It's a tricky time for vape shops. Vape content doesn't get a ton of reach because it seems to be buried in the algorithm. There's a reason: Instagram, for example, doesn't love having vape content on their platform.
So now, it's more important than ever for vape shops to have a solid SEO strategy to make sure their shop is even seen by the general population.
Let's dive deeper into SEO and some strategies vape shops can implement to ensure they're reaching their target audience.
What is SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is all the rave these days. Gone are the days of putting out ads and hoping for the best. The entire marketing landscape has changed with the arrival of social media and an ever-changing Google algorithm.
Now, there's a measurable strategy. It has its pros and cons, especially in 2025 when it seems like EVERYONE knows a thing or two about optimization.
It can be hard to compete.
On the plus side, you'll find SEO experts who are more than willing to help pretty much everywhere... even here at eJuices.co. (How do you think I got this job?)
So let's start out with SEO tip number one...
Consistency and Trust
Now, most importantly, you, as a vape shop, have a responsibility to SHOW your customers exactly why they should keep coming back. Yes, that means getting return customers inside your brick and mortar shop, but it all starts with SEO.
The internet is a tricky place and folks don't know who to trust. You're the same way, we're all the same way. We don't go to Google and just click on any old search result: we can recognize something that is worth our attention, something we can trust.
What is the number one way to build consistency and trust? You're looking at it: blogs.
But it isn't enough to just post whatever you want or create some AI-generated mess, you need to be a valuable voice in your industry, providing, not only original content, but useful content.
What is the latest news of the vape industry? What would YOUR audience want to read, or want to know? It's as easy as setting up a Google Alert for "vape news," or something like that. Keep your finger on the pulse of any newsworthy story, as well as writing about all the new and hot vape products.
You know why it's key to research relevant topics? The keyword is "key..." and "keyword..." and "research..." Um, I'll explain.
Keyword Research
First of all: what is "keyword research?"
When you type something into your Google search bar, do you see those suggested questions pop up? Those are the most commonly asked questions regarding your inquiry.
With that said, let's say you're writing a blog... one tactic for making your website rise to the front page on Google is to make your content as searchable as possible. So, you find out any relevant keywords people are using (keywords can be sentence segments as well, e.g. "best disposable vape") and implement that into your website as much as possible.
Since I'm writing a blog about SEO and vape shops, I'll give you some clear examples you can observe: the title of this blog is "SEO Strategies for Vape Shops: Standing Out in a Regulated Market." So it would be advantageous to include "SEO strategies for vape shops" as many times as possible.
Not only is "SEO strategies for vape shops" a good option, you can play with it a little bit and say "vape shop SEO strategies" or "SEO for vapes."
That way, if someone is looking for SEO strategies for vape shops but they search "SEO for vapes" or "vape shop SEO strategies," your online store has a better chance of ranking.
Google has tools like Ad-Tools that allow you to research keywords based on any given topic. There are plenty of SEO tools for the vape industry online that are very easy to use, so I'd say this is one of the best SEO strategies for vape shops.
Do you see what I'm saying? We'll see how well this does...
User Experience is VERY Important
UX is VITAL, especially if you want returning customers.
I mean, this one feels obvious if you think about it. Would you spend a lot of time on a website that makes you NOT want to be on the website? If it looks good, feels good, works good, it's all good.
That's called UX and it's the bread and butter of any web designer. It's also a great tool for any online marketing pro and SEO expert. But the thing is, and no SEO pro wants you to know this, but there are tools to make it a one man job.
At the end of the day, you know your brand more than anyone so you know what your website should look like. A good rule of thumb is design something YOU would want to see on another website.
Use some others as examples in terms of: functionality; navigation; appearance; and brand dissonance.
That said...
Look at What Your Competitors Are Doing
You're the underdog. So it's a good rule of thumb to look at what the more successful companies or vape shops are doing. Review what I've already talked about in this blog and maybe make a checklist, examining thoroughly what they did right and what they did wrong.
For example, look at what keywords they're using. It's okay to snatch those up and use them yourself. I've even seen people splice their competitors name right in their backend tags.
It even applies to YouTube. You ever look up a YouTuber and some other random content creator pops up? Check their description/tags. You just might see someone include a bigger YouTuber's username in there.
Unless you have a certain niche that is one-of-a-kind, it's good to look at what they're doing.
In Conclusion...
We want you to succeed as a vape shop. Times are tough for the vape industry and that says a lot: it's always been a bumpy ride, tackling censorship, big tobacco, and seemingly never-ending tax laws popping up left and right... not to mention the threat of flavored e-juice bans.
Best of luck to you on your SEO journey. We at eJuices.co hope that you find these SEO strategies for vape shops very useful.
Sources:
https://www.1digitalagency.com/why-vape-stores-need-seo/
https://www.clearscope.io/blog/what-is-keyword-research-in-SEO