The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, with new opportunities emerging in cultivation, retail, ancillary services, and high-ticket product sales.
If you’re considering expanding your niche within this space, you need to assess client acquisition potential and SEO viability before committing time and resources.
One of the best ways to gauge a niche’s competitiveness and potential is through structured niche research.
Here’s how you can analyze a niche to see if it’s a hidden goldmine or a tough battleground.
Step 1: Conduct a Google Search
Start by identifying the primary keyword that defines your target niche. If you’re considering high-ticket cannabis equipment, for example, a keyword like “cannabis extraction equipment” could be a good starting point.
Enter the keyword in Google and extract the top-ranking sites on page 1.
Then, do the same for page 2 of search results.
These two groups of websites will give you an overview of the current competition.
Step 2: Run a Batch Analysis in Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a powerful tool for SEO analysis, helping you determine how difficult it would be to rank in a given niche.
Take the list of websites from both Google search result pages and run them through Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis tool to analyze:
- Domain Rating (DR): Higher DR sites indicate stronger, well-established websites.
- Referring Domains: Look at the number of dofollow backlinks these sites have. Fewer referring domains can mean a lower barrier to entry.
- Traffic Metrics: Determine whether these websites are getting significant organic traffic from their keywords.
Step 3: Assess the Competition
If the websites ranking on page 1 have a relatively low number of referring domains, and page 2 sites have even fewer backlinks, this could be a strong indication that the niche is underutilized in SEO.
This means there’s an opportunity to dominate rankings with a well-structured SEO campaign.
For example, let’s say you found a niche where the products sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars but the current market players have weak backlink profiles.
This suggests that investing in content marketing, link-building, and on-page optimization could allow you to outrank competitors and capture a lucrative segment of the cannabis market.
Why This Matters for the Cannabis Industry
- Low Competition = Faster Rankings: Unlike saturated cannabis niches (e.g., “CBD oil”), lesser-known niches with high-ticket products offer faster SEO wins.
- High-Ticket Sales = Bigger ROI: If the average sale price of a product in your niche is in the hundreds of thousands, even ranking for a small number of keywords can generate significant revenue.
- Untapped Market Potential: The cannabis industry is still evolving, and many niche opportunities are yet to be fully exploited.
Next Steps: Dominate Your Cannabis Niche with SEO
If your research uncovers a niche with low competition, it’s time to act:
- Develop a Content Strategy: Publish long-form, authoritative content targeting key terms in the niche.
- Build Backlinks Strategically: Outreach to relevant cannabis websites, industry blogs, and forums to establish credibility.
- Optimize for On-Page SEO: Ensure proper use of title tags, meta descriptions, internal linking, and keyword placement.
- Leverage Social Proof & Case Studies: Since high-ticket clients need trust, publish client testimonials and industry case studies.
By following this method, you can identify and dominate profitable niches in the cannabis industry with a data-driven approach.
Whether you’re selling cannabis equipment, offering specialized consulting, or targeting emerging segments, smart SEO research can give you a competitive edge before your rivals even realize the opportunity exists.
Want help executing this strategy?
Contact us today to build an SEO plan that puts your cannabis business at the top of Google!