Case Study · NYC Cannabis Dispensary
In ranking-keyword growth in six months for a cannabis dispensary in Times Square.
How Nicklz, a cannabis dispensary in Times Square, grew its ranking keywords by 185% and its non-branded traffic by 134% in just six months through ProStar SEO's cannabis marketing strategy.
Four numbers that sum up six months of work.
1,507
Ranking keywords
(+185%)
212
Top 10 keywords
(+80%)
+134%
Non-branded organic
traffic
7,800
Non-branded clicks
over 6 months
A dispensary in the heart of Times Square.
Nicklz is a licensed cannabis dispensary in the heart of Times Square, New York. With a strong in-store presence and a fast-growing online shop, Nicklz offers a wide selection of premium THC and CBD products — flower, vapes, edibles, and accessories — for both in-store and delivery customers.
Industry
Cannabis retail (THC, CBD, accessories)
Business model
Brick-and-mortar with direct-to-consumer e-commerce
Region
New York City, United States
Start date
March 2025
An ultra-competitive market, advertising all but banned.
Operating in an ultra-competitive New York market and facing strict advertising limits, Nicklz partnered with ProStar SEO to strengthen its local visibility and organic performance. The main challenges included:
- Limited advertising options due to cannabis-industry regulations.
- High inventory turnover, creating frequent content gaps and UX risks.
- Maintaining rankings during a web-platform migration.
- Capturing non-branded purchase intent in a very dense local market.
Primary goal
Build sustainable SEO growth through non-branded traffic, improved UX, and stronger page authority — without compromising compliance.
An approach in three moves.
To build sustainable SEO growth in a market where paid advertising isn't an option, ProStar SEO deployed a strategy focused on compliance, content rebuilding, and capturing purchase intent.
Compliance-first technical optimization
A full regulatory audit to ensure marketing compliance in cannabis. Implementing schema markup, updating XML sitemaps, and fixing Core Web Vitals. Clean crawling and fast indexing thanks to the technical improvements.
Content rebuild & page expansion
Rewriting category and product pages with unique, optimized content to improve SEO performance, reduce duplication, and increase conversions. Creating high-value collection hubs for flagship product categories.
Intent-based blog-to-cart funnel
Developing a pillar-cluster content strategy answering buyers' key questions about products and services in NYC. Publishing evergreen FAQ articles to capture search intent at every funnel stage. Embedding in-content CTAs to the relevant product pages.
SEO performance transformed in six months.
In just six months, Nicklz transformed its SEO performance: non-branded traffic growth and broader keyword coverage in an ultra-competitive cannabis market. By rebuilding key pages, aligning content with high-intent queries, and building authority the right way, ProStar SEO helped Nicklz achieve sustainable, compliant SEO gains — in a market where paid promotion isn't an option.
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking keywords (total) | 529 | 1,507 | +185% |
| Top 10 keywords | 118 | 212 | +80% |
| Non-branded traffic | 3,340 (6 months) | 7,800 (6 months) | +134% |
The numbers, in pictures.
Screenshots taken straight from our SEO analytics tools. From March to July 2025: +185% ranking keywords and +134% non-branded traffic.
Three metrics that make the difference.
+185%
Total keyword growth
From 529 keywords in March 2025 to 1,507 in July 2025.
+80%
First-page growth
From 118 first-page keywords in March 2025 to 212 in July 2025.
+134%
Non-branded traffic growth
From 3,340 clicks over 6 months to 7,800 over the same period.
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