How to Do Keyword Research for Cannabis SEO

In the fast-growing cannabis industry, standing out online is crucial. This guide simplifies the process of keyword research for cannabis SEO, helping you attract more visitors and grow your business. Here’s a quick overview:

Competitive Analysis: Learn from the competition to find effective keywords and content ideas.
Keyword Research Tools: Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest to find high-traffic, low-competition keywords.
Analyze Keyword Intent: Understand what searchers really want to find the best content angles.
Prioritize Keywords: Focus on keywords with high search volume, low difficulty, and high relevance.
Build Keyword-Focused Content: Create content that answers your audience’s questions and matches their search intent.
Measure & Refine: Use tools like Google Analytics and rank tracking to adjust your strategy and find new opportunities.

By following these steps, you can improve your cannabis brand’s online visibility, connect with your audience, and stay ahead in this competitive market.

Why Keyword Research Matters

At its core, keyword research is about figuring out what words people use when they’re looking for stuff online. For cannabis businesses, it’s about finding the right words that potential customers are typing into search engines so they can be the first option that pops up. It’s all about matching your website’s content with what people are searching for. This way, you can show up higher in search results, get more people visiting your site, and hopefully, make more sales. It’s like finding the secret sauce that makes your website more visible and attractive to your audience.

Article Goals

This article aims to give you a clear guide on how to find those magic words (keywords) that will help your cannabis business shine online. We know promoting cannabis brands comes with its own set of challenges. So, we’ll share some smart ways to dig deep and find those golden keywords that can make a big difference. By using these tips, you can help your brand stand out, draw in more visitors, and get ahead in the competitive cannabis market.

Conduct Competitive Analysis

Looking at what other cannabis businesses do online can help you figure out good keywords and content ideas for your site. Here’s how to check out your competition and use what you learn to boost your own online presence.

Find Relevant Competitor Sites

Look up cannabis brands on sites like Leafly and Weedmaps to find 5-10 that are similar to yours.
Google things like "cannabis delivery service Los Angeles" to see which companies show up first. Make sure to look at these sites.
Pay attention to both big companies and smaller ones that sell the same kind of stuff as you.

Use Ahrefs for Backlink and Keyword Research

Get an Ahrefs account, either free or paid.
Put a competitor’s website address into Ahrefs to see which of their pages get a lot of visits, links, and show up in search results often.
Look for patterns in the keywords and types of content that seem to work well across different competitor sites.
Also, see how many other sites link to important pages on your competitors’ sites.

Check Google Search Console Data

Google sometimes lets you peek at other sites’ Search Console info.
Try searching for a competitor’s site like this: "sc site:domain.com".
If you find any data, it’ll show you what keywords people use to find them, how often their site shows up in searches, and more.
Combine this info with what you learned from Ahrefs.

By looking at what a bunch of different competitors are doing, you can get a clearer picture of what SEO strategies might work well for your cannabis business. Use this knowledge to pick topics, keywords, and plan how to get more links to your site.

Conduct Keyword Research

Finding the right keywords is super important if you want your website to show up when people search for stuff related to cannabis. It’s all about picking words that fit what people are looking for so they find your site. Here’s how to do it.

Google Ads Keyword Planner

Google Ads Keyword Planner is a tool that helps you see which words people search for a lot.

Type in some basic keywords to start and look for more ideas that pop up.
Skip keywords that don’t get searched much (under 1,000 times a month).
Pick keywords that have a good amount of searches and are something you can write about.

Choosing keywords based on how often they’re searched and how tough the competition is helps you focus on words that can actually bring people to your site.

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is a free tool that helps you find more specific keywords based on your main ones.

Put in your main keywords and check out the longer keyword suggestions it gives.
Aim for phrases that don’t have a lot of competition but still get searched a bunch.
See if any of the suggested keywords match what you already talk about or could talk about easily.

Going for these longer, more specific keywords might be an easier way to show up in searches without having to compete with the big names.

Google Autocomplete

Google Autocomplete shows you keyword ideas based on what people really search for.

Start typing in keywords related to your topic in Google and see what suggestions pop up.
Keep an eye out for questions and longer phrases that hint at what people want to know.
Add any good keywords to your list, especially ones that could answer common questions.

Using Google to see what people are searching for can help you find valuable keywords and ideas for what to write about.

Taking the time to really dig into keywords from different places gives you the info you need to make a good plan for your content and SEO strategy.

