Heating mats can be useful but can potentially cause the seeds to rot off if it’s too hot. Best to know what the actual soil temperature if you use one.

I haven’t grown a lot of pot but I start tens of thousands of seeds for my farm each year in cell trays. I think I have a good feel for what cannabis seeds need.

Many ways to go about it but here’s a good one I think. Bury your seeds no more than 1/2” in your soil (make sure it’s not super hot soil), wet the medium but don’t water log it. Put some plastic wrap over your pots unless you’re ambient humidity is 70% or more. Then put them on the top of your fridge. That damn near guarantees you an optimal enough soil temperature for germination unless your kitchen is under 65 degrees or so.

If that doesn’t get you above 90% germination, very likely you have seeds with viability issues.