12 May A guide to Local SEO for Cannabis Startups
Local SEO is a big term, if you are based in Dublin, Ireland you might need to target north or south of the river, if in Toronto, Canada maybe a key district like Queen West or maybe a suburb of the GTA. In the US state based sales are more relevant than the Canadian or Irish provinces. There is a lot to think about with the term local. SEO is best seen as a benchmark for quality rather than a defined process. How search engines grade and rank your site has a lot of crossover with site speed, readability, quality of your prose, your understanding of HTML as a medium and also now accessibility.
Where to start?
TLD (Top Level Domains) Domains Only!
With every online or offline advertising venture stage one is domains. ‘If you don’t own your .com you are not a real brand’, this is a truism, a fact! Do not let local marketeers and ametures convince you to buy a .ca, .ie or .co.uk if another person owns that .com.
No longer can folks just invent a brand name. They must first see what .com domain is available, there is no exception to this, to start on a .ie or .co.uk only domain is a foundation of sinking sand for your soon to be web empire.
Google My Business
If I was to use only one social/listings website/software it would be Google’s. They unfairly add this product to the search engine, so this is as of 2021 the best return on investment for any new business. Whether a virtual or bricks and mortar store getting your pin on the map is important. GreenGraded has lots of experience both creating and managing these profiles. In the CBD industry there are many issues that traditional businesses do not face. From user defacement, fake reviews and so one. We average 5 stars on all our business, not a single review less than 5 stars is allowed. We have had multiple bad/confused reviews, 100% we have converted to happy customers. This is more than SEO this is quality, but equally if SEO is seen as a quality bench mark even packaging and postage stamps can be used to inspire confidence and trust in your brand.