Analyze Keyword Intent

Group Keywords

When you’re looking up keywords for your cannabis website, it’s smart to organize them by theme. This shows you what people are really looking for. Here are a few types of keywords:

Products: These are about specific items like strains, edibles, or ways to use cannabis, such as "Gorilla Glue strain," "CBD gummies," or "vape pens." People typing these are usually thinking about buying.
Information Searches: General questions like "what is cannabis" or "benefits of cannabis" mean someone is just looking to learn more. These are more about giving information than selling something.
Local Searches: When someone adds a place to their search, like "cannabis delivery San Francisco," they’re looking for something nearby. This helps you focus on reaching local customers.
News / Trends: Keywords about laws, industry news, or trends. Group these to talk about what’s new or changing.

Putting keywords into groups like this helps you know what kind of content to make. You want to match what you write or sell with what people are searching for.

Evaluate Searcher Intent

It’s important to think about why someone is searching for something. Here’s what different searches might mean:

Informational: If someone looks up "cbd oil for pain" or "marijuana dispensaries hiring," they’re probably looking to learn something, not buy right away.
Commercial: Searches like "order weed online" or "best vaporizer under $100" show someone might be ready to buy.
Navigational: When people search for a specific name like "cookies dispensary" or "leafly strain explorer," they want to go straight to that site or page.

Knowing the reason behind a search helps you avoid targeting the wrong people. For example, you don’t want to use a learning-type keyword on a page where you’re selling something. Checking the intent behind searches regularly makes sure you’re on the right track.

Validate Against Site Offerings

It’s also key to make sure the keywords fit what you’re actually offering on your site.

For instance, if you see a lot of searches for "wholesale cannabis marketplace" but you only sell directly to customers, that keyword isn’t a good fit. Or if you’re in California and you see searches for "cannabis jobs in Alaska," that’s not relevant to your site either.

Checking your keywords against what you can really offer helps you focus on the right searches. This keeps you from spending time and effort on keywords that won’t help your site.

Prioritize Keywords

Now that you have a list of keywords, it’s time to figure out which ones are the most important. Look at how often people search for them, how tough the competition is, how well they match what you’re selling, and how likely they are to lead to sales.

Search Volume Estimates

Find out how many times a month people search for each keyword. Aim for keywords that get searched for at least 100 times a month.

Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to see monthly search numbers for your keywords
Make a list with the keywords and their search numbers
Mark or filter out keywords that get searched for 100 or more times a month
These keywords with more searches are your main focus

Keyword Difficulty Scores

Check how hard it is to rank for each keyword using a tool like Mangools KD Score. A good score is between 20-50.

Put your keywords into Mangools to get a difficulty score for each
Look at the scores and focus on keywords with scores from 20-50
Keywords in this sweet spot are not too hard or too easy to rank for
Make these keywords your main targets

Relevance Rating

Rate each keyword from 1-10 on how well it matches what you sell and what your customers want.

Review your keywords and score each from 1 to 10 on relevance
10 means it’s a perfect match for your products or services
1 means it’s not a good match at all
Look for keywords with scores of 8 or higher to find the best matches

Priority Matrix

Use a simple chart to compare search volume against how tough the competition is. This helps you decide which keywords to focus on first.

Draw a chart with two lines, one for search volume and one for competition
Place your keywords on the chart based on their numbers
Keywords in the top right are your main focus: they’re searched a lot but aren’t too hard to rank for
Keywords in the bottom right are your long-term goals: they’re hard to rank for but get a lot of searches
Keywords in the top left are your backup options: easier to rank for but not searched as much

Build Keyword-Focused Content

Topic Clusters & Pillars

Think of your website like a library. Each section (or cluster) is dedicated to a topic like CBD products, growing cannabis, or finding a local dispensary. Grouping keywords this way helps you plan what to write or create so your website answers all the questions people might have on these topics.

For every topic, plan different types of content:

Articles
Videos
Pages that explain what you offer
Guides for local customers
Lists of your products

Use important keywords in your titles and throughout your content to make sure it’s easy to find.

Outline Content

With your topics picked out, it’s time to plan your content. For each topic, think about:

Articles you can write
Videos you can make
Pages that describe your services or products
Information for local customers
Details about your product categories

Make sure the main keyword is in the title and early in the content. Then, fill in your plan with facts, examples, advice, and answers to common questions. Your goal is to really help people understand the topic.

