Creating a Pet Business Website that Grabs Attention

Filed Under My Pet Business, Pet Business Tips |

In my recent survey several of you expressed interest in learning more about getting a website online to market your pet business. My website has been one of my best marketing tools - I always ask new clients where they found me and most of the time I hear that they found me online.

A website gives you a great opportunity to educate prospective customers about your service and tell them why you are a good fit to care for their pets. A good website will differentiate you from your competitors and make your customers choice easy.

There are several essential pages that you need on your site to make a good case:

1) An about you page

2) A testimonial page

3) A page that explains how your service works

4) A page that explains your rates

5) A page that explains your policies

It is also a great idea to have a page where they can make a reservation online. This way you capture their information instantly and can give them a call to discuss the details.

I have two articles that I’ve written for this blog that will give you more help with your website:

5 Steps to Creating a Client Attractive Website

5 Reasons Why You Must Have a Website for Your Pet Care Business

Another resource I can offer you is a new teleclass by Karen Greenstreet called “Creating Small Business Websites That Grab Attention” that begins on July 17th. I enjoy reading her newsletter each week and she gives some good advice. Her class runs for 6 weeks covers the following topics:

  • What makes a good web site design that’s both appealing and usable, while accomplishing your marketing goals at the same time.

  • What visitors really want to find when they visit your website

  • How to choose effective page layouts and colors for your site.

  • The keys to powerful website text that sells your products and services.

  • How to critique websites (including your own!) in order to apply this knowledge to your own website.

  • How to effectively market your website to get more traffic to it.

  • Which website statistics are important to track for the success of your business.

  • What to look for in a website designer.

Karen will be recording the class so you can listen to the calls when it fits your schedule. I spent too much money hiring a designer to put together my website when I first launched my pet sitting business. I wish I had invested some of that money in a class like Karen’s!
Click here to get more details on the class



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Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. Danielle on June 24, 2008 3:50 am

    I would argue that not publishing your rates allows the potential for even more business. If you site looks amazing and people want to learn more they will call you. Sometimes they do not understand how invaluable our profession is unless we have the opportunity to tell them on the phone :)

  2. Joy on June 25, 2008 6:58 am

    I disagree.I think publishing what your rates helps to weed out a lot of people who think they can get a petsitter for $5/visit especailly as the price of gas continues to rise.If that’s what they want they can go hire the neighbor’s child to look after their pet.I really don’t want to fool with someone who tries to dicker w/me on my prices. If someone is a good client I may cut them a deal on something.I recently raised my prices b/c of the increase of gas.I will continue my old customers @ the previous rate. I think people get more than their money’s worth with me.I have gotten a steady group of repeat customers.I would rather have a group of clients who really care about their pets.These people tend to be much nicer.

  3. Danielle Chonody on June 25, 2008 12:30 pm

    Joy - thanks for your comments. I agree with you that I prefer to be upfront with my rates as this weeds out the callers who are looking for a cheap sevice or just shopping around for the lowest price.

    Like you I want to be able to offer a quality service and am looking for customers who want the best care for their pets.

  4. rebecca on July 1, 2008 12:45 pm

    When it comes to designing a website look into sites like templatemonster.com where you can purchase pre-made templates to insert your content …they even have pet themed pages. Do not try to design from scratch unless you have a design background.

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