Get Found: List Your Dispensary On These Directories to Boost Visibility

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good morning or good afternoon if you're joining us from the east coast thank you so much once again for taking the time out of your morning or afternoon to join us here at foot traffic for our weekly webinar we're going to be with you in just under one minute just allowing for the other participants to join in we'll be right back wonderful good morning and good afternoon once again we're going to get underway here with our webinar for um this Thursday thank you once again for taking the time out of your day to join us today's webinar is a continuation of our series on SEO and the big factor surrounding what and how you can boost your visibility across the internet to drive more revenue and customers today's webinar we're going to be covering listing your Dispensary on directories to boost visibility improve local SEO and reach more customers so for our agenda in today's webinar we're going to be covering how listings improve visibility and trustworthiness where your dispensary needs to show up in order to be seen and how quickly you can get multiple listings under your belt a little bit about myself your host for today my name is Eduardo Silva I have approximately 19 years of sales and marketing experience have worked in several different Industries and I'm really really excited to be part of this growing and thriving industry of cannabis thank you once again for partaking in our webinar series a little bit about foot traffic foot traffic is a dispensary digital advertising agency with over five years experience in this industry we got our start in Southern California doing exactly what we're talking about today which is search engine optimization as well as advertising for the medicinal industry prior to the um legalization here in California today we have customers across all of North America and we're really really excited to be helping every single one of our customers achieve more Market penetration and finding new customers as the industry continues to scale let's Get Ready for today's webinar I always like to take a moment to cover a couple housekeeping items before we get started we absolutely adore cell phones because we are marketing however for the brief period that we're going to be partaking in this webinar I ask you to put those C phones face down so we can limit the amount of distraction as we're going to be covering a lot of content in a very short period of time also take a moment to familiarize yourself with the zoom interface there should be a dialogue box in the top of your screen if you are joining us from Zoom and live with us is penales which are able to answer your questions in real time so do find that Q&A button to ask any questions you may have in addition do stick around uh until the end of the webinar we do have a special offer for those attending us today on the webinar we're going to be sharing those at the end of the webinar along with Q&A so let's get started having your dispensary website listed on site like Leaf Leo we maps and of course Google my business makes it easier for customers to find you but that's not all they also provide Google with important information that helps it learn more about your dispenser directory listings are considered citations and Google scans these listings to boost its database and when Google crawls a directory it updates the information it has and adds new information to its existing indexes Google is consistently learning and updating this information and additional information that he acquires by frequently crawling directory sites for more data now Google's Innovative right they don't just crawl the information on listing sites depending on the listing site Google May recognize that he has has a backlink to your site or consider it a endorsement of your expertise both of these can also help with how your page ranks on Google and boost your SEO so how does this work listing can impact your SEO in two ways first citations are considered to be a part of Google search algorithm now we can't know for sure how much impact they have because Google's algorithm is in fact the secret sauce they don't share this with anyone however SEO Specialists are constantly testing different actions and metrics to see what kind of impact they will have on their site clients search rankings these tests have shown that yes citations or directory listens can boost SEO it's not a top ranking Factor by by any means but when you are in a crowded space like the Cannabis industry every ranking Factor becomes crucial for climbing up the search results and scoring more customers directories can offer more than citations as well some offer the option for customers to leave reviews and others will like to actually link back to you so you get the SEO benefits of a backlink like I mentioned before reviews and backlinks are also SEO ranking factors which makes these directories listings even more valuable for your business when you combine your citations with your other SEO efforts you can really see how he supports your overall goal remember SEO is all about driving relevant organic traffic to your website and having more links pointed to your site especially from relevant industry specific or local directory sites can give you the Boost you need to increase your customer base and revenue plus because Google's grabbing information from these websites they are learning more about you they can see that you have the three important characteristics that they look for expertise authoritativeness and trustworthiness basically the more of Google's check boxes that you can tip the better off and that's exactly what directory listings can help you do it's not just