Race to the Top: The Crucial Google Ranking Factors Your Cannabis SEO Strategy Must Include

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good morning everyone good afternoon if you're joining us from the East Coast we'll wait for another minute or so to allow other attendees to join our webinar and we'll be right back with you thank you so much wonderful we'll be getting underway now with our webinar thank you so much once again for taking the time out of your day to Jo join us we're really excited to be sharing some more crucial information for your business here today we're going to be covering SEO this is a topic that is beyond confusing for a lot of people in part because it is a practice that requires an entire team of experts it's not just a single person's job search engine optimization does have a significant impact in the overall business bottom line especially for any digital business out there because it contri contributes to most of our customers that do effectively run an SEO campaign over 70% of their e-commerce business so really excited about this webinar today and we're going to be getting underway now so for today's agenda we're going to be covering why local SEO so important the top ranking factors to help get you that top spot and how to implement aing SEO strategy for cannabis and fast a little bit about myself my name is Eduardo Silva I will be your host for today's webinar I have around 18 years of marketing and sales experience and I'm really really excited to bring that to this industry and to our customers a little bit about foot traffic so foot traffic is a dig digital marketing and digital advertising firm and we have been focusing solely in the Cannabis space for now five years we're really really excited to be partner with such uh great customers and the customers ultimately the end of the day are the ones who built foot traffic by giving us such great feedback and helping us understand exactly what the market was needing before getting other way we always like to take a brief pause and get ready for this webinar we are like every webinar going to be covering a lot of content so first and foremost if you have those cell phones with you we absolutely love cell phones because they are the foundation for digital advertisement but we ask you you put those cell phones face down on your desk for just this webinar we're going to be covering a lot of content once again if you are joining us through the zoom interface uh we appreciate that because we do have a Q&A button uh so if you go to the dialogue box that you see on your screen for Zoom there's a Q&A button there we do have panelist live here that we'll be answering questions throughout the webinar so do not um be shy ask any questions in that Q&A panel and you will get an immediate answer so thank you very much for that and then finally be sure to stick around we always like to offer an enticing offer at the end of the webinar for those who are attending live so thank you once again for taking the time out of your day and let's make this a really productive of 30 minutes of your day let's Jump Right In so let's do a quick overview of the basics here SEO stands for search engine optimization which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results organic search traffic is unpaid traffic that comes from Google so when customers want to find a dispens near them they turn to search and Google in particular and if you want to show up for those search results then it's crucial that you have a robust SEO strategy and a team to implement that strategy for you otherwise Searchers will go right to your competition why because they will be easier to find SEO is all about findability it shows that your website is relevant for particular keywords for us that may be Boston dispensary the Troy provisioning Center or Sacramento marijuana delivery optimizing your site around these keyword makes it more likely that people who are looking for your services and products can find you and start shopping with you when you want a a good search engine optimization strategy two things will happen one you will show up higher in search results and two you will get more organic traffic when you rank better in Google it helps create brand trust and Authority much like a FICO score for your credit rating people automatically equate High rankings with quality and your ranking will rub off on your Brand Plus because Searchers rarely look past the first page of results your higher ranking will lead to more organic traffic in fact the top three results of a search tend to get 75% of all organic traffic the lower you are on the search results the less traffic you will get now organic traffic is one of the most Dependable sources of web traffic and revenue for many businesses and it's not just just any web traffic thanks to the optimization portion of SEO it is relevant high quality traffic these are people who are already interested in what you're selling and what you buy from you not every click will lead to a sale but many of them will if you want to capture those potential customers you need to create a local SEO strategy that helps you dominate that local market local SEO is similar to what I just talked about however the focus is geographically centered around the area of your dispensary and what it serves if your dispensary is in La you don't need to show up when someone is looking for a dispensary near them in San Diego it's vital that you show up to that party right when somebody's searching for the product and when somebody's in La trying to find a place to shop for cannabis so how is this different from regular SEO well the ranking factors for local SEO are a bit different while all of the regular SEO factors like keyword optimization backlinks page