When you put the name of your pet business into Google you want to see it pop up straight away.
But with many of us building our own websites, knowing how the many pieces fit together for a website to rank can be tough.
I’ve done this myself. A few years ago I set up my own site in WordPress and it was nigh on impossible to find.
Since then, having had the website totally rebuilt, then launching my own blog, and this website earlier this year, I finally feel like I understand the wonders of the web.
There has been a LOT of trial and error and getting their websites to show up in Google is something lots of pet businesses ask about.
I spoke to Rosie Robinson of WUF Design, a former professional dog walker who now makes websites for pet businesses for her expert advice.
Here she shares her top five tips on how to make sure your pet business website shows up in search engines.
- Set up a Google My Business page
Rosie explains: “Google My Business is for local businesses that want their websites to appear for local Google searches.
“It helps if somebody is looking for a business near them, doing what that person does. An example would be ‘Dog Walker’ and ‘Croydon.’
“Google My Business listings are free, easy to set up and mean that you have the chance to show up in Google Maps too.
“When you search for something in Google and you get those three listings in the box with the map that come back straight away, that’s from Google My Business.”
This shows how Rosie’s client Charlie Bears Pet Care shows up on Google.
2. Create a seamless user journey around your website
Rosie says: “Think about the person landing on your website and their experience. You want people to travel through your website seamlessly
“You want your website to stand out, for the pages and content to flow, so the person gets answers to all their questions and chooses you.
“To ensure this happens, have a call to action at the end of each page. For example, if you were a dog walker, on your homepage you would have links to your services.
“These might be ‘dog walks’ ‘group walks’ and ‘puppy visits’ so whatever it is the reader needs, they can find it easily.
“At the end of the page describing the service, you might then lead to a more detailed blog post on what happens on a dog walk or puppy visit.
“Then you might have a contact form or your phone number or e mail address to make it easy for them to contact you.
“Don’t leave them hanging on or let them hit a dead end or they will bounce from your site to someone else’s.
“This registers with Google and instead of being seen as a helpful website and moving up the rankings, you move down.”
3. Have individual meta-title and meta-descriptions for each web page
Rosie explains: “Using the framework that you use to build your website, it’s vital to put a separate meta-title and separate meta-description for each page.
“Make sure that these naturally include your keywords. If you’re a local business, they include the areas that you want to come up for in Google searches.
“So if you’re a dog walker in Tooting you might also have Clapham, Balham, Wandsworth and so on.
“With the description, make it nice and friendly so that when people see it in Google, they want to click on it.
“So if it’s a page with your reviews on, then put ‘Check out our five star reviews,’ in the description.”
Take a look at this example to see the kind of friendly and informative meta-description Rosie creates for her clients.
In the example below you can see Rosie’s clients Pawtown, Mucky Paws, Pawesome and Go Walkies.
4. List your website on directories
This is something Rosie urges all businesses to do: “There are lots of free directories where you can list your website and improve your SEO by increasing your visibility with listings, known as citations.
“These could be to do with your industry, so the Good Vet and Pet Guide for example for service providers, and Dotty4Paws which has products on as well.
“If you’re a local business, look for local directories you can be listed on that provide details of service providers. All of these give little indications to Google to send searchers to you.
“So if you’re a dog walker in Bristol and you’re on several Bristol directories as well as your own website having everything in place, in the eyes of Google you’re ahead of the other dog walkers who haven’t done this.
“Make sure you have the same NAP on each one, which is your name, address and phone number otherwise it won’t work.”
5. Having a blog helps increase the traffic to your website
Rosie explains: “Blogging with carefully chosen titles can help reach a wider audience and can also mean people discover you who might not otherwise have found your website.
“This is more for product businesses. It’s a way for people to find your products via the back door, through your blog.
“They might not be looking for a dog walking bag, but if you have a website selling them and you write a post about essential items for your dog walk and mention the bag, people discover your product.
“It’s fantastic for e-commerce because e-commerce is a hugely competitive area. People are competing with Amazon, eBay and Etsy, it’s tough.
“So to get people via your back door, via your blog, is brilliant. You want people to discover you naturally through your content. It increases your visibility and brand awareness.
“For service providers, your content helps increase your EAT which is Expertise, Authority and Trust.
“You can position yourself as an expert through your content.”
Conclusion
Working on your SEO or search engine optimisation can sound so overwhelming and techy that it puts people off but following these simple steps can make a difference.
Do you have your Google My Business page set up? Can you take a look around your website pages to make sure your meta-descriptions are in place?
As Rosie explains, joining up the dots can make a massive difference and make it easier for people who need your product or service to discover you.
It’s something we all want as business owners.
You can learn more about Rosie’s services at WUF Design and she offers a free 20 minute discovery call where you can find out how visible your pet business website is.
Book in here: Wuf Design 20 Minute Discovery Call.
If you’d like to begin blogging or to chat about working together on your blog, book in for one of my consultancy sessions here: Work with me one to one.