Google that uses decides by the way consumers rely on directories for contact information and reviews one of the most frustrating things for a consumer is inaccurate information no one wants to deal with the wrong phone number when they try to call a business or a bad link to a website but unfortunately this happens all the time on directory sites and what you do to this will definitely impact those customers experience and if they can't find a correct information guess what they will go elsewhere according to brigh local citations trust report 68% of C customers said that they would go elsewhere in if they found incorrect information on a directory listing why because it makes your business seem unreliable let's talk about getting listed getting on all of the right sites can be exhausting and I'll be honest there are a lot of listing sites that your dispenser should be on and if you want to reap the benefits of these citations you want to consider them so how can you get started with this daunting task first put together all of your business information this includes your name address phone number hours of operation etc etc into a simple spreadsheet so that you can simply copy and paste this information across directories online this will help ensure you are consistent and you are entering the right information this is crucial and your business name address phone number and website should be consistent across all of the directories you are listed on the more times Google crawls your information the better it is for your SEO however listing with inconsistent information will negatively impact your SEO that's the opposite of what you want when making your spreadsheet check your spelling you do not want any types some spreadsheets don't have spell check so verify everything before posting it anywhere every business listing you create should share your dispensaries name address phone number and website at a minimum wherever possible you should also offer additional information that helps set you apart from the competition for example sharing photos and deals that can help entice customers to stop by or to visit your website to learn more about your dispensary take a moment to get the relevant digital images and put them in an easy to find folder so you can access them quickly the images you choose should help showcase what it's like to visit your store get at least one photo from the outside of your store and one from the inside as well once you have these handy think about how you can describe your dispensary in a few lines what is your unique value proposition how do you position yourself in the market I will talk more about creating a good profile in a little bit but you can add these into your spreadsheet as well now we've talked a little bit about Google already and now we're we going to talk yet a lot more because Google is just so important and Google my business is even more important for your SEO so this is going to be the most important listing you can claim Google my business if you do a search for a business near you the first thing that's going to pop up is that business's Google my business listing on a desktop you will see it on the right hand side with buttons for visiting the website getting directions and calling that business on a mobile phone it takes up the entire screen it is completely in your face and he offers a lot of information so you need to make sure that yours is claimed and filled out correctly I cannot overstate this this is the number one ranking factor for local SEO so do not forget to claim your gmbb profile to get the most from your gmbb profile you will want to create an SEO friendly profile description and upload some optimized images to Showcase your dispensary you will also want you engage in reputation management your gmv profile has a space for reviews and Google will use those reviews as one of its ranking factors make sure you are consistently getting new reviews and that you are responding to the reviews as you get them we recently did a webinar about reputation management and you can check it out on our website it's one of the SEO strategies that we offer for all of our clients you should also keep your hours up to date on your profile and check on it regularly if you aren't getting conversions uh from the button on your profile consider changing um changing up your business description to encourage more people people to visit you also make sure that your images are attractive and inviting when it comes to cannabis industry Giants weed maps and Leafly Remains the top of the directory listings weed maps offers the opportunity to reach a large audience across the country they have multiple service offerings Beyond listings including ads and software as a service it is possible to list your dispensary for free on weed maps but if you want to take advantage of other companies um and other services if you will from weed maps you will need to pay them cost varies by region and may be impacted by how PR crowded a particular Market is to get listed on weed maps you will need to scroll to the bottom of the site to find a link you will also need to provide your information so a weed maps representative can contact you now we Maps is more than just a dispensary listing sites but for the purposes of this webinar we just want you focus on this aspect of their service Leafly offers dispensaries the chance to get their profile in front of millions of users each month that's total users not just users in your area to be clear you can list your dispensary for free on Leafly as well however if you want to rank higher on their search you will will need to pay for that visibility lethally charges dispensary different prices based on where the dispensary is located as well as how crowded