At some point after finding success with your dispensary or brand, you will come up with many reasons as to why you don’t need a website.
I’m sure you understand the need to have an online presence, and you probably don’t think an effective website will make a difference for your dispensary or brand – especially if you’re already turning a profit.
Do you need a website to run a successful dispensary?
Does my dispensary need a website?
Many dispensary owners ask, “Since I’m a small local dispensary, and we can’t sell anything online, do I need a website?”
The answer is YES!
If you have a dispensary, grow, brand, or any type of business, you should have a website. Otherwise, you could be losing business to other dispensaries that already have one.
While you can’t sell your product online you can still take orders. COVID-10 showed us that millions of people would shop online. Shopping for everything from schooling to homes to groceries and yes of course cannabis. So while you’re waiting, your competitor has likely seen how effective a website can be for their dispensary or brand.
Don’t get left behind…
But then you will probably say “I got Leafly”
Do I Need a Website if I Have Leafly?
It’s very common for a dispensary to rely on social media or Weedmaps or Leafly as their main marketing and advertising channel. These channels do have their advantages.
You can build a large audience or following from social media, Leafly only has so many numbers of users or app downloads. But these shouldn’t replace your dispensary website. Here’s why.
1. You Don’t Own Your Leafly
What happens if Leafly decides that it can’t support your dispensary anymore? If your Leafly page is your sole online presence, all the clients and followers you built would be gone.
Even giant social media outlets like Facebook have outages.
I seriously doubt Leafly would stop supporting your dispensary but you also don’t have any say in the changes implemented by Leafly. And on social media, there are certain things you can’t say, or you get “reported”.
With your website, you have control over the appearance, features, and message you deliver to your followers.
However, with your website, you have total control over your brand’s image, appearance, and message you want to deliver.
2. Leafly Has SEO Limitations
Think about it. Where do you go when looking for a business locally? Not a Cannabis business, just a regular business. Do you open Leafly when you’re looking for a place to change tires? You probably search on Google. Most of society is already trained to just “google it”.
“3.5 Billion daily searches on Google show that most people turn to Google to find information.”
A website allows you to position yourself so people will find you when they search for your dispensary or the products you sell. This allows you to evenly compete with even larger websites. You can optimize your website for local searches to attract new patients in your area.
3. A Website is More Credible
This is why you want an online presence in the first place. A website is a go-to stamp of approval, and people only buy from the dispensary they know, like, and trust. So while it might be easy to say you don’t need a website, the dispensary down the street might just be building more trust with their dispensary website.
4. Analytics
Google Analytics is a vital asset to your dispensary or brand that you don’t get with Leafly or social media. It has the ability to teach you things you didn’t know about your customers. You can find out your favorite products, and favorite categories of products. Where are customers located, ages, etc… Google Analytics allows you the information needed to help you shape the success strategy of your business.