7 Mistakes You're Making with Cannabis Directory Listings (and How to Fix Them)

Your cannabis business directory listing could be costing you customers right now, and you might not even know it. Most dispensary owners think they’ve got their CannaMapr listing dialed in, but some sneaky mistakes can seriously hurt your visibility and credibility with potential customers.

Let’s dive into the seven biggest mistakes cannabis businesses make with their directory listings and how you can fix them today.

1. Getting Your Time Zone Wrong (This One’s Huge)

Here’s a mistake that seems small but creates massive headaches: entering the wrong time zone in your listing. When customers see your hours as “9 AM – 9 PM” but don’t know if that’s Eastern, Pacific, or Mountain time, confusion happens fast.

Even worse, when your time zone is wrong, customers might show up when you’re closed or think you’re closed when you’re actually open. This kills foot traffic and makes you look unprofessional.

The Fix: Use the AddEvent time zone lookup tool to verify your exact time zone. Don’t guess or assume!! Double-check it. Your listing should display the correct local time zone for your dispensary’s physical location. This tool takes the guesswork out of it and ensures your hours display accurately for local customers.

2. Uploading Terrible Photos (Your Visual First Impression)

Your photos are the first thing potential customers see, and blurry, dark, or unprofessional images immediately signal “amateur operation.” Too many cannabis businesses upload grainy phone pics taken in poor lighting, or worse, stock photos that don’t represent their actual space.

Poor photos hurt you in multiple ways. They reduce click-through rates, lower customer trust, and make your dispensary look less legitimate compared to competitors with crisp, professional imagery.

The Fix: Invest in high-quality photos or hire a photographer for a few hours. You need clear shots of your storefront exterior, interior layout, product displays, and staff (if comfortable). Take photos during the best lighting hours and ensure they’re properly sized for the platform. Natural lighting works better than harsh fluorescent lighting, and clean, organized spaces photograph much better than cluttered areas.

3. Wasting Your Free Do-Follow Link (Missing Out on SEO Gold)

This is the mistake that makes SEO professionals cry. CannaMapr gives you a free dofollow link in your listing description. That’s incredibly valuable for your website’s search engine rankings! Most dispensaries either skip adding their website link entirely or bury it in ways that don’t maximize the SEO benefit.

Do-follow links from reputable directories pass “link juice” to your website, helping you rank higher in Google searches. When you don’t use this correctly, you’re essentially leaving money on the table.

The Fix: Add your website link prominently in your listing description using natural, keyword-rich anchor text. Instead of just pasting “www.yourdispensary.com,” write something like “Visit our full online menu at [Your Dispensary Name]” with the business name linked to your site. This approach looks natural to both users and search engines while maximizing the SEO value of your free do-follow link.

4. Leaving Critical Business Information Incomplete

Half-completed listings frustrate potential customers and hurt your search visibility. When your listing is missing your phone number, full address, email contact, or business description, customers can’t easily reach you or understand what you offer.

Incomplete information also signals to search engines that your business might not be legitimate or active, which can push you down in local search results.

The Fix: Fill out every single field in your listing. Add your complete business address, phone number, email, website, social media profiles, and a detailed business description. Include your specialties, product types, loyalty programs, and anything that makes you unique. The more complete information you provide, the better your listing performs in searches.

5. Forgetting to Update Your Business Hours

Nothing frustrates customers more than showing up to a closed dispensary because your online hours were wrong. Outdated business hours in your listing create negative customer experiences and lost sales.

This becomes especially problematic during holidays, staff changes, or seasonal hour adjustments. Customers who encounter incorrect hours often leave negative reviews and choose competitors with accurate information.

The Fix: Review and update your hours monthly in your listing. Set calendar reminders to update special holiday hours well in advance. If your hours change temporarily due to staffing or other issues, update your listing immediately and consider adding a note in your description about temporary schedule changes.

6. Writing Generic, Boring Descriptions

“We sell quality cannabis products” tells customers absolutely nothing about your dispensary. Generic descriptions don’t help you stand out from competitors and don’t give potential customers reasons to choose you over other options.

Bland descriptions also hurt your search visibility because they don’t include the keywords customers use when searching for dispensaries in your area.

The Fix: Write a compelling, detailed description that highlights what makes your dispensary special. Include your location, product specialties, customer service approach, and unique features like delivery, loyalty programs, or community involvement. Use natural keywords like “cannabis dispensary,” your city name, and product types you specialize in. Tell a story about your business that connects with local customers.

7. Missing Out on Free Location-Based Do-Follow Links

Many shops wait to claim their listing until reviews start rolling in. Big miss! The platform gives dispensaries and other cannabis businesses a free location-based do-follow backlink the moment you claim and optimize your listing. That link supports your local rankings and strengthens your overall SEO.

Even with zero reviews, a complete profile can build authority. Accurate NAP, the right categories, a clear description, and your website URL create strong local signals tied to your city and neighborhood.

The Fix: Claim your listing now and fully optimize it. Add your website with natural anchor text in the description, confirm your address and phone number, choose precise categories, and include local keywords in a helpful, human-friendly description. Upload crisp photos and keep hours up to date. This secures a free do-follow cannabis backlink from a trusted, location-focused directory and boosts visibility even before reviews arrive.

Why These Mistakes Matter More Than You Think

These directory listing mistakes don’t just annoy a few customers – they systematically reduce your online visibility and cost you real revenue. Local search drives the majority of cannabis purchases, and customers increasingly rely on online directories to find and evaluate dispensaries.

When your listing has these issues, you’re essentially invisible to potential customers who are actively looking for cannabis products in your area. Competitors with optimized listings capture those customers instead.

Quick Action Steps

Start fixing these mistakes today by logging into your CannaMapr listing and working through this checklist:

• Verify your time zone using the AddEvent lookup tool
• Upload high-quality, professional photos
• Add your website link strategically in your description
• Complete every available field with accurate information
• Double-check your business hours and set update reminders
• Rewrite your description to highlight what makes you unique
• Set up a weekly routine to engage with customer reviews and questions

Your listing is often the first interaction potential customers have with your dispensary. Make sure that the first impression works in your favor, not against it.

These changes might seem small, but they add up to significantly better visibility, more customer trust, and ultimately more sales for your cannabis business.