Case Study · CBD Retail

+320%.

In organic click growth over one year for a French CBD shop.

How ProStar SEO helped a French CBD shop achieve 320% traffic growth in one year through advanced keyword research, expert content optimization, technical improvements, and a link-building strategy — all while strictly complying with French regulations.

Client Premium French CBD online shop
Industry CBD retail · E-commerce (B2C)
Market France · Nationwide delivery
Engagement July 2024 → July 2025

Vector illustration of a CBD shop — ProStar SEO case study
Overview

Four numbers that sum up one year of work.

492

Ranking keywords
(+189%)

53

First-page Google
keywords (+130%)

+320%

Click growth
over 1 year

130+

Daily organic
clicks (+189%)

About the client

A premium CBD shop.

ProStar SEO's client is a French online shop specializing in premium CBD flower and hemp-derived products. In a fast-evolving, heavily regulated market, the shop stands out through product quality, transparency, and impeccable customer service.

Industry

CBD retail (B2C)

Business type

Physical stores & online shop

Region

France · Nationwide delivery

Primary goal

Grow organic visibility and drive qualified traffic, while complying with French law

The challenge

Premium products, limited visibility.

Despite its premium products, the CBD shop suffered from limited online visibility: only 170 ranking keywords and an average of 45 organic clicks per day. This weak search presence was holding back growth, customer acquisition, and brand awareness in an increasingly crowded space.

  • Strict regulations. The shop had to operate within France's shifting legal framework for CBD, ensuring all marketing and product content complied with local and European guidelines.
  • Saturated market. France's CBD sector is fiercely competitive, dominated by established players with strong SEO presence.
  • Credibility and authority to build. As a newcomer, the shop had to quickly establish its legitimacy in a sector where trust and transparency are decisive.
  • Single-language market constraints. Growth had to come solely from the French-speaking market, with no option to leverage international or English-language SEO strategies.

Goal

Grow organic visibility, rank on France's main CBD keywords, and drive a strong increase in qualified traffic and sales — all while complying with French law.

The strategy

An approach in four moves.

To build strong, sustainable growth in a market as tightly regulated as CBD, ProStar SEO deployed a four-pronged strategy.

01.

In-depth market and keyword analysis

Mapping the French CBD landscape, benchmarking major competitors, and identifying high-potential, compliant keywords aligned with purchase intent.

02.

Content creation and optimization

Optimizing existing pages and creating new compliant content — buying guides, FAQs, product pages — to inform and convert French customers.

03.

Technical and on-page SEO improvements

Optimizing site structure, metadata, internal linking, and schema markup to improve crawlability, user experience, and Google visibility.

04.

PPC & SEO synergy · Digital PR

Rolling out a targeted PR campaign and acquiring backlinks from authoritative French-language domains to boost the site's awareness and trust.

The results · July 2025

First page on the main CBD terms.

The CBD shop quickly surpassed its initial visibility levels, now ranking on the first page for the main CBD-related terms in France — driving sustained growth in qualified traffic and online sales.

Metric Before After Growth
Ranking keywords (total) 170 492 +189%
First-page keywords 23 53 +130%
3-month traffic (year over year) 1,750 7,350 +320%
Average daily traffic 45 130+ +189%
The proof

The numbers, in pictures.

Screenshots taken straight from our SEO analytics tools. Traffic growth: +520% organic clicks over a 3-month window, year over year.

Fig. 01Google Search Console
Traffic progression
Traffic progression. From 45 to 130+ daily clicks (+189%).
Fig. 02Google Search Console
Year-over-year traffic growth
Year-over-year growth. From 1,750 to 7,350 clicks over a 3-month window (+320%).
Fig. 03SEMrush
First-page keyword growth
First-page growth. From 23 to 53 Top 10 keywords (+130%).
Fig. 04SEMrush
Surge in ranking keywords
Ranking-keyword surge. From 170 to 492 (+189%).
Key performance factors

Four metrics that make the difference.

+189%

Ranking keywords

A surge in ranking keywords: from 170 to 492.

+130%

First-page growth

From 23 to 53 keywords in Google's Top 10.

+189%

Traffic progression

Average daily traffic grew from 45 to over 130 clicks.

+320%

Year-over-year traffic growth (3-month)

Traffic rose from 1,750 to 7,350 clicks over a 3-month window, year over year.

And you?

Want your clients to find you first?

Whether you're launching a new business or looking to strengthen your local visibility, we help professionals and organizations dominate search results and earn their audience's trust from day one.

Let's talk strategy