Key takeaways
- With THC ads off Google and Meta, the website does work ads do in other retail, so it has to answer a first-timer's questions in a few taps.
- The menu is the site. Keep it on your domain, synced with the POS, so search engines can read it and customers can trust it.
- Launch on a date weeks before 4/20 or the holidays, never during the rush, with redirects for every old page.
- Own the domain, hosting, code and menu account in your business name.
Website design for a dispensary has one job: turn a search into a first visit, then make the next visit easier. That takes a menu that matches the shelf, pre-ordering that works on a phone, and pages that answer what a first-timer worries about. We build it to a launch date before your busy season, and you own the domain, the hosting and the code.
What a dispensary website has to do
It has to get five kinds of visitor to your counter, and each one arrives with a different question.
| Who is visiting | What they want to know | What the site must show them |
|---|---|---|
| A first-timer in a newly legal market | What do I bring, and what happens inside? | A first-visit page: ID, payment, parking and how check-in works |
| Someone who just moved | Is this the closest store, and is it open now? | Address, today's hours and a directions button at the top of the page |
| A deal shopper | Is the deal real, and is it in stock? | A deals page that matches the POS, with a pre-order button beside each deal |
| A referral | Do they carry what my friend bought? | A searchable menu with live stock |
| A medical patient, if you serve them | Do they take my card, and is there patient pricing? | A patient page and a patient menu where your state requires one |
The site carries more weight for you than for most retailers. Google's ad policies bar promotion of THC products (Google's policy), so you can't buy your way past a weak website. It is also where compliance shows: the age gate, any warnings your state requires, and copy that makes no health claims.
Where a website loses customers
- Visitor arrives From search, Maps or an ad Where it leaks: Slow on a phone
- Sees proof Reviews, photos, real work Where it leaks: Nothing they can check
- Finds the next step Call, quote or booking Where it leaks: Phone number buried
- Takes it One tap or a short form Where it leaks: Long forms and dead ends
- Booked new customer Tracked to the page that earned it
What we build
- A menu on your own domain, synced with your POS so sold-out items drop off, with category pages for flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles and concentrates that search engines can read.
- Pre-order and pickup on a phone, with a guest path, a clear hold time and a ready-for-pickup message. Delivery checkout where your state allows it.
- The pages first visits come from: first visit, medical patients, deals, loyalty, and one page per store with its own hours, parking and directions.
- An age gate that works for people and search engines, so the content behind it can still be crawled (Google's spam policies cover what not to do with hidden content).
- A compliance step in the build. Your compliance lead approves copy and claims before anything goes live.
- Speed you can check. Pages measured against Google's Core Web Vitals on a phone (Google's guidance).
- Local business markup with your address and hours (Google's markup guide).
- Tracking of pre-orders, direction taps, calls and loyalty sign-ups, by source.
Owning your site
You should own every piece of it in your business name, because the website is where your customers, your history and your printed QR codes all point.
| Piece | Why it matters for a dispensary | Where it should live |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Bags, receipts, printed menus and every listing link to it | Your registrar account |
| Hosting | Some hosts and site builders restrict cannabis businesses in their terms | Your account with a host whose terms allow your business |
| Code and design | If the relationship ends, the site stays | Handed over to you, not licensed back |
| Menu provider account | The menu, its integration keys and its order history | In your business name, with us added as a user |
| Analytics and Search Console | Years of data on what brings first visits | Your Google account |
Ownership is also what makes a deadline mean something. When everything is in your accounts, a missed date costs the vendor, not you, and you can bring someone else in to finish.
How it works
- Assess. We review the current site, menu integration, speed and pages, and pull the searches that already reach you from Search Console.
- Prioritize. We agree the pages, the menu setup and a launch date. We aim for weeks before 4/20 or the holidays, never during them, and map every old URL to a redirect so rankings carry over.
- Execute. We build in your accounts, your compliance lead signs off, and we launch on the date we set.
- Measure. We report pre-orders, direction taps and first-time customers from the site each month. The conversion checklist for dispensary websites is what we audit against.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We build dispensary websites as fixed-scope projects with a launch date, in accounts you own from day one, and we report in pre-orders and first-time customers rather than page views. If you want to know what a build like this costs first, read what a dispensary website costs. Then book a growth consultation and we will walk your current site from Google to a finished pre-order on a phone, and count the taps that lose people.
Sources
- Dangerous products or services policy, Google Advertising Policies Help
- Understanding Core Web Vitals and Google search results, Google Search Central
- Local business structured data, Google Search Central
- Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central