Optimizing blog content for a nationally-ranked hospital resulted in a 351.5% increase in organic sessions and an 887% increase in position 1-3 keywords.
SEO + Content Case Study
Cannabis company’s keyword visibility up 685%
Marijuana legalization presented a tight timeline for cannabis client’s desired results. Our aggressive on-site SEO strategy resulted in a dramatic boost in the client’s keyword rankings, increased traffic, and visibility.
Results
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685%
increase in top 3 keywords
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66%
increase in organic traffic
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51%
increase in conversions
The Client:
The client is a marijuana dispensary specializing in both recreational and medical cannabis with locations in five states.
The Objective:
When we started our engagement in June 2019, the client was looking to outpace competitors in an increasingly crowded marketplace. At the time, we were under a tight deadline to achieve results before two key markets updated their marijuana laws.
-Increase equity as websites merged
-Increase rankings for key terms: marijuana, dispensary, medical marijuana
-Increase visibility of physical locations
SEO Strategy
Prioritize projects to meet deadline
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The Problem
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We had just under six months to complete on-site SEO work before two states, in which the client operates, updated their marijuana laws. Their on-site content needed to reflect the changes to better serve future customers.
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The Solution
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We anticipated organic traffic for marijuana keywords to surge at that time, and prioritized projects that would assure that their website be more visible and able to perform at its peak.
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Why it Matters
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The strategic decision to prioritize some projects over others reflected our connection to our client’s business goals. While other aspects of their on-site work were equally important, the prioritization of these projects set the client up for more rapid success.
“Our metrics are all about traffic and conversion. We also look at how our pages are ranking and what our site’s domain authority is. Since we started working with Digital Third Coast, we’ve tripled site traffic.”
Director of Marketing, Marijuana Dispensary Client
Address underlying website issues
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The Problem
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Their website was, at it’s core, not SEO friendly. Due to legal requirements for age and location verification, the site was siloed and plagued by duplicate content.
Our initial site audit also revealed their Drupal CMS had URLs with incorrect state labels and dozens of duplicate URLs that complicated their site map. -
The Solution
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In order to make their website SEO friendly, we needed to first optimize its underlying structure. We corrected the on-site errors and mapped keywords to URLs to clearly designate locations.
To remedy the issues resulting from their initial siloed site structure, we created global pages and redirected overlapping content to them. We then consolidated page content information and eliminated keyword cannibalization. -
Why it Matters
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Structural issues can be detrimental to a website’s visibility and ranking in search. Beyond that, a complicated site structure can lead to a problematic user experience, which for a B2C company, is essential to successful business.
Optimize local pages and listings
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The Problem
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The client’s local listings in search platforms contained incorrect or confusing information about hours of operation and exact locations.
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The Solution
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We audited their Google My Business (GMB) profiles and Apple Maps listings for dispensary locations and optimized them for, (1) accurate location names, services, hours, and (2) added “marijuana dispensary” to increase their visibility in organic searches.
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Why it Matters
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As a B2C company, the client’s local pages had to be optimized to the smoothest customer experience. If customers cannot find or reach you easily, it can lead to loss of business.
The client experienced saw a 685% increase in the number of keywords in which they ranked in the top 3 positions in Google — a key indicator of improved visibility.
Results
Between June 2019 and the end of December 2019, the client experienced dramatic boosts in their keyword rankings. Beyond their spike in top 3 positioned rankings, they saw a 618% increase in their rankings for top 4-10 positioned keywords, and a 690% boost in the number of top 11-20 keywords.
65.7%
increase in organic traffic to the client’s website.
As their visibility in search improved with the positive keyword movement, the client saw a 65.7% increase in organic traffic, and a 51% increase in the number of forms completed.
We also recognize the end of 2019, ahead of the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state of Illinois, was the beginning of peaked interest in marijuana dispensaries in the region, and contributed to some of the organic traffic increases.
“My point of contact is extremely responsive, and Digital Third Coast is partnered with our web agency. We have calls between the three of us weekly to review action items and to address any challenges or opportunities we’ve identified.
I’ve been very pleased with the work they’ve done and the partnership we’ve formed over the last several months.”
Director of Marketing, Marijuana Dispensary Client
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Lyndsey Maddox
Director of Business Development
Email Lyndsey. Find out how we can help.