speed and mobile responsiv still matter there are other signals that Google looks for when deciding how to rank sites now Google doesn't disclose how its algorithm Works instead we have to rely on testing sites and sharing best practices to see what impacts ranking sites like M or bright local can also help us understand the local SEO rank factors though I want you mention that while those sites offer a variety of services they don't really work with dispensaries and aren't aware of the various challenges that cannabis companies face since foot traffic has only worked with cannabis companies since we started offering SEO Services over five years ago we found ways to to unsurmounted to help our clients get notice and rank well we want to do the same for you so let's jump into the overview of how crucial local ranking factors um so that you can see everything that goes into a winning local SEO strategy these are the factors you will want to focus on to get into the local pack which is the box of suggested nearby businesses on a local search the number one local SEO ranking factor that you need to concern yourself with is Google my business if you haven't claimed your free profile you need to do that the moment this webinar is over this is the most crucial factor for getting found and driving traffic to your store or website now this makes sense right if someone is running a search on Google and most people are about 93% of them to be exact then of course Google is going to look at the information they themselves collect on businesses and rely on that first when creating your gmbb profile make sure to use the actual name of your dispensary and then follow it with the word dispensary for example rise would be rise dispensary do not add it don't not add the name of your city or try to stuff your name in the keywords it it doesn't work that way make sure that your name address and phone number are correct and that they are the same as they appear on your website you should also create a description of your location that includes a relevant keywords the type of products you carry and and anything that helps set your dispensary apart enter accurate business hours and keep them up to date this is especially crucial right now during covid you want people to know when you're open and how they can get to your products if you're only offering curbside pickup right now mention that in the description so that potential customers know to order head don't forget about holiday hours as well as special events if your hours ever change even temporarily make sure to update it on your listing not only is this a best practice for Google but it's also an important business practice in general Google also allows you to post pictures to your gmbb listing pictures help to tell a story about your dispensary and of course customers enjoy being able to check out the dispensary before they visit so you know make sure to upload some photos that help show off your location the second most important factor for getting into the local pack is your reviews last week we focused on review and reputation management in our webinar so you can find that at foot. me weinar and we'll post that link here in the chat window for you ultimately Google wants to send people to the websites that best match their search intent part of this is ensuring they have a positive experience there to do this they rely on what others have already said to rank well on Google you will want to get at least one new review a day and score a 4.7 star average fewer Stars will result in fewer sales customers take reviews into account when making a purchase so this isn't just about SEO it helps you on two RS because we're talking about SEO Google reviews are the most valuable while other reviews are helpful when customers are shopping around when it comes to SEO Google is King to get reviews you will want to make sure your butt tenders are asking your customers for them after a positive experience you can also create Flyers with a QR code to place them in a bag or re-engage customers with that SMS to ask for a Google review in terms of reputation management you should check out your reviews regularly and respond to both positive and negative reviews if you don't have a reputation management system in place it's time to implement one this includes regularly checking your reviews and responding to both positive and negative reviews and yes we can help with that so just schedule a call with us at foot. meall and we'll put that link here on on the chat window as well Factor number three onpage optimization onpage ranking factors can have a big impact on your Page's ability to rank when it comes to local SEO many marketers mistakenly Overlook the developing a Content strategy that's a huge Miss opportunity developing a Content marketing strategy that targets your local keywords can be surprisingly beneficial unique highquality local content will attract inbound links boosting your rankings in the process and you will definitely differentiate your dispensary from your competition keyword should appear in both headings and content and your content should be relevant to the keywords you're using for cannabis you can create content around your products the plant the local area and more and remain relevant crucial Search terms this helps improve your site Authority and shows Google that you know what you're talking about for example if you go to your our website you will see Pages for each of the services that we actually carry and we offer and you will also find many of that directly on our blog posts related to the services or the client's interests there are a few different types of contents you can create of course you have your web pages like your location page that clearly shows where your dispensary