Yoast SEO Plugin

The Yoast SEO plugin is a tool that helps make sure your content is easy to find online. It guides you to:

Pick a main keyword for each piece of content
Check if you’re using the keyword enough
Make sure your content is easy to read
Help you write good titles and descriptions

By using Yoast, you can make sure your content is set up well for search engines, which means more people can find it.

Measure & Refine

Google Analytics Goals

Setting goals in Google Analytics helps you see if your website is doing its job. Here’s how to do it:

Make a goal for actions like someone buying something or filling out a contact form. This shows if your website convinces people to do something.
Use goal funnels to find out where people stop moving forward on your site. This can point out where your site needs work to keep people interested.
Create specific goals for different pages to see which ones are good at turning visitors into customers.
Set a goal for people staying on your site for more than 2 minutes. This means your content is interesting enough to keep them around.

Check how your goals are doing every week and try to make any pages that aren’t doing well better.

Rank Tracking

Keeping an eye on your website’s rank helps you know if your SEO is working:

Use tools like Serpstat to automatically check where your website stands in search results for important keywords. You want to see improvements over time.
Look at how often people click on your website from search results. If not many people are clicking, you might need to make your page titles or summaries more interesting.
Every week, see if your website’s rank changes and figure out why. Fix any problems like pages with little information, broken links, or outdated content.

Regularly tracking your rank helps you fix issues quickly.

New Keyword Opportunities

As your website becomes more popular, you can start aiming for bigger goals:

Go back to Google Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest to look for harder keywords that you can now compete for.
Use Google Suggest to find new ideas for topics as you start ranking for more things related to cannabis.
Check what new keywords your website is starting to rank for. Use these as ideas for new content or to improve existing pages.

As your website grows, use this to your advantage to cover more topics and attract more visitors. Just make sure to stay focused on what’s relevant to your cannabis business.

Conclusion

Doing keyword research is super important if you want your cannabis business to do well online. This guide walked you through how to pick the right words that people search for so you can show up when they’re looking for what you offer.

Here’s a quick recap of what we covered:

Checking out the competition helps you see what’s working for others.
Using keyword tools helps you find the best words to use that aren’t too hard to compete for.
Understanding why people search for certain things helps you make content that answers their questions.
Organizing keywords by topic helps you figure out what to write about.
Choosing which keywords to focus on based on how many people search for them and how relevant they are.
Creating content that uses these keywords can help your site rank better.
Keeping track of your progress and looking for new keyword opportunities as you go.

By following these steps, you can make sure your cannabis brand is easy to find online. It’s all about connecting with your audience by answering their questions and showing up when they’re searching for what you offer.

The cannabis world changes fast, so it’s important to keep an eye on new search trends and what your audience wants. This way, you can keep updating your strategy to stay ahead. With the right keywords and a solid plan, you can reach more people and grow your business online.

How do I come up with keywords for SEO?

To find good keywords for SEO, follow these steps:

Start by thinking of words that people might use to search for what you offer. Include different ways of saying the same thing and longer phrases.
Get rid of words that don’t really fit or that not many people search for. Focus on words that are very related to what you do and that lots of people are looking for.
Put these chosen words into your website’s text, like in titles, headings, and the body of your pages. Make sure they fit naturally.
Keep an eye on which keywords bring you traffic and adjust your list as needed over time.

What is dispensary SEO?

Dispensary SEO is about making your cannabis dispensary’s website easier to find on search engines. This means improving your website’s content, getting other sites to link to you, making sure your website works well technically, and keeping track of how well your keywords are doing. The main goal is to show up higher in search results when people look for dispensaries nearby. It’s all about choosing the right local keywords and sharing your knowledge through your content.

What are SEO keyword research and SEO keywords?

SEO keyword research is when you look for words and phrases that people type into search engines when they’re searching for something online. SEO keywords are the words you choose based on how many people search for them, how competitive they are, and how likely they are to lead to sales. You add these words to your website’s content to attract people searching for those topics, which helps your website rank better in search results and get more visitors.

How do I find keywords for eCommerce?

To find the best keywords for your eCommerce site, do the following:

Think of keywords for each of your products.
Look at what keywords your competitors are using.
Use Google Keyword Planner to find words that a lot of people search for but don’t have a lot of competition.
Use Ubersuggest for more long-tail keyword ideas (longer phrases).
Look at Amazon’s search suggestions for even more keyword ideas.

The trick is to use both general and specific keywords to catch people at different buying stages.