How to do SEO for CBD Websites

There are few industries as exciting to see take off than the CBD industry. Who knew one essential oil could spark a revolution?

With various health claims and benefits, CBD is helping people lead better and more peaceful lives.

Beyond that and looking at the business opportunity, CBD is projected to be a $20 billion industry by 2024 with 49% year over year growth. (According to Forbes)

That’s huge.

The amazing part is that this is primarily done from a Guerilla Marketing method of “getting the word out.”

This is because of restrictions for paid advertising.

In fact (as of 2019 when I am writing this article), Facebook, Google, and Amazon all have restrictions on advertising CBD.

This means that all methods of marketing for CBD must be Organic.

Today, for the purposes of this blog, we’ll be talking about how to rank your website for CBD related terms on Google.

How to do SEO for CBD Websites

Step 1: Do the keyword research. 

A quick way of losing in any industry with SEO is not having the proper research in place. In the case of CBD, it could be easy to simply target the phrase “CBD”.

But, let’s take a step back…

“CBD” as a search phrase has 1.5 million searches per month. Sounds enticing, doesn’t it?

But what is the intent behind those searches?

Is someone researching for more information? Did someone hear about it on the View and they wanted to find the Wikipedia article about it?

Instead, think of how your product actually helps your specific audience. Instead of trying to optimize for “CBD”, optimize instead for “CBD Treatments for Pets”/etc.

These are going to be easier to win for starters, but will also drive more relevant traffic to your website.

Step 2: Create a Funnel using internal links

Taking a 30,000-foot view, it’s assumable that many folks are doing a significant amount of research for CBD before they start using it.

Using the first step can be a great starting point with getting the right people to your website while they are in that research phase.

Now, you can use strategically placed links to help someone move towards a purchase decision. Feel free to see this in action on this website, where you’ll see my targeted pages and then references to other topics that will move someone towards the decision that’s right for them.

In addition to assisting in decision making, you will also improve the internal linking ranking signals in your website and improve your performance overall in Google.

I call this the “Wikipedia Effect.” Ever notice how many links Wikipedia has? Ever notice how well Wikipedia ranks on Google?

Step 3: Multimedia Optimization

An underutilized tactic in SEO is to optimize for the more visual components.

Always optimize your images. People are likely to click over to Google Image Search if those options are available. This could be another opening for your brand with new potential customers.

Also, use video. We live in a world where video is dominating. Even though many people “know” this, they don’t do it. So, use your phone, record a video that answers the questions your audience is asking, and use the transcript as content.

I hope you found this helpful. If you have questions, feel free to get in touch and I will get right back to you.