SEO Best Practices

Modified on Mon, 20 Apr at 3:40 PM

SEO Best Practices

for Retailers

A practical guide to getting found online and growing your store’s organic traffic.

How Google decides who ranks

Google’s job is to show the most relevant and trustworthy result for any search. When someone searches for “Pure Sunfarms Pink Kush Vancouver,” Google looks at thousands of web pages and tries to figure out which one would be most useful to that person.

It makes that decision based on three broad factors:

Relevance. Does your page actually cover what the person searched for? Google reads the words on your page, your page title, your product descriptions, and dozens of other signals to determine this.
Authority. How credible is your website? Google measures this partly by how many other reputable websites link to yours. A site with more quality links pointing at it is generally considered more authoritative.
Experience. Is your website fast, easy to use, and well-structured? Google increasingly rewards sites that provide a good experience for real visitors.

You have direct influence over all three. The rest of this guide covers the most impactful things you can do in each area.

Your biggest opportunity: product content

For cannabis retailers, the single highest-impact thing you can do for SEO is invest in your product content. Here is why.

When a customer searches for a specific product, Google looks for pages that are genuinely about that product. If your product page simply repeats the manufacturer’s description word for word, Google sees that same text on dozens of other websites and has no reason to rank yours above theirs.

When you write something original, even a short paragraph in your own voice, Google sees your page as a unique source of information. That uniqueness is what earns rankings.

Writing product descriptions that work

You don’t need to be a professional writer. You just need to add something genuine that the brand’s generic description doesn’t say. Here are a few approaches that work well:

Describe the experience. What does this product actually feel like? How does it smell? What kind of session is it suited for? This is the kind of information customers are searching for and brands rarely provide.
Mention your store and location. Naturally work in your store name and city where it makes sense. For example: “One of our most popular strains at our Gastown location.” This reinforces your local relevance to Google.
Add context for newer customers. If a product suits beginners, say so. If it’s better suited to experienced consumers, note that too. This kind of helpful detail builds trust and adds original content.
Use the product’s full name. Include the brand name and product name together in your description. Customers often search for both, so having both on the page improves your chances of appearing for those searches.

How much to write: Even two or three original sentences per product makes a meaningful difference. You don’t need to write an essay for every item. Focus first on your best-sellers and most-searched products, then work through the rest over time.

Keep your inventory complete and up to date

Google can only send customers to products it knows exist on your site. Products with missing information, no images, or empty descriptions are less likely to be indexed and ranked. Make sure every product on your menu has at minimum: a name, a price, a category, and at least one image.

Out-of-stock products are worth keeping visible on your site rather than hiding them. A page that has ranked well for a specific product continues to hold that ranking even when the product is temporarily out of stock. When it comes back in, that traffic comes back with it.

Page titles and meta descriptions

Every page on your website has a title and a description that appear in Google search results. These are two of the most direct signals you can send to Google about what your page is about, and they are also what customers see before deciding whether to click.

Page titles

A good page title for a cannabis retailer typically includes: what the page is about, a reference to your location, and your store name. For example:

Home page: “Buy Cannabis Online in Vancouver | Your Store Name”
Flower category: “Buy Flower in Vancouver | Your Store Name”
Edibles category: “Edibles and Gummies in Toronto | Your Store Name”

Keep titles under 60 characters so they display in full on Google without being cut off. Put the most important words first.

Meta descriptions

Your meta description doesn’t directly affect your ranking, but it affects whether someone clicks your result. A well-written description acts like a short advertisement for your page.

Aim for 150 to 160 characters. Include what the page offers and a reason to visit. For example: “Browse our full selection of craft flower, pre-rolls, and concentrates. Updated daily with live in-store inventory. Order online or visit us in Gastown.”

Avoid: Leaving your page titles and descriptions blank or identical across every page. Google will either generate them automatically (often pulling in unhelpful text) or penalise your site for duplicate content. Each key page should have its own unique title and description.

Local SEO: getting found in your area

Local SEO refers to the practices that help your store appear when customers search for cannabis in your specific city or neighbourhood. For a brick-and-mortar retailer, this is where a large portion of your organic traffic will come from.

Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is the listing that appears when someone searches for your store by name, or when Google shows a map and local business results for a search like “cannabis store near me.” It is one of the most powerful local SEO tools available to you, and it is free.

If you haven’t claimed and verified your Google Business Profile yet, that should be your first priority. Once you have it set up, keep the following up to date:

Business name, address, and phone number. These should be identical to how they appear on your website and any other online listings. Consistency across the internet is a trust signal for Google.
Store hours. Keep these current, especially around holidays. Google shows your hours in search results, and inaccurate hours frustrate customers and erode trust.
Photos. Businesses with more and better photos receive more clicks. Add photos of your storefront, interior, staff, and products where possible. Update them regularly.
Business description. Write a clear, keyword-rich description of your store. Mention your location, the types of products you carry, and anything that sets you apart.
Categories. Make sure you have selected the correct business categories. “Cannabis store” should be your primary category.

Reviews

Customer reviews are one of the strongest local ranking signals Google uses. A store with many positive, recent reviews will outrank a competitor with fewer or older ones, even if everything else is equal.

