For any business, website design and development can be difficult. Your website is your first contact with potential customers. It is essential to have a functional, user-friendly, mobile friendly, and visually appealing website. This website should be designed with your marketing goals in mind. This is just the start of a long list of things that you will need for a good website.
New brands and websites for cannabis are appearing quickly due to the ongoing boom in the industry. Add to that the legal hurdles, and you have a lot of business owners who are eager to get their website up and running. Many business owners rush to get their product out there and often leave their website design in the hands of the first person they contact. This is because designing your cannabis website correctly and intentionally from the start is what will make you stand out from the crowd.
Your target audience will notice a rushed website and you’ll fall to the bottom in a rapidly changing industry. A visually appealing website is key to distinguishing yourself from your competition. This is a quick guide to designing and building a website about cannabis.
Understanding Your Why
We always ask our clients why when we collaborate on web design and development projects. What are you looking to achieve with your website? What is your primary goal for the website? What are you looking for? Do you want to increase foot traffic in your store or make more online sales? It is important for brands to set clear goals and objectives regarding what they want to market. A website that is well-designed and easy to navigate should be clear. This means less options, more pages.
This could be a way to build a community around a brand, such as CBD or cannabis products. The website’s primary goal could be to attract readers and convert them into Facebook Group members or email subscribers. It could also be about encouraging customers to purchase from dispensaries. It could encourage customers to try your product or call you. Your customers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops in order to reach the page with the action item they want. This is marketing terminology that means optimizing your buyer’s journey or path.
Good websites should be easy to use. Visitors should find the most important information quickly: contact forms, hours, locations, email signups and contact forms. Each feature has a different purpose. A medical cannabis page may have more steps to get a card or book an appointment, but enticing adult-use customers requires more creativity and roundabout.
Another example is the button on dispensary websites that allows users to access their menu instantly. This is what most consumers visit dispensary websites for. They should be able to quickly access the content. B2B websites for business should also be transparent about specs (size, output, etc.). A frequently asked questions section should be included. This helps to avoid confusion and allows site visitors to filter out real leads who may have questions about products/services.
Although there are many goals for each section, one page shouldn’t be overloaded with them all. Our client BFF Hemp was looking to increase their CBD product sales. The website allows you to shop and learn more about the company. Everything on their website is designed to sell CBD. A retail store or online shop may be part of a cannabis business, such as dispensaries. These situations require you to make a decision, and guide the site visitor according to your goals.
Consider your greatest return on investment (ROI) when making this decision. Is it online or in-person that you are making more? Which one builds customer loyalty? Website design and development should always focus on the buyer’s journey. Instead of liking how a site looks, there should be a reason behind each feature or element.
Anticipate E-Commerce Features
These are the standard practices that are required for a successful buyer journey. They are features you will see on every e-commerce platform or website. Your product shopping page must have a functional layout, high-quality images, and an intuitive categorization.
You should be able to search for a product by its features (color, price, rating), on this page. When a user clicks in to each product, they should be able to see high-quality images, good descriptions, testimonials/reviews, and other information that your customer would need to know before making the decision to purchase.
Online buyers are more likely to consider different factors when deciding if the product is right. The product image is one of these factors. Customers want to see what they’re buying and it can discourage them if the image isn’t there. Professional product photography is expensive, but it is essential to have it on your site.
As the site visitor follows the buyer’s journey through your website’s pages, you want them to believe that your product is worth buying. This experience can be enhanced by adding features like a suggested product reel to cross-promote products, or an easy-to use shopping cart and wishlist. You must constantly adjust your website strategy to see if these features work.
It is important to remember that once you have your website up and running, it’s not finished. You might experiment with different layouts on your product pages to direct people to different products. Then, you can conduct A/B testing and see which layout is more effective. Websites allow you to track exactly how users arrived at your site, unlike dispensaries or restaurants.
Take a look at Inventory Management & Integration
Online ordering and inventory management are a major problem for cannabis businesses. It can be difficult to pay your bills and it is sometimes necessary to manually update your inventory. This makes it very difficult to provide seamless customer service.
This is where inventory management partners like dutchie enter the picture. These partners automate the e-commerce platforms of cannabis retailers. Your brand can be highlighted on their menus while their technology converts as many browsers as possible into buyers.
COVID-19 has influenced consumer expectations about purchasing and they will continue to change even after the crisis ends. In cannabis, the same technologies consumers have come to expect from traditional retailers, such as online ordering, payments, delivery and up-to date digital menus, are now being adopted. To keep up, dispensaries will need an e-commerce strategy. This includes which technology partners they can trust.
With the help of our CBD Store Designer, you can create a stunning cannabis website.
A professionally designed website will help you to promote your brand and make an impact on your customers. Our team of experienced cannabis marketing professionals will create a website that is unique to your needs. Get in touch with us today.