In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any business, and that includes cannabis dispensaries.
With the legalization of the plant in many states, they are popping up everywhere, making it more challenging to stand out from the crowd. It is where search engine optimization comes into play.
However, tracking your SEO performance and measuring the results can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to the game. In this article, we will discuss essential points so you know how to do it effectively.
Content Outline
Understanding the Value of SEO for Dispensaries
Before we dive into the specifics of tracking your SEO performance, let’s quickly recap why local SEO for dispensaries, especially when performed by MjSeo experts and similar professional agencies, is so crucial for your business.
This type of online promotion can help you achieve several critical goals, such as:
1. Enhancing brand visibility
Implemented techniques help you appear on the first page of local search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you online.
2. Increasing traffic and generating leads
By improving your ranking position, you can attract more traffic to your website and grow your online presence. With more qualified traffic driven to the platform, you can obtain more leads.
3. Reaching the targeted audience
Local optimization targets potential customers searching for cannabis products and services in your specific location.
Optimizing for local and mobile searches allows you to reach people who are more likely to visit your dispensary and make a purchase.
4. Building trust
Strategies like Google Business Profile listings and online reviews help build credibility with potential clients.
When people see positive reviews and a verified Google Business Profile listing, they are more likely to trust a dispensary and choose them over competitors.
Tools for Tracking SEO Performance
Now that you know the importance of local optimization, it’s safe to say that it is the perfect type of marketing for dispensaries. However, tracking optimization performance remains a crucial part of the whole SEO strategy to make it effective.
When looking for ways to begin monitoring, you can start by finding the right tools. Here are some of the most popular options to consider:
- Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that helps you monitor your website’s performance in search results. With it, you can see your clicks, impressions, and position in the SERPs.
- Google Analytics is another free option from Google that allows tracking of your traffic and user behavior. Using it, you can reveal key metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and pages per session.
- Ahrefs and SEMrush are paid alternatives that provide a suite of tools for in-depth insights into your SEO strategy implementation, including backlink and content analysis and keyword research.
SEO Tracking Metrics That Matter
Once you have set up tools, you need to identify the metrics that matter most for tracking your dispensary’s SEO performance. Here are some of the key things to consider:
1. Keyword statistics
Monitoring your keyword statistics is not the final destination, but ensuring your site is optimized for the right terms and phrases is necessary. Pay attention to keyword rankings, search volume, and competition.
Even a rough idea of how the platform is ranked for primary search queries is a valuable indicator of its status. Ranking high on a range of keywords is good for the website’s visibility in organic search.
That is because the higher you rank, the more visibility and, consequently, the traffic you will receive. However, it does not imply you should be solely stuck on positions for certain words and phrases.
2. Organic traffic
This kind of traffic comes from natural, unpaid sources. It refers to users coming to your site through search engine results rather than paid advertising or other ways.
3. CTR
CTR, or click-through rate, refers to the percentage of people who click on your website in search engine results. It is also essential to look at when assessing your SEO progress.
The higher the click-through rate, the better, because it means more users want to learn about your platform or products. While a high CTR does not always indicate that those users will purchase immediately, it remains a useful sign.
4. Bounce rate
Your website’s bounce rate points to the percentage of visitors who leave it after viewing only one page. In fact, the lower the bounce rate, the better.
If this metric is high, it can indicate potential issues with your platform’s user experience, content relevance, or loading speed, for example.
5. Leads and conversions
Ultimately, all your SEO efforts aim to drive more leads and get new customers for your dispensary site. So you should have a clear idea of the number of leads generated from unpaid traffic and the number of conversions completed.
A complete conversion suggests that the user who saw your link or content has taken action. Hence, they turn from a simple visitor to a client buying anything from your dispensary website.
How to Measure Your ROI?
Measuring your ROI is needed to determine whether your SEO efforts are paying off. Here are some steps to follow:
1. Calculate your investment
Start by figuring out how much time and money you have invested in optimization, including keyword research, content creation, link building, technical optimization, etc.
2. Set benchmarks
Determine averages for each metric you track based on industry standards or your historical performance.
3. Track and analyze results
Use the special tools mentioned above or similar ones to monitor your progress against your benchmarks regularly. Then, analyze your SEO’s effectiveness and identify possible improvement areas.
4. Calculate ROI
You can do it by dividing your revenue generated from organic traffic by SEO costs and multiplying the result by 100%. If your ROI is positive, your optimization efforts are paying off.
However, it holds no normative value. Whether it is good can only be determined by comparison, for instance, with another traffic source.
Does Your Platform Need SEO at All?
Understanding the effectiveness of SEO can reveal if it is advisable to employ this kind of promotion for your platform. There are cases when SEO may be simply ineffective, such as:
- aggregator websites dominate in results when studying the competition for major queries;
- there are too few search queries on the subject (the product is unique, and most people don’t know about it);
- product is better promoted on other sources than in search engines;
- a too-small variety of products.
So, to understand whether you need SEO optimization, a complex assessment is required.
Coming to the Upshot
As more dispensaries enter the market, it is becoming increasingly important. Investing in local SEO can give you a competitive advantage and help attract more customers than your opponents.
However, the overall performance must be properly tracked for this marketing strategy to keep bringing results. With the right tools and approach, you will take your dispensary’s online presence to the next level and achieve your business goals!
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