What do the best veterinary websites on the Internet look like? Here’s a hint: they just might make you want to say, “Woof!”
That’s because creating a professional website for a professional vet practice needs to be quite pet-centric. If it’s not, you can bet the firm doesn’t have its priorities straight. Of course, the number of cute puppies, kitties and salamanders that a vet practice uses to decorate its website doesn’t have anything to do with how good the services they provide are — or does it?
Consider the stats. Nearly 80% of all web users who fall into the 18-34 age bracket use search engines when they’re looking for a vet in their area. And since three-quarters of search users favor organic results over paid advertisements, it’s up to you, the good vet practice, to get your firm listed on the first SERP, or search engine search page, through your own merits. After all, first impressions are everything.
But how do you do that? There’s no black magic or secret spells to be cast, no smoke-and-mirror tricks, no questionable practices. There’s only the best website marketing tips and how they can help your firm land high in the organic search results. For example…
Finding your message.
As a vet practice, your work is self-explanatory, but how do you condense it into words you think your prospective customers will want to hear? First, you need to settle on a message that’s both succinct and accurate — something that can act as your mission statement. “We Love Pets,” is cute, but “Where Pets Are Loved” is more dynamic more effective. Once you get that message, it’s time to rally behind it.
Taking it to the people.
All the best veterinary websites are synced up effortlessly with social media accounts, the reason is simple: Twitter can bring it more traffic to your web page and vice versa. The more traffic you get, the more visible your message is. “Where Pets Are Loved” becomes #WherePetsAreLoved, or something more interactive for your users, like #WhyILoveMyPet. Encourage your followers to share their own stories with that hashtag and before you know it, you’ve built up a small buzz. Now all you have to do it ride it out.
Cultivating your success.
Of course, it’s easy to go viral on the web — just ask all the stars of those unsightly viral videos. But you want to be remembered for your good service, not just your hashtag (as clever as it is). Take your growing popularity and share it with even more people. Post it to Facebook, hold Instagram contests, make clever Vines and do everything you can to ensure your name stays in the public’s eye for longer than just a fleeting moment. Once you have their attention, they’re not likely to forget you.
Do all the best veterinary websites follow these practices? Probably not. But if you’re determined to make yours a top contender in the search rankings, there’s simply no way around them. Find your message, let it loose, then reel it in. It’s all a matter of precision.