Ask for reviews. Most customers who have a good experience simply don’t think to leave one unless they are prompted. Train your staff to mention it at checkout, add a note to your receipts or packaging, or send a follow-up message to customers who opt into communications.

Respond to every review, positive and negative. Thanking customers for positive reviews shows engagement. Responding professionally to negative ones demonstrates that you take customer experience seriously. Both behaviors signal to Google that your business is active and attentive.

Important: Never purchase fake reviews or incentivize customers with discounts in exchange for reviews. Google actively detects and removes these, and the penalties for getting caught can significantly damage your rankings.

Making the most of your images

Images matter for SEO in ways that are easy to overlook. Google cannot look at a photo and understand what it shows. It relies on context you provide to understand what an image is.

Alt text

Every image on your website has an “alt text” field, a short description of what the image shows. Alt text was originally designed to help visually impaired users understand images, but Google also reads it to understand what your page is about.

For product images, good alt text includes the brand name and product name. For example: “Pure Sunfarms Pink Kush 3.5g” or “1964 Supply Co. Sour Tangie Pre-Roll.” Avoid generic descriptions like “product image” or leaving alt text blank.

Image quality and size

High-quality product images improve the experience for real customers and signal quality to search engines. At the same time, images that are too large in file size slow your website down, and page speed is a ranking factor.

Use clear, well-lit photos for all of your products. If you are uploading your own images, aim for a consistent style and compress them before uploading. Most image editing tools have an “export for web” option that reduces file size without visibly affecting quality.

Building links to your site

One of the ways Google measures your website’s authority is by counting how many other reputable websites link to yours. Links from other sites are essentially votes of confidence. The more credible the site linking to you, the more that link is worth.

For cannabis retailers, earning links can take more creativity than for other industries, since many mainstream platforms restrict cannabis content. Here are some practical approaches:

Local directories and listings. Make sure your store is listed on directories like Yelp, Foursquare, and any cannabis-specific directories relevant to your region. Each listing typically includes a link back to your website.
Local media and blogs. If your store does something newsworthy (a grand opening, a community event, a new product launch), reach out to local news sites or blogs. A single link from a well-regarded local news outlet can meaningfully boost your authority.
Supplier and brand partnerships. Some brands or suppliers maintain retailer locators on their websites. If a brand you carry has a “where to buy” page, ask to be included.
Community involvement. Sponsoring a local event, partnering with a community organization, or contributing to a local cause can result in links from that organization’s website, in addition to other benefits.

Avoid: Paying for links or participating in link schemes. Google is very good at identifying unnatural linking patterns, and the penalties can set your rankings back significantly. Focus on earning links genuinely through good content and real relationships.

Common mistakes to avoid

Understanding what not to do is just as important as knowing what to do. These are the most common SEO mistakes cannabis retailers make:

Copying product descriptions from the brand. As discussed earlier, duplicate content gives Google no reason to rank your page. Always add something original, even if it’s brief.
Keyword stuffing. Repeating a keyword over and over in an unnatural way (for example: “Buy cannabis Vancouver, best cannabis Vancouver, cheap cannabis Vancouver” crammed into a description) does not help your ranking and can actually hurt it. Write for your customers first, and let the keywords appear naturally.
Ignoring your page titles and descriptions. Blank or auto-generated titles are a missed opportunity on every page of your site.
Setting it up and walking away. SEO is an ongoing effort. Stores that consistently update their content, add new descriptions, respond to reviews, and keep their information current will always outperform stores that treat their website as a one-time project.
Hiding out-of-stock products. Pages that have built up ranking authority should stay visible. Hiding products removes their pages from Google’s index, which means losing any ranking they had earned.
Inconsistent business information. If your store’s name, address, or phone number appears differently across Google, your website, Yelp, and other listings, Google treats these as separate businesses and your local authority is diluted. Keep everything consistent.

SEO takes time: setting realistic expectations

This is worth saying clearly because it surprises many people: SEO results are not immediate. When you make improvements to your website, Google needs time to crawl those changes, re-index your pages, and update its rankings. This process can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on how established your site is.

This does not mean the work isn’t having an effect. It means the effect is building gradually, and the stores that commit to consistent improvement over time are the ones that end up with durable, long-term rankings that are difficult for competitors to displace.

Think of SEO less like running a promotion and more like building a reputation. The results compound. A product description you write today could be driving traffic to your store two years from now.

A realistic timeline: Most retailers start to see meaningful movement in their rankings within three to six months of consistent effort. Stores that have been on the same domain for longer, or that had an existing web presence before switching to Buddi, may see results faster.

Quick reference: your SEO checklist

Use this list as an ongoing reference. The more of these you have in place, the stronger your foundation:

Google Business Profile is claimed, verified, and fully filled out
Store hours, address, and phone number are consistent across all online listings
Photos on your Google Business Profile are current and high quality
You are actively collecting and responding to customer reviews
Every key page has a unique page title and meta description
Your home page and category pages include your city and store name in the title
Your best-selling products have original descriptions written in your own words
Product images have descriptive alt text with brand and product names
Out-of-stock products remain visible on your site
Your store is listed in relevant local and cannabis-specific directories
You are regularly adding new content (descriptions, photos, blog posts if applicable)

Questions? Contact your Buddi account manager or visit our support centre.