Introduction

SunMed Growers, Maryland’s premier “Dutch-style” greenhouse cannabis cultivator, sought to become the household name in the Baltimore area. With a diverse product line but no direct consumer sales, they needed to elevate their brand awareness and drive website traffic through informative and engaging content

Vision

The cannabis industry is highly competitive, with strict marketing restrictions. SunMed wanted a strategy that could deliver consistent results while complying with regulations.  In addition to increasing their awareness of what they do, we also needed to increase visibility of their array of products, including flower, vapes and edibles which are distributed across 100+ Dispensaries in the Maryland/DC area.

Goal

Become the household name among cannabis products in the Baltimore area by creating compelling useful content that increases traffic to their website month over month.

Strategy

Cordelia Labs knew that harnessing the power of SEO to position SunMed as a trusted authority in the cannabis space was the right Marketing strategy to exceed their goals. Through a series of audits and in-depth research, our focused became clear:

Keyword Optimization:  In 2023, SunMed was indexing around 1,200 keywords which we knew needed to grow.  We identified and expanded their current list with more high-value, relevant keywords related to cannabis cultivation, medical use, products and recipes.

Content Expansion: While SunMed had a blog and an extensive amount of relevant content, we knew that we needed an overhaul.  We reorganized their existing content into clusters so we could refresh some of the most popular topics to give them a boost and begin researching underdeveloped ones to capitalize on trends in the industry.  

Lastly, we created a comprehensive content calendar that included rewriting existing content and developing new articles that we started populating their new blog almost immediately.   

Format Experimentation: Testing various content formats, like guides, listicles and recipes, helped us to identify what resonated best with SunMed’s target audience.

Authority Building: To ensure all content was unique, authoritative and showcased SunMed’s expertise in the cannabis industry, we interviewed industry experts and incorporated data-driven insights into each piece.

Outcome

After six months of consistent effort, we witnessed significant improvements:

  • Organic Traffic Growth: SunMed’s organic website traffic grew 87% from the beginning of the year.
  • Total Keywords:  Increased 3x from Q4

  • Newsletter Subscriptions: The number of newsletter subscribers grew 76%

  • “Where to Buy” Page: Traffic to the “Where to Buy” landing page soared by 261%.

 

SunMed’s content calendar now has a mix of content that works, but we also continue to test new topics and formats to continue seeing traffic climb month over month.   

Insights gained
Patience was key. SEO takes time, especially in a highly competitive and regulated industry like cannabis. We focused on building a strong foundation through high-quality content and consistent optimization, which ultimately led to significant results.

Conclusion

The SunMed Growers case study proves it: SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. While results take time, the payoff is undeniable. At Cordelia Labs, our blend of patience, expert content creation and SEO mastery crafts winning strategies for lasting success. Need a boost while your SEO gains traction? Our full-service agency offers paid media solutions as well to accelerate your growth. Ready to get started? Reach out today!