, and other inbound marketing strategies will give you a special place in the minds of your audience. It will lead to more leads and ultimately increase your conversion rates.

How to Create the Best CBD SEO Strategy

Now that you know what cannabis SEO is and why it matters for your CBD company, let’s look at developing an effective SEO strategy. The following SEO tips will help get your CBD content indexed and ranked on Google even if you have a low domain authority (DA):

Define Your Niche in the CBD Industry

With the many CBD companies out there, you need to find ways to distinguish yourself. While there’s nothing you’ll do that has never been done before, you can always find ways to do it differently.

For example, you can target a specific audience, let’s say, those struggling with anxiety or a specific type of product such as CBD for acid reflux. The idea is to offer something that will help your brand stand out from other CBD companies.

Defining your niche is one thing; you need to find ways to create relevant and useful content to populate your website. The best way to achieve this is to create a website to publish content related to your niche.

For example, assuming your niche is wellness, write about how CBD oil can help people exercise better. Of course, you need to ensure that your content is backed with research and follows Google requirements to avoid being flagged.

When you create great content, you’ll attract people to your site, increasing your chances of making sales.

Find Relevant Keywords

Now that you know your niche, the next step is to research relevant keywords that can help you rank in search results. The only way your website can appear on search results when people make a search related to your niche is to choose the right keywords. Keyword tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush will help relevant terms to use on your pages to rank on relevant search results.

For better results, we recommend focusing on long-tail keywords like CBD oil for anxiety, CBD oil for pain, CBD oil for dogs, among other phrases. Unlike short phrases, long-tail keywords will help your business get more qualified leads. People who use long-tail keywords are looking for specific results, and using these terms on your website will put you on top of their results.

However, avoid overusing these keywords on your site. Gone are the days when using keywords many times on your site could guarantee the top spot on search results. Avoid keyword stuffing but rather integrate the keywords carefully into your site to improve your rankings and get more qualified traffic.

Optimize Meta Tags to Improve Your Ranking on Search Results

You can’t have a successful SEO strategy if you ignore title tags and Meta descriptions. Meta descriptions refer to the short excerpt about the content that users see alongside a URL when they search any term on Google.

That’s why you need to incorporate your keywords in your Meta tags to make it easier for people to find your company or products when searching for related results. Remember, not everyone searching for CBD is interested in your type of product or service. Ensure to include relevant keywords in your title tags and Meta descriptions to ensure you only attract relevant customers.

Include Sitemap in Your CBD SEO Strategy

The benefits of an updated XML Sitemap cannot be overstated. As such, you should make it part of your CBD SEO strategy. XML Sitemap allows search engines like Google to read the pages of a website to determine where to rank them in relevant search results.

However, it is worth noting that Google will only index your pages if it finds them, crawls them, and finds them worth indexing. When you submit an XML sitemap, you show Google that those pages are valuable and worth indexing.

Using a sitemap helps speed up the indexing process for your CBD company, even if you have a low DA. This way, it will take a shorter time to rank your website for relevant keywords.

Develop a Robust Internal Link Building Strategy

Having an internal linking strategy is an excellent way to give crawlers more avenues to crawl your website. Internal linking involves incorporating links within your website – links that lead to other pages in your website.

However, when incorporating internal links, you need to do it naturally. That means only including links to other relevant content on your website.

You can also improve the SEO ranking for your CBD company through backlinks or including links from authority sources leading to your website. The more authority links leading to your website, the more chances of ranking higher in search results.

The best way to get links from other high-ranking sources is to create high-quality and valuable CBD content and share it regularly. Other industry players will notice your work and will be happy to reference it.

Optimize Your Local Presence

Local presence is crucial when it comes to SEO for CBD. After all, many people search for local CBD brands, and only those who have optimized their local presence will benefit from this traffic. To that end, here’s how to optimize your local presence:

Set Up Your Google My Business Listing

The first step to optimizing your presence is to set up your Google My Business listing. Claiming your local listing makes it possible for people to find your business in local searches. However, claiming your listing is only the beginning; you need to verify your name, address, and phone number. 

Once you verify these details, add other important information about your business, including a link to your website, hours of operation, business photos, etc., to give your audience more information about your business.

Google takes into account three factors when ranking local listings:

• Relevance. The more relevant your ad is to the search results, the higher Google will rank your business.
• Distance. Google prioritizes businesses near the searcher’s location.
• Prominence. Well-known businesses (both offline and online) will rank higher on local search results.

That said, ensure that you have added detailed and accurate information to give users and Google the correct information about your business. 

 

Optimize for Local Keywords

You’ll also want to use local keywords for Google My Business SEO. Local keywords are keywords associated with a location. This can include:

• Best CBD oil in Los Angeles
• CBD companies in Los Angeles
• CBD companies in California

Once you optimize for local keywords, your CBD company will appear in local searches and local listings. Ultimately, this means more traffic for your CBD company.

Take Advantage of the New URL Inspection Feature

Every developer should have Google Search Console (GSC) in their SEO toolbox. Among other things, GSC helps get a clear idea of how your website is performing in Google organic search results.

The URL inspection tool is among the core features of Google Search Console. Ideally, the URL inspection tool helps test live URLs to understand their accessibility and indexability. This is an important tool to include in your CBD SEO marketing strategy as it helps inspect web pages and fix SEO issues.

Don’t Ignore Content Marketing

Your CBD SEO marketing strategy won’t be complete without content marketing. Creating content about your industry and sharing it with your audience will help enhance your SEO efforts.

The cannabis industry is still evolving. Both users and business owners alike are looking for information about cannabis. You can position yourself as an authority in your niche by creating informative and unique CBD content. Your content can take different formats, including:

• Blogs
• eBooks
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Infographics

When creating your content, ensure that it is valuable and provides answers to your audience’s questions. The catch is to consider user intent when crafting your content to ensure that your information is valuable.

Also, you need to publish your content more often and ensure your content is up-to-date. Consider creating a content calendar to guide you when creating, editing, and publishing your content.

Share Your CBD Content on Social Media Platforms

Creating high-quality content is one thing; you need to ensure that people get to see it. Social media marketing has skyrocketed in the last few years, meaning it offers an excellent place to share your CBD content.

Once you create new CBD blog posts, share them on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to get clicks and shares. Social media engagement could also contribute to an increase in relevant and qualified traffic to your website.

Of course, social shares don’t translate to higher ranking, but it puts your content in front of many people, which can help build brand loyalty and quality backlinks.

Work with a Reputable CBD Marketing Agency

SEO isn’t for the faint-hearted. Without excellent digital marketing and SEO skills, you won’t implement the above cannabis SEO tips to rank higher on search results. Besides being a complex process, different advertising platforms have stricter regulations regarding CBD marketing and advertising than other industries.

As such, you need to work with SEOs that understand the ins and outs of cannabis SEO marketing. A reputable CBD SEO agency will help create an excellent CBD SEO strategy (with your ideal customers in mind) to help boost your rankings on search results.

But with the many CBD SEO agencies out there, you need to ensure that you choose the right one for your business. The catch is to choose an agency with a proven track record of helping cannabis companies rank better on search results, and that can help you find your brand voice.

Ready to Get Started with CBD SEO Today? We Can Help

Developing an excellent CBD SEO strategy requires time and effort. If you don’t have what it takes to create an effective CBD SEO marketing campaign, we’re here to help. We have a dedicated team of SEOs and content marketers to help develop a custom SEO plan for your cannabis business. Ready to get started? Reach out to us today by filling the contact form below.