SEO & UX Strategy for Greenspell and First Curve Apothecary
Transforming two websites into separate identities - one as an e-commerce platform, and the other as an education platform.
Project Overview
- Client: Greenspell / First Curve Apothecary (Chicago-based herbalist, Alex Williams)
- Duration: Ongoing since 2023
- Role: UX Researcher, SEO Specialist, Content Strategist
- Tools Used: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, Figma, Squarespace, Shopify, Looker Studio
A selection of First Curve’s products
The Challenge
Alex Williams, an herbalist and educator, originally operated under the First Curve Apothecary, which combined product sales with educational content and events. This included pop-ups at farmers markets as well as an online store for his product side. He hosted his herbalism intensive under the same site. Eventually he created Greenspell under First Curve - both an online platform for herbalism teachings while having events, mentorship sessions, and the intensive moving under Greenspell. As both sides of the business grew, this all-in-one approach became limiting, and confusing to users. Which was First Curve? Which was Greenspell?Alex made a strategic decision to split the brand into two distinct platforms:
- First Curve Apothecary would evolve into a focused e-commerce site for herbal products while still occasionally selling the products in person.
- Greenspell would become a separate platform dedicated to herbal education (both in-person and online), workshops, mentorship, and more.
This brand evolution required rethinking SEO, UX, and content across two sites to ensure both could thrive independently while remaining connected in ethos.
Research & Discovery
I began with a dual-site discovery process, auditing both existing content and user flows.Key research activities included:
- SEO audits: Identified titles and metas that needed updating, examined the site architecture, site speed, and where FAQ schema could be useful.
- UX research: Analyzed navigation patterns, bounce rates, and confusion points using Google Analytics and heatmaps
- Brand alignment: Created a content calendar with Alex to define the voice, purpose, and goals of each site. What kind of blogs would go on First Curve? What information would be exclusive to Greenspell’s online education platform?
Key insights:
- Users often landed on educational pages when seeking products, and vice versa
- Product descriptions lacked clarity, affecting conversions
- The merge of shop and school content diluted search rankings and confused new visitors
Strategy & Solution: SEO Optimization
A Portion of KWR for First Curve Apothecary
Split keyword strategies for each site:
First Curve: Product-led, targeting plant-based remedies and ingredient searches
Greenspell: Education-led, targeting herbalism practices, class topics, and blog queries
We wanted to separate the identities of these sites, so it was important to have the keywords to match.
First Curve: Product-led, targeting plant-based remedies and ingredient searches
Greenspell: Education-led, targeting herbalism practices, class topics, and blog queries
We wanted to separate the identities of these sites, so it was important to have the keywords to match.
Updated title tags, descriptions, schema markup, and canonical tags to reflect site separation
Example of Previous Homepage title and meta:
Title: First Curve Apothecary
Meta: Choose First Curve Apothecary, Chicago’s Herbalist, to support your health and well-being. We offer herbal consultations, education and a sliding scale herbal apothecary. Shop for herbal supplements or schedule a consultation today.
Rewritten Homepage title and meta:
Title: First Curve Apothecary: Herbal Apothecary - Chicago
Meta: Herbal apothecary based in Chicago offering high quality herbal supplements and skincare products made with natural, locally sourced ingredients.
Why would we go with my rewritten title and meta?
I would put “First Curve Apothecary” in the title just to keep branding consistent, and the meta is good with keywords that users are searching for - the original was just really long, so most of the description was getting cut off. In my rewritten meta, we did not mention education so we could focus on the products, and the ingredients.
Redirection & Internal Linking Strategy
When Alex separated First Curve Apothecary’s educational content into a new brand Greenspell: pages that previously lived under one domain (First Curve’s) were either moved, removed, or rewritten. Without careful SEO planning, this could result in broken links, lost rankings, or a confusing user experience.301 Redirects to Preserve SEO Equity
What I did:- Implemented 301 redirects for all high-performing URLs that were moved to Greenspell.
- For example: /holistic-herbal-consultations (First Curve) → www.greenspell.org/holistic-herbal-consultations
- Ensured each redirected page matched intent and content type as closely as possible.
This portion was done in Shopify, and the Greenspell site was cemented in Squarespace.
301 redirects tell search engines a page has permanently moved, which helps pass on most of the SEO value (a.k.a. “link equity”) from the old URL to the new one. It also prevents 404 errors for users who bookmarked or linked to older pages.
Internal Linking Optimization
- Audited both websites for outdated internal links still pointing to removed or moved content.
- Updated links in blog posts, product pages, and footers to reflect the new structure.
- Established clear cross-site navigation paths: e.g., linking from product pages on First Curve to relevant blog posts or events on Greenspell.
Clean internal linking helps search engines crawl and understand your site architecture, spreads page authority throughout the site, and improves usability by guiding visitors to relevant content (which reduces bounce rate and improves engagement)
Testimonial
Alex Williams of Greenspell, Herbalist
"As an herbalist, it’s hard for me to connect with the back-end tech side of running my business, especially SEO. Before working with Emma, I was struggling with attracting my ideal audience to my website and knew that SEO was playing a significant role. I tried working with a large SEO marketing firm, but they encouraged content that didn’t resonate with my personal style, voice, and brand image, and ended up paying a lot of money for an approach that simply didn't work.
Emma has been incredibly collaborative throughout the process of implementing SEO that is effective at drawing folks to my website while making sure the content comes through as authentic to my brand image. Emma understands and works with me, and even thinks up marketing ideas beyond the traditional SEO approach that resonate with my earthy and organic approach to marketing. I highly recommend Emma for your SEO and UX needs if you want to stand out from the rest of the crowd while reinforcing the integrity of your voice and brand image."
"As an herbalist, it’s hard for me to connect with the back-end tech side of running my business, especially SEO. Before working with Emma, I was struggling with attracting my ideal audience to my website and knew that SEO was playing a significant role. I tried working with a large SEO marketing firm, but they encouraged content that didn’t resonate with my personal style, voice, and brand image, and ended up paying a lot of money for an approach that simply didn't work.
Emma has been incredibly collaborative throughout the process of implementing SEO that is effective at drawing folks to my website while making sure the content comes through as authentic to my brand image. Emma understands and works with me, and even thinks up marketing ideas beyond the traditional SEO approach that resonate with my earthy and organic approach to marketing. I highly recommend Emma for your SEO and UX needs if you want to stand out from the rest of the crowd while reinforcing the integrity of your voice and brand image."
UX & Content Strategy (In Progress in 2025)
UX Strategy-
Designing a new site architecture for both platforms, reducing friction between shopping and learning
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Proposed standardized templates for product pages, workshops, and blog posts
- Simplified navigation for each site while maintaining a shared brand aesthetic
Example of changes that are in progress:
- Redesigning the menu to not have an image behind the writing
Content Strategy
- Rewrote product and class descriptions with SEO best practices and accessible language (finishing in Summer 2025)
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Developed blog topic clusters for Greenspell to improve organic reach around herbal knowledge
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Helped define content governance as new materials were added
Results & Impact
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+47% increase in organic traffic to First Curve’s product pages post-optimization
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Improved time on site and reduced bounce rate on GreenSpell’s educational content
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Clear separation led to fewer drop-offs and more conversions across both funnels
- Alex gained clarity and confidence in presenting each platform’s mission to different audiences
Takeaways & Reflections
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Strategic brand separation can help with growth when supported by tailored UX and SEO
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Clear user journeys are especially critical when a business spans both education and e-commerce
- Collaborating closely with the founder allowed the digital experience to reflect a deep, values-driven practice