Competing With Weedmaps and Leafly in Search Results
Where cannabis marketplaces beat dispensary websites in Google, and where a dispensary can win.
Key Takeaways
- Marketplaces rank well because they are large, well-linked sites with a page for almost every dispensary, product and city.
- A dispensary can usually win its own branded searches, many local searches and searches about its own products and deals.
- Broad city-wide searches such as "dispensaries in \[city\]" are hard to take from marketplaces and are less important than they look.
- Keep marketplace profiles accurate, since they also send shoppers to search for you by name.
On This Page
Weedmaps, Leafly and similar marketplaces outrank many dispensary websites because they are very large, heavily linked sites with a page for nearly every store, product and city. A dispensary will rarely beat them for broad city-wide searches, but it can usually win its own branded searches, many "near me" searches through the map pack, and searches about its own deals, brands and categories. Focus there, and use your marketplace profiles as a second route to the same shoppers.
Why Marketplaces Rank
Marketplaces have years of links from news sites and the industry, millions of pages and strong click data from shoppers. Google sees them as authoritative for broad cannabis searches. Their pages for individual dispensaries can also outrank a dispensary's own site when that site is thin, slow or blocked by an age gate.
Winning Branded Searches
Someone searching your store's name should find your website first. Make sure your home and location pages use the store name clearly, your Business Profile links to your site, Google can crawl past the age gate and your site loads quickly. If a marketplace page outranks your site for your own name, the site usually has an indexing or quality problem worth fixing first.
Local Pack Against Marketplace Listings
The map pack lists individual businesses, so a strong Business Profile puts you in front of marketplace links for many local searches. Accurate category, steady reviews and a strong location page are the levers. Our guide to Google Business Profile for dispensaries covers the setup.
Content Marketplaces Cannot Match
Marketplaces describe thousands of stores in the same template. You can publish what only you know: staff picks, local events, deals at your store, the brands you carry and why, and guidance for first-time visitors. Category and brand pages built this way can rank for searches like "[brand] near [neighborhood]" that marketplaces cover generically.
Using Marketplace Profiles Well
Keep name, address, hours and menu on marketplace profiles consistent with your website and Business Profile. Respond to reviews there too. Many shoppers check a marketplace and then search for the store directly, which shows up as branded search.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my dispensary outrank Weedmaps?
For your own name, many local searches and specific products or deals, often yes. For broad city-wide searches, it is difficult.
Should I stop using marketplaces?
That is a business decision beyond SEO. For search, accurate marketplace profiles help shoppers find and trust your store.
Why does Weedmaps rank for my store name?
Usually because your own site has weak signals, such as thin pages, slow loading or an age gate that blocks Google.
Sources
- Google Search Console search.google.com