is and show and should be optimized for your city or neighborhood but you can also create pillar pages and blog posts to help increase your Authority and strengthen the likelihood that your site will rank for those keywords all of the content on your website should have title tags alt tags and Mana descript as well URLs should be structured so they follow a hierarchy including category and title and are easy to understand content should contain internal links to other relevant content and external links to useful content Factor number four is links this is also known as scoring back links or doing link building creating a link building strategy will help showcase the relevance and authority of your website according to whitespark link signals account for about 31% of organic ranking factors and 15% of Google's local pack ranking factors so you cannot ignore it when people link to your site they're essentially endorsing you those links help to build site Authority they tell Google that people like your content and that it's relevant the best way to get back links is to create good content have you heard the word content through this presentation yes content that people want to share via social media or even on their own blog post by showcasing your knowledge of the industry and of cannabis in general you can create content that people want to link to you can also get Des post or relevant sites to help build your links as well another way to get links to your sites is by ensuring you're listed in directories like Yelp weed maps and leaf Le and by speaking or presenting at cannabis events and conferences the quality of the links also matter of course while you want many links they should be from relevant sites or individuals as their domain Authority helps increase the value of your links plus the text that they use to link to you known as the anchor text should be relevant to the content that's being linked to since Google's inspection link signals have been the foundation of Google's algorithm creating the in executing a link building strategy should play a key role in your SEO strategy Factor number five for getting into a local pack is behavioral signals Google considers how your customers and prospective customers interact with your site these are behavioral signals that clue Google into whether your site is meeting Searchers needs they can also be known as ux signals user interface signals in other words to improve your site's behavioral signals there are six metrics you should pay attention to one click through rate this is the frequency with which people click your links in search for compared to competitors right the more people clicking through the more relevant your page appears to search engines number two bounce rate this is how often people arrive at your page from search results and leaving immediately a high bounce rate indicates that your content isn't relevant resulting in a lower ranking time on page the time that a visitor spends on a page after clicking on its listing on a Sur and before a coming back to a search result if people browse your site and find Value they will stay for longer images content quality and page optimization are instrumental in helping users consume more content number four mobile click to call Google interprets a call from a mobile search result page to be a clear signal of relevance according to search uh to research by Google more than 40% of mobile Searchers use click to call number five directions to business clicks search engines figure that if people travel to your business right after finding it in a search the business must be trustworthy so how can you affect these signals by creating content that your target audience wants to read you can keep people on your page for longer make sure to provide content in a accessible format and make it easy easier and easy to skim also with a logical site hierarchy you can make it easier for people to find the pages they want ultimately you want your site to be user friendly so that people enjoy using it and come back time and time again Factor number six is citations citations are verified listings of your Dispensary on online sites including cannabis Direct dories local directories review sites social media and other businesses there are hundreds of sites that your dispensary can be listed on thanks to syndication you don't have to manually enter your information on every one of these sites plus we can do this for you it's important that your name address and phone number are consistent across the board the more times Google crawls your information the better it is for your SEO however listings with inconsistent information can negatively impact your SEO in addition to citation consistency you will want to make sure that your citations are relevant for example if your dispensary is listed on a local business directory site travel sites or cannabis director these are all relevant to your business and will'll give you a boost with with Google however listings on irrelevant sites won't do anything to boost your SEO and if they are consistent or or considered spammy sites they can negatively affect your site the authority of the site can also impact you 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 newspapers reputable local directories all have high Authority and will benefit your SEO efforts Factor number seven when it comes to ranking is in the local pack is personalization personalization refers to largely factors beyond your control for example a user's browsing history location and cookies all influence how you may rank let's say consumer does a search on their iPhone for cannabis directory near me and they're a block away from your dispensary the chances that your dispensary will rank high improve greatly compared to a