How Remedy Columbia Grew Organic Traffic by 82% and Reached 35,000 New Patients Through SEO
82.4%
Increase in organic site users year on year
34,972
Organic users reached, up from 19,000 previously
#3
Search ranking achieved from last place at campaign start
Industry
Health and Wellness – Medical Cannabis Dispensary
Services
Keyword Research, On-Page SEO, Link Building, Technical SEO, Google Business Profile Optimisation
Campaign Timeframe
12-Month SEO Campaign
Introduction
This case study outlines how we helped Remedy Columbia, Maryland's largest medical cannabis dispensary, move from last place in local search rankings to position three and grow organic site users by 82.4%, reaching 34,972 patients within a single year.
Remedy is a patient-centred medical cannabis dispensary serving the Howard County, Maryland community. Owned and operated by local professionals, students, parents, and community volunteers, Remedy had built its reputation on a comprehensive, community-focused approach to natural medicine. As the largest dispensary in Maryland, they had a significant physical presence and an established patient base. Their digital presence, however, was not reflecting their market position. Potential patients searching online for medical cannabis dispensaries in the Howard County area were finding competitors first.
Remedy engaged Howling Media to close the gap between their real-world scale and their online visibility, with a clear objective to reach more patients through organic search and increase appointment scheduling.
The Brief
Remedy faced a challenge common among established physical businesses in competitive regulated industries: genuine market leadership that was entirely invisible in organic search. As the largest dispensary in Maryland, they had the operational scale, the product breadth, and the community trust to justify dominant search visibility. Instead they were ranking last for the local queries that drive new patient acquisition.
Key Challenges Identified
- Ranking at the bottom of search results for core local queries despite being Maryland's largest dispensary
- Keyword research had never been conducted systematically, meaning the site was not targeting the specific queries patients use when searching for medical cannabis dispensaries
- On-page content lacking the heading structure, metadata, and entity signals that search engines require to understand and rank a page correctly
- Backlink acquisition had not been pursued, leaving the site with insufficient domain authority to compete against better-optimised competitors
- Potential patients were finding competitors before Remedy across all priority local search queries
- Under-investment in technical and content foundations had created a direct gap between physical market position and organic search performance
The Strategy
Keyword Research and Opportunity Mapping
Keyword research was the foundation of the campaign. We conducted extensive analysis to identify the specific search queries patients use at each stage of their discovery and decision process, from initial awareness searches through to high-intent appointment and product queries. Competitor gap analysis identified the specific terms driving traffic to higher-ranking dispensaries, and search intent was mapped across all priority pages to ensure targeting aligned with real patient behaviour. This research informed a keyword targeting strategy that expanded Remedy's organic footprint into terms they were not previously competing for, creating new entry points for patient discovery beyond the branded and near-me searches the site was already capturing.
On-Page Content and Structure Optimisation
On-page content was rewritten and restructured across all priority pages. Copy was developed with appropriate heading tag hierarchies to communicate clear content structure to search engines, and each page was aligned with the specific search intent identified during the keyword research phase. Metadata was rewritten across commercial and location pages to improve click-through rates from search results. Entity signals were strengthened throughout the site to communicate Remedy's medical dispensary positioning clearly to search engines, ensuring the community-focused, patient-centred positioning that distinguished Remedy in the physical market was equally apparent in organic search.
Authority Building and Technical Foundations
Backlink acquisition was initiated to build the domain authority signals that search engines use to assess credibility and rank worthiness in competitive query landscapes. Links were acquired from Maryland local business sources, health and wellness directories, and cannabis industry publications to build the geographic and topical relevance signals most valuable for a local medical dispensary. The website was audited for technical issues and updated to ensure all optimised pages were fully indexed, correctly structured, and performing at the technical standard required for competitive organic rankings. Structural improvements were implemented to support sustained ranking performance across the full target keyword set.
The Results
The campaign produced a measurable and sustained improvement in Remedy Columbia's organic search performance over the twelve-month measurement period.
Organic site users grew from approximately 19,000 in 2020 to 34,972 users by the end of the following year's first quarter, representing an 82.4% increase in the organic audience the site was reaching. This growth reflected the expansion of Remedy's organic keyword footprint into queries they had not previously been capturing, combined with improved ranking positions across their existing target terms.
The search ranking improvement was significant and directly measurable. At the start of the engagement Remedy was ranking at the bottom of search results for their core local queries. Following the campaign implementation they moved to position three for their priority local search terms, placing them consistently in the top results visible to patients searching for medical cannabis dispensaries in Howard County.
For the largest dispensary in Maryland, achieving top-three organic rankings created a digital presence that finally reflected their physical market position. The 82.4% growth in organic users translated directly into more patient discovery, more appointment scheduling, and more dispensary visits attributable to organic search, delivered without the ongoing cost of paid advertising.
These results demonstrated that structured keyword research, disciplined on-page optimisation, and targeted authority building can close even a significant gap between physical market leadership and organic search visibility within a twelve-month campaign window.
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