Skip to content
TELEHEALTHSEO

COMPETITOR TEARDOWN

Curology built a category position and barely bought a click

211,097 monthly organic visits against $2,191 of monthly paid. The clearest example in telehealth of what content-first actually produces, and what it does not.

Methodology: Ahrefs Site Explorer, curology.com including subdomains. Ahrefs, organic keywords and site metrics, subdomains mode. United States. 1 August 2026. Figures are the Ahrefs export on that date and are not adjusted. CPC values are converted from the API's cents to dollars.

$2,191
Monthly paid spend, total
27,271
Organic keywords
11,083
Keywords in the top 3

See your prescription-intent gap

Start with your domain. We will show you which prescription demand you rank for and which is going elsewhere.

Step 1 of 5

What is your website?

Your domain is enough.

Curology draws 211,097 monthly organic visits in the US from 27,271 keywords, with 11,083 in the top three positions. Their paid programme is almost nonexistent at 670 monthly visits and roughly $2,191 in spend, which makes them the purest content-built position in telehealth and a useful control against brands like Ro that buy their way in.

17
exits, all built on organic search
$150M
revenue generated for clients
35+
team members worldwide
100%
hands-off, fully managed

01

What almost no paid spend looks like

Every other domain in this teardown set runs a serious paid programme alongside organic. Curology does not, and the contrast is the point.\n\n670 paid visits a month against 211,097 organic. Ro, for comparison, runs 302,186 paid visits at $1.93M. Curology has built a comparable share of its category without renting any of it.

What almost no paid spend looks like
MetricOrganicPaid
Monthly visits211,097670
Monthly value$365,624$2,191
Keywords27,271117
Keywords in the top 311,083

27,271 keywords with 11,083 in the top three is a real content estate. It is the shape a brand ends up with when it publishes consistently against a defined condition set for years rather than chasing whatever ranks.\n\nThe weakness shows up when you filter that estate for commercial intent.

02

The commercial layer is thin

Non-branded keywords with commercial or transactional intent and a CPC above $2.50.

The commercial layer is thin
KeywordVolumeKDCPCPositionTraffic
tretinoin prescription5,10033$5.891445
hair growth for men4,70035$3.0010
topical spironolactone2,6003$3.161299
spironolactone for acne before and after1,30013$3.67111
supplements for hormonal acne1,10010$3.00114
personalized skincare90019$4.24926
tranexamic acid for melasma9004$5.77203

The largest commercial term on the domain carries 5,100 searches, and they sit at position 14 on it. "tretinoin prescription" at a $5.89 CPC is precisely the query a prescriber wants, and it is going somewhere else.\n\nWhat they do own is narrow and cheap to hold: "topical spironolactone" at difficulty 3, "supplements for hormonal acne" at difficulty 10, "tranexamic acid for melasma" at difficulty 4. These are ingredient and mechanism queries, which is the right instinct, but the difficulty scores tell you nobody else was competing.

03

Where the flank is open

Curology's estate is built for the reader and not for the prescription, which is the mirror image of the mistake most telehealth brands make.\n\nThe prescription-intent layer is the opening. "tretinoin prescription" at 5,100 and $5.89, and the related prescription-access queries around tretinoin, spironolactone and azelaic acid, are the terms where a derm platform converts. Curology ranks 14th on the biggest one.\n\nThe second opening is that their strongest positions sit on terms at difficulty 3, 4 and 10. Positions that cheap are not defended positions. They are simply first-mover positions in a category nobody contested, and they change hands the moment a competitor publishes something better sourced.\n\nThe third is that a content-only strategy has no floor. With 117 paid keywords and $2,191 of monthly spend there is nothing to catch demand if an algorithm update moves the estate, which is the risk our technical and authority work exists to cover.

When I am asked if I know of anyone in the SEO space, without hesitation I point them to DTC SEO. They truly understand the power of authority content, onsite metrics, and strategic backlinking and has the network to put it into play.
Amanda Raab, Mergers & Acquisitions, Quiet Light Brokerage

Links we have landed for clients

  • Forbes
  • TIME
  • Cosmopolitan
  • Men's Health
  • Inc
  • Martha Stewart
  • Time Out
  • Apartment Therapy
  • mindbodygreen
  • well+good
  • OK!
  • Best

Content without commercial intent does not convert

Tell us where you are and we will map the terms a prescriber actually needs to hold.

Step 1 of 5

What is your website?

Your domain is enough.

Where this leads

Methodology: Ahrefs Site Explorer, curology.com including subdomains. Ahrefs, organic keywords and site metrics, subdomains mode. United States. 1 August 2026. Figures are the Ahrefs export on that date and are not adjusted. CPC values are converted from the API's cents to dollars.

Curology: what founders ask us

Does Curology run paid ads?

Barely. 670 monthly paid visits at roughly $2,191 in spend, against 211,097 organic visits. They are the most content-dependent brand in this teardown set.

How big is Curology's organic footprint?

27,271 ranking keywords with 11,083 in the top three positions, drawing 211,097 monthly visits valued at $365,624.

Where is Curology weakest?

Prescription intent. Their largest commercial term, "tretinoin prescription", carries 5,100 searches at a $5.89 CPC and they rank 14th on it.

Are their top positions defensible?

Several are not. Their strongest commercial rankings sit on terms at difficulty 3, 4 and 10, which are first-mover positions in an uncontested space rather than earned authority.

Where did these numbers come from?

A single Ahrefs Site Explorer export for curology.com including subdomains, United States, taken on 1 August 2026. Nothing is adjusted, rounded or estimated.

For dermatology brands doing $10M+

One call. Your category, your prescription demand, and the fastest path to a lower blended CAC.

Step 1 of 5

What is your website?

Your domain is enough.

For brands doing $10M+