How to Research Competitor Links and Strategies for Your Cannabis Website

As the cannabis industry continues to grow and expand, so does the competition for website traffic and customer attention. So if you run a cannabis website, it is of the utmost importance to research your competitors’ link profiles and strategies. Doing so can give you insights into what is working for them and what you might be able to do to improve your own website’s visibility and rankings. In this article, we will discuss in detail how to find out your rivals’ best link-building practices and add them to your online promotion plan.

Step #1: Identify Your Competitors

In fact, the first step in researching your competitors is to identify them. Start by searching for keywords related to your business on Google and other search engines. Take note of the top-ranking websites and the companies behind them. You can also use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to find competitors based on specific keywords or topics.

Once you have a list of your potential rivals, you will need to analyze their backlinks and anchors, evaluate effective link-building strategies, check the quality of backlinks, and control the growth of their backlink profile. It will help you understand their strengths and weaknesses and determine broader areas where you can improve or adjust your tactics.

Step #2: Analyze Their Link Profiles

After recognizing who your competitors are, you first need to explore their link profiles carefully. In simple words, a link profile implies a collection of links pointing to a website. Links are of great value when it comes to SEO optimization; they signal to search engines that a website is trustworthy and authoritative and contribute to its higher search ranking.

To analyze your competitors’ link profiles, you can resort to professional tools like Ahrefs, Majestic, Semrush, SEO SpyGlass, and similar ones. They are helpful as they can show you the number of backlinks a particular website has, the quality of those backlinks, and the anchor text used for them. However, this process can be quite time-consuming and may require specific skills. Therefore, opting for a professional dispensary SEO firm can be a better solution. You may check this expert link-building agency that focuses on best SEO practices, develops effective plans for building cannabis backlinks, and can help with analyzing your competitors’ link profiles.

However, if you have decided to perform this step on your own, then it is beneficial to look for patterns in your opponent’s link profiles. The following questions may come in handy for that purpose:

• Do they have a lot of links from particular websites or types of websites?
• Are there any gaps in their link profiles that you can exploit?

Discover this information and think about it because it will help you create a strategy for building your own link profile or improving the existing one.

Step #3: Determine the Quality of a Backlink Profile

When analyzing your competitors’ link profiles, you should determine the quality of a backlink profile in particular. Here are some essential things to look for:

• Domain authority: the higher the DA of the website linking to your competitors, the better.
• Regional distribution: studying the regional distribution of donors will help you to reveal which region backlinks come from and which domain names are the most typical.
• Relevancy: links from resources that are relevant to your niche are more valuable than links from unrelated websites.
• Anchor text list: if your opponents use the same anchor text over and over again, it could be a sign of a spammy link-building tactic. Also, if you notice over-optimization of the anchors, it is an excellent opportunity to try to rank higher for keywords they are neglecting.
• Do-follow links: links marked as “do-follow” pass link juice to your competitors’ platforms, which can help with rankings.
• Link placement: links placed within a page’s content are more valuable than links placed in the footer or sidebar.

To sum up, try to avoid websites with low DA, irrelevant content, and over-optimized anchor texts, as they can negatively affect your cannabis site’s ranking.

Step #4: Identify Gaps and Opportunities

Once you have properly analyzed your rivals’ link profiles, you should have a good idea of the types of links they are getting, where they are coming from, and other crucial points. Now it is time to use this valuable information to reveal gaps and potential opportunities. First of all, you should look for areas where your competitors are weak and where you can distinguish your cannabis platform.

For instance, if your competitor is getting a lot of links from blogs, you could focus on getting your pages cited from news websites or industry-specific resources. Or, if your opponent obtains many backlinks from guest posts, set a goal to create high-quality content that will attract links naturally.

You should also determine areas where your direct competitors are strong. That is where you will need to put effort and make more significant improvements. For example, if you notice a larger number of high-quality backlinks than you have, you may need to invest more time and resources in strengthening your backlink profile.

Step #5: Develop or Adjust Your LB Strategy

Considering that quality links are one of Google’s most important ranking signals, the final step is to develop your own perfect strategy or adapt the existing one to obtain them. Based on your analysis, you should be aware of what works and does not work in the cannabis industry.

Remember that your link-building strategy should primarily focus on differentiating yourself from your competitors in a way that resonates with your target audience. It may involve creating high-quality and unique content with external or internal linking or investing in acquiring authoritative backlinks.

It is crucial to keep your strategy flexible and adaptable. As the cannabis industry continues to evolve, you may need to adjust it accordingly to stay competitive.

Final Say

Researching competitor links and strategies is an essential part of any online marketing plan. It can turn into a valuable experience for any cannabis-related website. By analyzing your rivals’ link profiles and LB methods, you can determine blanks and pinpoint magnificent possibilities to build and adapt your own strategy in a way that will undoubtedly set you apart from the competition.

It is also noteworthy to keep in mind that there are ethical considerations when researching opponent link profiles and techniques. While analyzing publicly available information is okay, avoid engaging in unethical practices like copying content or stealing backlinks.

All in all, building a successful LB strategy takes time and effort, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in the canna industry is crucial. By continually examining your competitors and adjusting your online promotion plan, you can position your cannabis website for long-term success.