Did you know that your dispensary website is often the first place potential customers interact with your cannabis brand? With more states in the US legalizing cannabis, the industry is growing fast, but growth comes with competition. And you must be able to stand out and differentiate your cannabis brand. One amazing way to do that is with an SEO-optimized website where you can also host a cannabis eCommerce store for your customers to purchase their favorite products online.
As a dispensary owner, you know that expanding your online presence is the perfect way to differentiate yourself from competitors. But there are certain essentials that your dispensary website must have to help drive traffic to both your online and brick-and-mortar retail stores and increase sales. Let us dive into 5 must-haves for cannabis dispensary websites.
1. Age-Gate to Keep Out People Not of Legal Age
Cannabis can only be sold to people who are of legal age to consume it in your region. Age restrictions are applicable to access many websites on the internet, and you must apply those restrictions to your cannabis website as well, as required by law. For example, Alberta has strict age-gating restrictions for cannabis eCommerce websites but Cova eCommerce can help set up a compliance website.
Website visitors may lie about their age, but with online ID verification, you can easily have a compliant cannabis eCommerce store. However, if that is not required by regulators in your region, age restrictions can be as simple as a "Are you 21+, yes or no?" pop-up or a form for buyers to enter their date of birth. Identification can then be verified upon delivery of cannabis or when the customer comes to collect their purchase at your dispensary.
2. Moble-Optimized and User-Friendly Interface
Your cannabis website must not only work well on desktops but more importantly, it should function well on mobile devices. Nowadays, more than 80% of people use mobile devices to browse the web and over 40% of online transactions are made from mobile devices. As consumers are using their smartphones to browse the web and make purchases more than ever before, finding and buying cannabis is no exception.
If you don’t have a mobile-optimized cannabis website with a user-friendly interface, people will become frustrated and eventually leave to buy their cannabis from a competitor’s website which may provide them with a superior customer experience. Don’t go over the top with your website design, keep it simple and make it easy for users to navigate and find exactly what they are looking for, with the right filters.
3. Educational Content and Engaging Visuals
Many of your customers may already be familiar with cannabis. However, you will certainly attract new customers, especially if your dispensary is in a region that recently passed cannabis legislation. By creating educational content on your website, you won’t only provide valuable information to new cannabis consumers but also earn their trust and loyalty to your brand.
Remember, targeted and specific information is always enough, and a strong call to action (CTA) can go a long way in driving online sales and foot traffic to your cannabis retail store. Of course, you must enhance your written content with engaging visuals and attractive images, while following all the cannabis SEO best practices about dispensary eCommerce.
4. SEO-Optimized Menus for Cannabis Products
Most cannabis consumers prefer to do their own research before purchasing products online or from a physical store. If they are looking for a particular cannabis product on Google that may be available at your store, your online menu must pop up in the search engine results for them to gain your trust. To make that possible, it is best to avoid an iFrame-embedded menu and choose advanced native eCommerce with seamless integration to your cannabis POS that will allow you to have menus that are fully discoverable in Google search results.
If you can build an SEO-optimized cannabis e-commerce store for your customers, it will increase your sales and customer retention. An SEO-optimized online dispensary menu also provides an opportunity to gather more data on consumer behavior and preferences.
5. Fully-Functional Independent Cannabis eComm
In today’s digital age, where people are making more and more purchases online, you certainly need a fully functional and independent cannabis eCommerce solution that allows customers to purchase cannabis on your website, make payments and either collect it or get it delivered to their home.
Owning an independent customized E-commerce website and avoiding third-party marketplaces is your best choice to grow your business and establish a recurring stream of revenue from your online cannabis store. Learn more about what to look for in a cannabis eCommerce platform before you decide to choose a solution.
Effortless eCommerce for Cannabis Dispensaries
With a complete cannabis website powered by SEO-optimized menus and WooCommerce plugin for your cannabis eCommerce store, Cova eCommerce is fully integrated into Cova POS so that products and inventory automatically get updated. Not only that, but with built-in marketing automation tools, you’ll bring cannabis consumers back to your website and also own all your customer data exclusively. Click below to get started with Cova eCommerce now.