consumer located 20 miles away who searches on dispensary near me you can control other personalization factors for example Google values sites that are secure mobile friendly and load quickly these are part of the user's experience and Google wants it its users to have a good experience so if you're lacking in any of those areas your SEO will neg be negatively affected it seems like everyone is on social media these days and Google has definitely noticed it social signals may not help much with ranking in your local pack but they can help with Organic search so I wanted to mention them as well currently social signals like Facebook Instagram and Twitter engagement don't play play a huge role in your rankings however that doesn't mean you should ignore it your performance on social media provides social proof to both Google and potential customers plus if you do social media well you're going to attract more customers here are the key social signals you should monitor engagement rate how many views likes comments retweets you're getting mentions how often are people mentioning your dispensary number of reviews how many reviews do you have on social media sites like Facebook and Company bio is your dispensary bio complete on all social media sites knowing these factors is one thing implementing change to impact your rankings is another so how can you quickly improve your SEO strategy the first part of our process helps us as establish our strategy to boost our client ranking we run an SEO audit on the website and also to keyword research to determine how a site should be optimized from there we move on to the site itself depending on the results of the audit we either optimize the existing site or create a new site for our clients that is highly optimized right from the start next we start to work on off-site factors like Google my business link building and citations throughout this process we're constantly measuring the effectiveness of our efforts and adjusting the strategy as necessary to ensure the best possible result this isn't a fast process it's interactive and the improvements happen over time you will start seeing improved results and more sales as we continue in the cycle of optimization everyone wants to get to the top of Google it's valuable real estate but not many people want to do the hard work to get there those top three search results on Google get 75% of the clicks by creating a robust SEO strategy you can start moving your website up the ranks and get more customers to your site and here at foot traffic it is in our blood it's the first service we offered and it's the one we continue to drive the most sales for our customers in fact our SEO provides our customers with the greatest return on investment in comparison to all of the other digital advertisement strategies it comprises more than 65% in average of our customers bottom line of course we all want to know when we can start seeing the Returns on the investment and let's be clear SEO is an investment and just like any other investment it takes some time to mature during the 30 the first 45 days is about the initial optimization and building of a site we want to build trust and Authority so that Google views your site as a reliable source of information and point Searchers to it between three to six months you can start seeing improvements your ranking we offer reporting on and are consistently measuring all of our efforts so that you can make adjustments as necessary to continue to improve and maintain those rankings once you've hit the six-month Mark you can more easily um start seeing the results of your SEO efforts we will continue to focus on growth and capturing more of the actual Market to increase your sales while working on capturing the relevant keywords as well now SEO is not a set it and forget it practice when you stop investing in SEO you will still get organic traffic but you will let lesson over time plus you will be more susceptible to page rank drops when there are there's no uh algorithm updates and or Google launches a new change which they just scheduled it for early 2021 and have already begun we have already begun to boost for our clients's website so that they don't face any surprises once Google switches things up in 2021 don't let this algorithm change mess with your Revenue make sure that you have a robust SEO strategy in place and monitor the ranking changes and protect your website I do want to mention that if you want fast results you should combine Google ads with your SEO that way while you are building authority and increasing your ranking you're also driving traffic to your website but securing that top ad spot so too many dispens don't realize that SEO is crucial for getting found in potential customers to help you get started with this valuable service we're offering a special deal for the rest of the month if you schedule a call with us now foot tr. mecall the link that's in the chat box you will get $200 off your first month of SEO not only will you we help you make your website easier to find but our SEO strategies also make your website more user family it's truly a win-win now I will turn uh over to our guests for one question and then we'll be closing off our meeting for today any questions from our audience what are the most important channels to focus on great question Google is King Focus solely on this search engine for the greatest market share and opportunity to win your business I want to thank everybody once again for joining us we really appreciate your time uh do get in touch with us happy to answer any other questions you may have Offline that is more specific to your business thank you so much for sticking around we hope you enjoyed the content we've put together for you today have a great day ]