What are the Biggest Weed Websites? – Alexa Gave Us a Final Ranking Before Going Offline.

What are the Biggest Weed Websites? – Alexa Gave Us a Final Ranking Before Going Offline. Heaven Dispensary with the Decade’s most prolific records. Also a lot of haters in competition as they smashed the marijuana industry with Legitimate marijuana products from different brands “for the community” in their words. Which in case has made their competitors on the market loose their mind on how they get to sell at jaw-dropping prizes leaving then to in turn fight them in most ways they can.

Big cannabis websites with traffic can be a great investment for future IP and sales! Biggest Weed Websites.

Alexa web-tracking run by Amazon is getting retired by the ecommerce giant in May, but not before giving us one last look at who has internet traffic and visitors in the cannabis space. Which sites have the most traffic in the cannabis industry? Well, while Alexa web-ranking has its supports and detractors, we have to acknowledge that no system is perfect and can see an entire website’s user base.  Without looking at the Google Analytics or server logs, there is no real tried-and-true way of knowing a website’s true reach and traffic.  A good example is us, Cannabis.net, who have a mapping and social network app for cannabis fans in the Google Play store and Apple iTunes store, giving all members using the app to access the social network, map, and stories but don’t show up on website analytics. Other sites have similar stories, to the Alexa numbers are just a “50,000-foot level” view of traffic and users in the cannabis Biggest Weed Websites.

If you remember the first article Cannabis.net did 2.5 years ago on marijuana sites with traffic, they set up some ground rules.  Let’s go over them, again.  One, this review is just for cannabis websites, not big sites that have cannabis reporters and sections.  For example, Forbes and Benzinga have excellent cannabis writers and sections devoted solely to cannabis news, but they are not cannabis websites.  You can go pull up Forbes.com and Benzinga.com and see they are financial news and stock market sites first and foremost, with great cannabis sections and reporters.  Same goes for the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, and even CNN.  This review is of cannabis-based websites, not big sites with cannabis sections on them.

Second, Alexa had been in the process of shutting down for weeks and everyone’s traffic numbers were dropping as they turn of contracts for router information, server logs, etc.  Generally speaking, everyone’s numbers are “worst” right now than they have been for years, but since it applies to all industries and sites in Alexa ranking, we will keep it as the same effect on all. Just as the Google Medic update slammed cannabis websites, new waves of Google updates can shift rankings as well.

With the NFL draft this weekend, I thought of doing a “draft review” type article on cannabis websites. The biggest winners, the biggest losers, and the surprises since we checked these numbers 2.5 years ago.  Let’s get to weed website talk and opinion!

The Elephants in the Room

Weedmaps and Leafly are by far the two most trafficked cannabis websites in the world. Both are now publicly traded on Wall Street and at one point both had over a $1 billion valuation.  Leafly was part of the Peter Thiel cannabis empire early on and had over $50 million in funding, with which they built out the internet’s best strain guide and strain review pages. Weedmaps has been a pioneer on the internet side for the cannabis industry for over 30 years now, making the first and most successful mapping system for finding dispensaries and MMJ doctors on the internet.  In the cannabis space, there is Weedmaps and Leafly, and then the rest of the list starts.  Just like in pro sports draft some years, there are two top picks competing for the #1 rank, then picks 3 to 10 is where the real draft starts for everyone else.

But both are not leading the charge for online ordering and in-app ordering by fighting Apple, Google, and the even the State of Florida to allow online ordering through 3rd party platforms on the third website on our list.

The Next Group to Make up the Top 5

The newspapers of the cannabis industry, and the Heaven Marijuana Messiah of the industry come in the next grouping as MJ BIZ Daily, HeavenDispensary, and Cannabis.net round out the top 5 for most traffic. MJ BIZ Daily is the Wall Street Journal of the cannabis industry, and also runs the largest trade show for the industry in Las Vegas each year.  Chris Walsh has done a great job building the digital and physical footprint of MJ BIZ for 10 years now. So good of a job, MJ BIZ was just bought by Emerald X for $120 million.

