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CannabisE-CommerceMarketingSEO Best Practices

Why Cannabis Dispensaries Can’t Ignore SEO in 2025

A stylized Google search bar with the word “Search” in multicolored letters above a text box that asks, “Is your Dispensary showing up?” on a bright blue background.

SEO isn’t optional anymore—it’s how your dispensary gets found (and chosen)

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Got your 4/20 promo plan ready? Great. But can people find you online?

As the biggest cannabis sales day of the year approaches, one thing often gets overlooked: visibility. And we’re not talking about signage or store hours. We’re talking search.

In 2025, cannabis customers aren’t wandering around—they’re searching with purpose. Local search terms like “weed delivery [city]”, “dispensary near me” or “[cannabis brand] pre-rolls in [city]” are what drive foot traffic and online orders. If your store doesn’t show up when people search for these terms online, you’re leaving sales on the table.

Let’s look at why SEO (Search Engine Optimization) should be part of your core strategy—and what steps you can take this week to start showing up.

  1. Today’s Cannabis Shoppers Start with Search

Google research shows that 76% of people who perform a local search on their phone visit or contact a business within 24 hours. Cannabis buying habits follow this same trend.

Whether it’s “THC drinks Toronto” or “weed delivery edmonton” shoppers are looking with intent. These are high-converting moments. Your dispensary needs to show up for them.

  1. Many Dispensaries Still Aren’t Showing Up

This part’s a little hard to hear: a lot of cannabis retailers (who are still using iframe) aren’t even indexed by Google. That means their websites don’t exist in search results.

Here’s what usually goes wrong:

  • iFrame embedded menus—Google can’t read them
  • Metadata is missing or not localized
  • Google Business Profile isn’t claimed or updated
  • No original content like blogs or product guides

Here’s an exercise you can do to check if your store shows up google. Visit google and search for ‘weed delivery [your city]’ and see what stores come up. If yours isn’t on the top 4, you’re losing out on new customers and potential sales.

It’s not that your store isn’t good—it’s that search engines can’t understand it.

  1. SEO Builds Long-Term Visibility

Paid Ads are very tricky in this regulated industry and even if it does work, it is only till your budget lasts. SEO is different. It keeps working long after you hit “publish.”

Think of it this way:

  • Paid ads = renting visibility
  • SEO = owning your corner of the internet

Content optimized for the right keywords combined with a ‘true eCommerce site’ keeps bringing customers in, 24/7. At Breadstack, we’re champions of building true eCommerce sites – something that exists for years in other industries. As we like to put it “we’re not reinventing the wheel, just bringing top ecommerce experience that exists in other industries to the cannabis world”

  1. SEO Delivers Real Results (grows revenue)

This isn’t theory.

Stok’d Cannabis used Breadstack’s SEO-forward eCommerce tools and saw a 39% increase in online sales. The wins came from better indexing, improved structure, and stronger visibility for local searches.

Another stat shared recently by the Stok’d team was that their Week over Week online sales have increased by a whopping 114.2%. Check out the screenshot below. From $7K a month with their previous iFrame ecommerce provider to $15K a month with Breadstack’s true eCommerce solution, Stok’d is winning big and we’re so proud of them.

A donut chart showing online order payment breakdown for Stok'd cannabis dispensary over the last 7 days. 61% of customers paid by credit card, 22% via e-transfer, and 17% paid upon pickup. The total online order value is $14,997
Donut graph showing online order payment breakdown statistics of Stok'd cannabis' online orders for the past 7 days valued at almost $15,000

1922 Cannabis – another Breadstack client, has seen their online orders shoot up by 22% and has added $23,000 in new revenue since upgrading to Breadstack. They are now visible on the first page of google search when you search for ‘weed delivery downtown toronto’ which wasn’t possible before Breadstack.

  1. Quick Wins You Can Put in Place Now

Want to get started fast? Focus on these:

  • Google Business Profile: Claim it, update hours, add photos, and reply to reviews.
  • Use local language: Add city- and product-specific keywords to your homepage and product descriptions.
  • Answer real questions: Add blog posts that tackle common queries like “What’s the difference between indica and sativa?”

Want the Full SEO Blueprint? Join Us May 20 1pm EST / 10am PST.

We’re dropping SEO knowledge all month long. But on May 20, we’re going deep.

We will be inviting top SEO partners who are killing it in the cannabis space and get insights from them on how to rank on top and drive conversions.

Join us for Dispensary SEO Blueprint, a live walkthrough of how to build a cannabis-specific SEO strategy from the ground up.

If you want more traffic, better rankings, more sales, and customers who find you—you’ll want to be there. Enter your details below to sign up for the Blueprint.

Though we cannot help you build a true ecommerce site in time for the 2025 4/20, we can however get your cannabis dispensary ready for the next one. If you want to show up, reach more customers and increase online sales, It might be time to upgrade! Book a free demo to learn how Breadstack can help your business thrive.

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