Smoky Mountain CBD was founded to cater to the needs of older adults, something often overlooked by mainstream CBD companies in favor of younger audiences. Ryan (founder of Smoky Mountain CBD) managed to build a significant consumer base through a simple, WordPress website.
Rebranding hemp products for a mature audience.
Smoky Mountain CBD
Copywriting
Web Design
Web Development
Cannabis (Retail)
However, Ryan, company’s founder realized that he needed to get his company website on par with his products. This is where I came in. Join me as we raise awareness surrounding CBD and help bring these products in front of those who need them the most - through brilliant content.
The Results
Over the course of ten months, I optimized Smoky Mountain CBD’s presence on Google and other search engines through a combination of unconventional (but white-hat) SEO strategies and quality blog posts.
The company blog grew from a just handful of short articles to over two dozen articles — following SEO best practices. That said, the copy I write is meant for humans first, and crawl bots second.
Through sustained efforts, we managed to achieve some remarkable numbers.
Through sustained efforts, we managed to achieve some remarkable numbers.
410% Increase in Traffic in 11 Months
Modernize the website to simplify the customer journey and complement the new website copy.
766% Increase in Top Keywords
Come up with a business messaging framework that correctly conveys company values and goals.
100% Local SEO
Increase organic search traffic by optimizing the company blog.
Upward Trajectory
With the new, more optimized website, I expect both organic traffic and sales to continue booming.
About the Company
The CBD industry is so busy catering to the younger demographics that it has forgotten about the group that needs it most - working adults.
Smoky Mountain CBD, a premium hemp company from the mountains of East Tennessee, leads by example with its wide range of hemp products formulated with grown-up needs in mind.
Smoky Mountain CBD, a premium hemp company from the mountains of East Tennessee, leads by example with its wide range of hemp products formulated with grown-up needs in mind.
In just five short years, the company has become the most trusted CBD manufacturer and supplier in the Tennessee area.
In fact, if you’ve ever had any hemp-based products in and around Tennessee, chances are that this company had a role to play in its making.
In fact, if you’ve ever had any hemp-based products in and around Tennessee, chances are that this company had a role to play in its making.
The Challenge
Ryan initially reached out to me to improve local SEO. The success of this early partnership deserved a sequel so we extended my retainer to focus on the company’s aging website copy as well.
And finally, to round it all off, I decided to bring the website on par with the copy, design-wise. In other words, I had three goals.
01
Modernize the website to simplify the customer journey and complement the new website copy.
02
Come up with a business messaging framework that correctly conveys company values and goals.
03
Increase organic search traffic by optimizing the company blog.
Art of Content Marketing
Our first goal was to produce some killer blog articles to drive traffic from Google Search and kickstart Smoky Mountain’s organic lead generation.
The deliverables during this phase were short, to-the-point informative blog posts. However, organic traffic is extremely competitive in this industry.
The Best Possible Spot on Google Search
Delta 8 Distillate is one of the most important products for Smoky Mountain CBD and our article for the target keyword reached the top of Google Search Engine Result Page (SERPs) within months of publication.
Business messaging
The next big challenge was creating a business messaging framework to guide the website copy as well as future marketing collateral.
I established the key principles of Smoky Mountain CBD, its products, and the team behind it all. Based on this, I narrowed our focus to three key aspects.
01
The target demographic is older adults – make them feel heard.
02
Safety is the top priority. Everything is third-party tested and completely transparent.
03
This is an established manufacturer, supplier, and distributor of CBD products.
Web design & development
With the website and product copy done, I arrived at the biggest challenge yet, updating the company website.
Choosing the CMS
My first choice was Webflow but the unique payment regulations for the CBD industry meant there could be payment-processor related issues down the line.
So instead, we decided to continue on WordPress with the pre-configured Square account to avoid potential service disruption.
So instead, we decided to continue on WordPress with the pre-configured Square account to avoid potential service disruption.
Setting Objectives
During this process, I had two main objectives in mind:
- Ensure the website has a “standard” layout that’s easy to navigate
- Make the website and product easy to update
Creating Mockups and Assets
I started working on website mockups as well as assets and media for the website.
Assets included product mockups, iconography, banners, hero images, blog images, as well as media for the new formulations.
Assets included product mockups, iconography, banners, hero images, blog images, as well as media for the new formulations.
Optimizing Existing Content
The website already had over 50 CMS items that needed performance and SEO optimization.
In addition to the blog posts and products, I also needed to improve load speeds and performance on both mobile and tablet breakpoints.
In addition to the blog posts and products, I also needed to improve load speeds and performance on both mobile and tablet breakpoints.
Iterative Development
Throughout the design process, I implemented feedback from the Smoky Mountain team into the staging website.
I know these things take time and I don’t do rush jobs.
I know these things take time and I don’t do rush jobs.
Launch Day
The new Smoky Mountain website was moved from staging to the live domain around midnight to minimize user disruption.
I worked alongside the in-house team in case any issues had to be ironed out.
I worked alongside the in-house team in case any issues had to be ironed out.
Post-launch Updates
Though the website was live and fucntioning as expected, our work wasn’t complete just yet.
I continued optimizing and improving the sales funnel based on live feedback from real users.
I continued optimizing and improving the sales funnel based on live feedback from real users.
Flexible billing
I value client satisfaction more than anything else. And part of that is offering flexibility in billing to help address unique and fluid requirements. My work with Smoky Mountain CBD is a great example of the efficiency of this model.
Since the initial objective of the project was a series of blog articles, I recommended a retainer for 10,000 words, giving me the flexibility to create the perfect article for each target keyword.
At the same time, the client had complete visibility through comprehensive project trackers and assurance of on-time and on-budget project completion.
Success from the content writing prompted Smoky Mountain CBD to extend the project’s scope to also include copywriting, website design, and development. An hourly retainer was the ideal choice here.
Since the initial objective of the project was a series of blog articles, I recommended a retainer for 10,000 words, giving me the flexibility to create the perfect article for each target keyword.
At the same time, the client had complete visibility through comprehensive project trackers and assurance of on-time and on-budget project completion.
Success from the content writing prompted Smoky Mountain CBD to extend the project’s scope to also include copywriting, website design, and development. An hourly retainer was the ideal choice here.
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