Digital PR and link building
Cannabis Digital PR and Link Building
Step 01
Identify
Find the journalists already covering cannabis. News alerts, the reporters themselves on social, the journalism community, whoever is covering your competitors, and the industry publication mastheads. Build a working list.
Step 1
Step 02
Engage
Engage with their work without pitching it. Read and share articles with thoughtful comments, answer the questions they put out, tag them in relevant industry news. Do not pitch yet. Build awareness.
Step 2
Step 03
Introduce
Send an introduction, not a pitch. A specific observation about something they recently wrote, a line on who you are, and an ask for a call. The goal of this email is a conversation, not coverage.
Step 3
Step 04
Pitch
Once the relationship exists, pitch only stories that match their beat, built as newsworthiness plus source value plus ease. Cold pitching is the weakest version of this. The relationship is the variable that improves it.
Step 4
The channels
Where the links actually come from
Digital PR campaigns
Newsworthy announcements, expert positioning and thought leadership, run across a short list of journalists and publications rather than blasted at everyone.
Targeted, relationship led
Original research
Proprietary survey and market data, published as a report. Journalists cite it because they need the numbers, and every citation carries a link back to the report.
A citable report
Expert source responses
Answer journalist requests fast
Guest posting bylines
Bylines on relevant publications
Broken link replacement
Offer the working replacement
Anchor text
The anchor types a natural link profile mixes
- Branded anchors
- Brand name
- Naked URLs
- Raw address
- Generic anchors
- Plain prompt
- Partial match
- Topic phrase
- Exact match
- Sparingly
The brand name, the bare domain, the team name
The raw address, pasted as written
Click here, learn more, this guide, read the full report
Cannabis marketing strategies, dispensary SEO tips
Exact match phrases repeated at scale look manipulative, so we keep them rare
Why it compounds
The first links are the hard ones
Original research
Become the data source and you become the permanent citation target
- MJBizDaily
- Leafly
- Cannabis Business Times
- High Times
- Weedmaps
- Cannabis Dispensary Magazine
- Cannabis and Tech Today
- mg Magazine
- Green Entrepreneur
- Ganjapreneur
PR and links
The questions operators ask before funding a link program
6 answered
- 01Why does PR matter for cannabis authority?
- Cannabis authority requires third party validation. Your own content says you are great, third party coverage proves it. Backlinks from authoritative sources signal trust to search engines, and a link from a relevant cannabis industry authority carries more weight than links from irrelevant sites.
- 02How do you start a journalist relationship?
- Research the journalists covering cannabis, read their articles, comment thoughtfully, share their work, and build rapport over months before you pitch anything. Relationship building is slow and it compounds. One good relationship can lead to repeat coverage.
- 03What makes a cannabis story newsworthy?
- A launch, an expansion, original data, a partnership, an advocacy position, or a real innovation. Generic company exists is not news. Company launches an education program is news. Work backward from what journalists already cover.
- 04What is broken link building?
- You find broken links on authority sites, identify or create content of your own covering the same topic, and pitch it as the replacement. Cannabis sites break links constantly as dispensaries close and resources go stale. Because you are fixing a problem for the site owner, it is often easier than cold outreach.
- 05What is a competitor link gap?
- A site linking to two or more of your competitors but not to you. Those sites are pre qualified, because they have already demonstrated a willingness to link to cannabis content. Export competitor referring domains, cross reference against your own, then filter by domain authority.
- 06Does expert source outreach work in cannabis?
- It connects journalists seeking sources with industry professionals, and cannabis queries appear across business, health, lifestyle and technology categories. Requests arrive by email and the response window is short, so speed decides it.
Link quality
Relevance and placement beat link volume
| Criteria | Worth the outreach | Not worth the outreach |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Rating | Our floor is a Domain Rating of 30, with higher rated sites first in line | A very low Domain Rating, unless the topical fit is perfect |
| Topical relevance | Covers cannabis, health, wellness, retail or local business | Topically irrelevant, so the value carried is diminished |
| Traffic value | Real organic traffic, so the link delivers referrals as well as ranking value | Zero traffic, which provides minimal SEO benefit |
| Link placement | Editorial, inside body content, where placement signals a genuine endorsement | Sidebar, footer or author bio |
| Anchor text | A natural mix of branded, naked, generic and occasional keyword rich | Exact match phrases repeated at scale, which looks manipulative |
| Link neighborhood | Links out to topically adjacent sites | Also links to gambling, pharma or adult content |
The full discipline
Every piece of this discipline, in 8 deep dives
- 01Cannabis Broken Link BuildingRead the breakdown
- 02Cannabis Guest Posting StrategyRead the breakdown
- 03Cannabis Industry PR ServicesRead the breakdown
- 04Cannabis Influencer PartnershipsRead the breakdown
- 05Cannabis Journalist Outreach StrategyRead the breakdown
- 06Cannabis PR Campaign StrategyRead the breakdown
- 07Cannabis Resource Page Link BuildingRead the breakdown
- 08Cannabis Unlinked Mention RecoveryRead the breakdown
Start the program