that area is so for example if you're in the LA Market you could end up paying upwards to $20,000 a month for the top spot on leafl now this can be helpful when first starting out your dispensary so you can get started drawing people to your website but if you you already established though you may be wiser to invest in SEO Google ads or mobile banner ads to reach new customers after all not all cannabis users use Leafly but just about all users use Google Leafly doesn't just share dispensary info with its user it works as a sort of portal users are able to share reviews about strains and products on their site as well and they can also review The dispensary's Experience to get listed on Leafly you will also need to provide them with your contact information you can get started by scrolling to the bottom of the Leafly homepage follow the prompts from there let's move on to other directories there are plenty of cannabis specific directories Across the Nation some may have smaller audiences right now but you never know which will be the next weed maps or leafy it's still valuable to be featured on them regardless of their foot print though if you are low on time you should prioritize those that are most popular to get the skilled team like foot traffic to do all of these listings for you here are 11 popular directories you should be listed on 420 portal all Bud Canam Maps dispensaries.com Urban Planet IE Bud tender Kush tourist M Mary Jane National cannabis review pot guide and weeky Leaf now you can always find a list of these um listings directories by rewatching this webinar later today and or reaching out to us for happy to provide them now there are plenty more industry directories that you can list on your site on we actually offered this as part of our SEO service which I'll talk about a little bit later to get listed you will want to reference the spreadsheet you set up with all of your info and then visit each individual site to put in your contact information some directories may require that you confirm your info or even speak to one of their representatives it can take a while to get these listings created in addition to the prep time you will need to access every website directory you would like to join ENT identify their requirements and submit your application and profile also many directors have a lag time between when you apply to be on them and when they actually let you submit your information we find that it can actually take up to four business days in order for this approval process to to to be complete now you don't just have to focus on cannabis sites in fact you really shouldn't because we want you impact your local SEO and you'll want you also consider any relevant local directories that you can be listed on these vary by area but let's cover some broad categories to help you get started review and travel sites Yelp is one of the most popular review sites still because many Shoppers like to read reviews before visiting a new dispensary it's a useful site to be listed on so claim your profile and make sure to respond to any reviews you receive there also check out popular travel sites to see if you can get listed there as well spec especially if you can create an unique experience and offer recreational Cannabis so business groups is also very important if you have any local business groups in your area take a look look at whether it's worth your while to become a member and be listed under directory some groups help create events to drive more foot traffic to local shops and focus on beautification efforts both of which can benefit your dispensary the same goes for your chamber of commerce Chambers offer different benefits to members like help with health insurance plans which can really be great for a one store dispensary plus they can also help you with networking uh with other local business in the area so you can actually create a collaboration for events and other future deals that you want to house medical directories if you are a medical dispensary look for regional or local directories for alternative medicine providers and Integrative Medical medical providers and pharmacies as well if there are certification centers near you check to see if they will list you on their side as a preferred medical marijuana dispensary many local papers offer even event listings and other business listings on their sites as well and some of these you can actually join for free or host educational events cannabis is really popular around so there's a good chance they will add your dispensary to one of their directories if you ask to be added libraries and Social Service Service Groups if you offer educational opportunities and free events check if your local library system if they actually offer uh listings as well some libraries keep lists of free educational resources for the community it's a great way to expand your reach and a future new customers and seniors also in the population if you offer discount for veterans or seniors why not contact organizations in your area that serve those communities they may be able to actually list your site as part of their resources for their community members really the sky is the limit here and that's really what we're trying to get at get your stuff your staff in uh all of these different locations and get the ideas rolling let's talk about what these listings should look like some listing sites allow you to create profiles on about you page if available you should take this option and carefully write a profile that showcases why someone should visit your shop you want to share what sets you apart from the competition including any amenities or anything someone would need to know when visiting your shop for the first time are you handicap accessible do you have