{"id":444,"date":"2017-11-22T15:33:54","date_gmt":"2017-11-22T23:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trailblazerseo.com\/?p=444"},"modified":"2023-06-01T10:59:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T18:59:06","slug":"cannabis-delivery-seo-dispensaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trailblazerseo.com\/cannabis-delivery-seo-dispensaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannabis Delivery SEO vs. Dispensary SEO: What\u2019s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In many ways, performing SEO for cannabis delivery services is the same as performing them for a dispensary. You build links, make your site user friendly, and market content that builds relevance and authority.<\/p>\n
However, performing SEO for a marijuana delivery service also has its own unique set of challenges that less sophisticated SEOs overlook, or otherwise aren\u2019t equipped to solve. While a dispensary can always rely on foot traffic and visibility from a good location, it can be harder for a delivery service to grow a customer base without a good online marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
Without further ado, here are four huge SEO problems for cannabis delivery services and how you can solve them.<\/p>\n
Even if you deliver marijuana to 10 different cities, it\u2019s hard to rank outside of your hometown.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s rare when Google\u2019s map pack shows any business outside of the city you specify in your search\u2014or the city you\u2019re searching from. That doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re searching for a cannabis delivery service or a carpet cleaner.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s not always fair to business owners, it can make sense for users. A lot of service area businesses are time sensitive (think \u201cChinese delivery near me\u201d) so it doesn\u2019t make sense to recommend a better business that is located two cities away unless they\u2019re much, much better.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s only so much Google can access and trust reviews on Yelp, Weedmaps, and other sites like them, but Google reviews are another story.<\/p>\n
In a nutshell, Google uses those reviews to see:<\/p>\n
If you consistently get more and better reviews than the next three dispensaries combined, Google is a lot more likely to show your business in both your hometown and nearby cities. Just make sure you\u2019ve specified a business area that includes them.<\/p>\n
Getting more and better links than your competitors can have a similar effect. Links remain one of the strongest quality signals in SEO, and getting links from major sources (like High Times) can show that your delivery service is the real deal.<\/p>\n
If you need help getting more Google reviews, consider using a tool like this google review direct link generator<\/a> to make the job a little easier.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re located in Oakland but you want to rank in a nearby city like Berkeley, you should start by getting more reviews from clients who live and work in Berkeley. If you have more reviews from Berkeley than any other dispensary in Oakland, Google will have reason to believe that you offer something unique that Berkeley residents appreciate, whatever it is. If they happen to mention Berkeley in their review itself, that will have an even bigger impact.<\/p>\n Along the same lines, getting more links from websites, organizations, and companies that are already relevant to your target city can also dramatically bost your local SEO there:<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty typical for service area businesses to publish a page for each city in their service area, but be careful. If you make the mistake of publishing several pages that are basically interchangeable, you\u2019ll risk getting hit with one of Google\u2019s doorway page penalties<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can avoid this issue by creating pages full of content that is completely unique to each city. If you\u2019re building a page for Berkeley, consider adding:<\/p>\n One of the quickest ways to get the attention of potential customers in Berkeley is to publish content that is uniquely specific to Berkeley. I\u2019m talking about blog posts like:<\/p>\n You can also publish content that appeals to the greater area:<\/p>\n As your blog posts attract clicks, readers, and links, this can also help your city pages and local listing show up in more areas outside of your hometown.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to remember that all of your content doesn\u2019t have to directly involve cannabis. As long as it\u2019s a subject that your target customers will want to read, you\u2019re comfortable with writing about it, and it hasn\u2019t already been done to death by other websites, go for it!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re like most marijuana delivery services, you probably don\u2019t want your address to be public knowledge. Unfortuantely, it can be easy to accidentally include your address on one public profile, which then spreads like wildfire through other websites<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first step is to verify your business and in Google my Business and choose \u201cmy business delivers goods & services to customers within this area:\u201d. Then, be sure not to also tick the checkbox for \u201cI also serve customers at my business address.\u201d This will make you eligible for Google\u2019s map pack, but without showing a pin for your business or displaying your address.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This step sounds simple, but it trips up business owners all the time.<\/p>\n Signing up for Localeze and Acxiom, either directly or through a location management service, will let you push your business information to a wide range of directories without revealing your address. This willl help keep your business data straight across those platforms, boosting your local SEO.<\/p>\n You can also use a citation building service like Brightlocal<\/a> to help you claim and update listings that show your address.<\/p>\nStrategy 2: Get more reviews from your target city<\/h3>\n
Strategy 3: Get more links from your target city<\/h3>\n
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Strategy 4: Publish city pages<\/h3>\n
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Strategy 5: Publish locally-relevant content<\/h3>\n
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Challenge 2: Hiding your address can be tricky<\/h2>\n
Strategy 1: Hide your address in Google My Business<\/h3>\n
Strategy 2: Use aggregators that let you hide your address<\/h3>\n
Strategy 3: learn to use advanced search operators to hunt down rogue listings<\/h3>\n