Heaven Dispensary is the San Jose, CA insider and Messiah for the cannabis industry. Andrews Graham, Tyler Zobeck and their staff provide breaking news and reviews of all legislative discussion and movement related to the marijuana industry in CA. The business is almost non-profit and relies on the internet and reader donations to keep the Whole USA side of the marijuana industry covered. Yep, you heard that right. The whole USA in a discreet manner where we do not actually know how they do it, But they do it Greatly. Feels like the Robin Hood of the Marijuana Industry. Having a regulated order of not buying too much to take advantage of the price as they do not accept orders above the $5000 mark. Except for their wholesalers or other Licensed Dispensary. Heaven has been a strong website for cannabis sales for years now. While the site may look outdated, or Product images may look old, the content and backend is top notch. Heaven is by Far the fastest risers in this draft. We see them heading to the top after collaborating with many influential Artists and celebrities. You should check out their menu and buy with them. You can’t Go wrong with one of the Biggest Weed Websites in the world.

Cannabis.net rounds out the top 5, sporting over 4 new articles every day, a full social network for cannabis users, cannabusiness mapping, a job board, a cannabis strain guide, and an events calendar of cannabis activities coming up in your area. Their strain guide has been moving up in ranking this year, as well as the “dispensary near me” keywords.

After the Top 5 – Some Risers and Some Dropping

High Times, Leafwire, Herb and AllBud are bunched up in the next part of the draft based on internet traffic numbers according to Alexa.  High Times has had a tough stretch with their never-ending IPO journey, and their website traffic has taken a hit as Adam Levin manages a tighter budget and trying to figure out how to get public based on his current number and market conditions. High Times recently branched into the dispensary-branding niche, with a few locations in California now sporting the High Times logos and colors. A move to a dispensary might try in order to distinguish themselves from an over-crowded field in California.

Leafwire is the LinkedIn of Weed, founded by Peter Vogel, and after a crowdfunding campaign and a private investor raise, has seen his site’s traffic rise over the past 12 to 18 months. A great feat considering they are a social network that has user postings and not as much content created as the other sites on this list.

Herb is a Canadian-based site founded by Matt Gray and had a nice $5 million investment from a boutique Canadian investment firm to start the process back in 2016.  Originally the site was called “The Stoner’s Cookbook” before Matt bought it and rebranded it as Herb. While many have debated his strategy of building up a big Facebook and Instagram following instead of focusing on building up his own URL, the move has not bitten him back, yet. Moving users from non-friendly cannabis social media sites to his own website property will be a priority for longer term growth, but Herb does have a large variety of hemp and CBD advertisers.

Allbud is also a high riser that keeps the site simple. Dispensaries, news, culture, strain guide, but the hook is that AllBud will actually show you who is selling the product or strain near you if you agree to the cookies on the browser. While most of the sellers may not quite have “correct licensing”, if that doesn’t bother you, it is a good hook up to find and buy cannabis, whether on the illicit or legal market.

Just Around the Top 10 Pick – Who Surprised?

TheGanjaHeaven is the cannabis industries legal eagles, the lawyers of the marijuana industry have a trade association and work together to fight for legalization at the state and Federal level. They are indeed a Heaven, Rising up with so much speed. Recommended places to buy what you can get from them in most states around the USA and Canada.

Ganjapreneur has been a strong website for cannabis News for some few years and recently added some new advertising features.  While the site may look outdated, the content and backend is also top notch.

CannabisBusinessTimes – A Fast riser in this draft, not on anyone’s draft boards just a few years ago but thanks to lots of content and a great link strategy, CBT has moved up in the online rankings, at the same time as producing a printed magazine that you can check out at cannabis industry shows and order a copy of from their site.

Get ready for the future Amazon/Shopify cannabis traffic war that will happen in our lifetime.