parking on site is there an ATM in store for example if you have ongoing deals mention those twoo for example if you offer 10% to Veterans or firsttime customers put that in your profile only focus on ongoing deals you don't want to list your specials that are constantly rotating your profile should also answer the following questions where is your dispensary and how can someone get there when are you open and what do you offer how can people make an appointment or ask a question what's your menu and how do people order when creating listings on different sites you want to monitor the following three factors citation consistency relevance and Authority as we mentioned it's important that your data is consistent across all sites if you have different addresses or different phone numbers on different sites he send Google a negative signal your citation should be relevant to your business for example if your dispensary is listed on local business directory travel sites or even better cannabis directory these are all relevant uh to your business and will give you a boost with Google however listings on irrelevant sites for example a weather website won't do anything to boost your SEO and if the directory uh you are listing on is consider considered spammy they could actually negatively impact you from an SEO perspective trusted high quality High Authority sites will benefit your SEO far more than low quality low Authority sites sites like Leafly weed maps Yelp local newspaper our reputable local directories all have high Authority and will benefit your SEO long term speaking of SEO local SEO is crucial for getting found by people who are actually ready to shop at your dispensary by creating a dispensary listing strategy you can increase your citation signals and improve your page rankings with a great local SEO strategy you can even get into the covered local pack which is the top three businesses that Google highlights first during a local search search is vital part of any business strategy whether we are looking for a great place to order takeout from or trying to find a perfect gift many of us turn straight to Google we've given the search giant a lot of power more than 90% of Searchers are using Google so we need to focus our efforts on attracting qualified traffic from those searches if you want to increase your market share and get your website and dispensary in front of more potential customers then you need to implement a local SEO strategy that includes directory listings visibility is everything if you aren't showing up near the top of the search results then many potential customers aren't even going to know you exist to get the maximum amount of organic traffic to your website and boost your online sales you want to be on the top three results our local SEO service can help you start climbing up the results chain and increase your search traffic I do want to mention that you are not going to see the results overnight by implementing your local SEO strategy if you wen't um turning to all of these webinars for a lot of SEO knowledge and your long-term gain it's important to get started now in addition it's not instant like Google ads you can actually take a few months to start seeing the results of your effort and of course you can combine it with Google ads to get the best of both worlds SEO is one of the most important marketing Investments you can make but unfortunately it's also one of the most misunderstood essentially SEO makes it easier to find you when implementing SEO best practices though it also makes your website more userfriendly there is no downside to it and in fact thanks to foot traffic's Revenue attribution we know that it's the biggest Revenue driver for all of our customers so if you're ready to boost your Google rankings and get more people to your website let's get talking we are going to put a link here on the chat window or how you get in touch with us please do feel free to schedule a call with us let's get the conversation started and for attending the webinar today we're giving out a special 20% off for your first month to start your 3-month SEO plan get valuable insights into what you need to make to you to get your website more equipped and tailored for your customers locally we can create a plan that includes directory listings and quickly get you set up with over 50 directories plus we handle the writing we'll create the profile for you if you're interested in other SEO strategies like link building or reputation management we can add those to your SEO Strat as well check the link and let's get chatting chatting today um real quickly any questions from our audience thank you so much once again for joining us feel free to use the chat window here for any question as well wonderful question here should I choose weed maps or Leafly for unpaid listings it's worth to do actually both of them if you want to invest in in their paid Services then you will actually want to look at the kind of saturation they have in the particular Market that you're looking to get into so great question how many directories should I be on oh trick one so there is no hard true number here but we tend to aim for about 30 because we want our clients name to be out there and we want them to actually be found pretty easily so great question here wonderful I want to thank you uh for joining us for today's webinar once again we really appreciate it uh if you have any questions please do um get in touch with us uh we would be very very happy to answer any questions offline I know that there are um uh some questions popping up here that we were not able to get to please uh feel free to schedule a uh a call with us we're happy to take some of those questions offline as well thank you once again for your time ]