When asked about online presence, a lot of medical marijuana business owners will refer to their Facebook or Myspace account as a primary destination and go on to include that they are on a number of websites listing their location and contact information such as Google, Yelp or WeedTRACKER.  This is common for organizations that have a basic approach to establishing an online presence and is a good first step, certainly better than having nothing at all, which far too many players in the medical marijuana industry are guilty of.  However in today’s rapidly expanding medical cannabis industry, simply having a Facebook page isn’t nearly enough and can actually work against you from a marketing standpoint.  In working with the Los Angeles medical marijuana community, 420 Web Pros has observed the various stages of growth and establishment among businesses, medical practices and collective organizations and developed a strategy for best exposing a client to their target users.  We do this by identifying and focusing on the most fundamental benefit that the web has to offer for an individual organization.  The medical marijuana industry in Los Angeles is booming and serves as a microcosm for the rest of the country, but because of this boom there is also an increase in competition, and the ability of 420 Web Pros to make you stand out among that competition is what makes us Los Angeles’ #1 Web Design company serving the medical cannabis industry.

When we say that we best expose clients to their target users, it means a number of things.  The medical marijuana industry encompasses a broad spectrum of organizations. You cannot use the exact same approach for every group, and often your approach will vary greatly from one sector to the next.  In order to best expose you to your target user, it is important to understand who that is.  If you are a collective, and you are looking to promote awareness about your location, posting your contact information on various resources is good, but if that is the end of your strategy you will get lost in the mix.  Like I said before, Los Angeles’ medical marijuana community is a microcosm for the world, expanding withing the boundaries of our own city as quickly as the acceptance of medical marijuana is spreading throughout the country and beyond.  In the last few years the number of collectives providing medical marijuana has risen by a volume of hundreds each year. In order to increase awareness among patients in your area and establish trust and confidence in your organization, it is important to have a website that is as individually tailored to the attitude and culture of your collective and communicates clearly the most applicable information in the most accessible way possible.  For most collectives in Los Angeles and beyond, this is going to revolve around a custom design portraying the essence of your group with the ability to make regular updates and interact with your patients.  This is what sets confident, successful organizations apart from the rest of the pack.

Having goals will help you achieve online success.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsgreg/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

If you are a non-profit organization your approach is going to be different than that of a collective.  The same is true of a merchandising business.  Exposure is key for any medical cannabis business, but just because you are on Facebook and WeedTRACKER doesn’t mean that you’re getting exposure.  With over 250 million members, Facebook is overrun with users and while it is a great way to network, it’s not a good tool for setting yourself apart.  You are given a limited profile and there is virtually no room to express your medical marijuana business’ personality and what makes it unique.  The same is true of Yelp or WeedTRACKER or other listing sites.  They allow you to post basic information about yourself, but there is no way to really communicate the individual nature of your medical marijuana organization.  Apart from the aesthetic drawbacks to free online listing sites, they don’t allow for customization, or have necessary features to really addresses your goals.  Having clearly defined goals is the best way to measure the effectiveness of your web campaign, and one of the main drawbacks to free networking or listing sites is that they don’t allow for any customization in order to pursue a certain set of goals. A website that has clearly defined goals is much more useful to the end user and will encourage repeat traffic. The best tool for attracting user to your medical marijuana organization on the web is a custom built website that addresses priority function and has a carefully planned support strategy around that function.  With 420 Web Pros that includes eye catching, intuitive web design coupled with organic search engine optimization and custom functionality.  We’re using this custom web design approach to make a big impact on the Los Angeles’ medical marijuana community and helping our clients establish an advantage over other organizations competing for attention among the same user groups.

Having a profile on popular social networking sites and being listed on free listing sites is important and works to ensure that your contact information is widely available to the public, but nothing will increase awareness of your business and inspire confidence in your organization the same way that a custom built web solution will.  If you’re ready to pursue a strong position online for your medical marijuana business, or want to improve the quality of your online presence, make sure that your next move includes a well thought out strategy with a clearly defined objective and encompasses the same careful consideration that we employ at 420 Web Pros.  We have used this technique to position ourselves as Los Angeles’ premiere medical marijuana web design company, and invite anyone who is interested in exploring our approach to contact us and ask more about what we can do for your medical cannabis organization.