Why a Quality Website is a Must-Have Investment for Your Pet Resort

A strong online presence is not just a luxury for pet care businesses – it’s essential to your success. And while most business owners would agree that a high quality website is the foundational piece of any digital marketing strategy, we often come across cases where they haven’t invested in their websites in the ways that matter most. 

This situation is often due to a lack of awareness about what’s important and why, and with good reason. (Running a pet care business is very demanding and doesn’t leave much margin for studying the ins and outs of digital marketing.) In other cases, the ineffective websites that we see come from well-intentioned efforts to save money and/or time. Some were DIY projects, created using an out-of-the-box platform like Wix or SquareSpace, or created by an amateur with few skills and limited experience. (a.k.a. Nephew marketing!) 

And sometimes it’s both. We recently started working with a client whose site was built on Wix. While running an initial analysis, we discovered that their Dog Daycare page was not indexed, which means it wasn’t eligible to appear in Google search results when users entered relevant queries. The fix took just a few seconds – turning off the No Index toggle – but you have to know what you’re looking for. The business owner had no idea one of their key service pages had been practically invisible to an untold number of potential customers for more than a year. 

This costly mistake is just one example of why it’s worth partnering with a professional design and development team to build, develop or refresh your website. Taking shortcuts may save time or money up front, but you could end up sacrificing some critical elements in the foundational hub of your digital marketing.

At its most basic level, a website has two primary jobs: 

1. Be findable online
2. Convert site visitors into customers

For optimal visibility in search engine results, your website must adhere to the latest SEO best practices. This strategic approach ensures that when potential customers search for local pet care services, your site appears prominently, directly aligning with their search queries.

And once a prospect is on your website, you have a short window of time to build enough trust so that they take action and become your customer. 

Accomplishing both objectives—building an engaging, scalable, user-focused website and converting visitors into leads and customers—requires a combination of technical expertise and creative talent. You need a qualified team who knows what questions to ask and takes the time to understand your business needs and target audience. 

• What does your local competition look like online?
• Do your pages load quickly on desktop and mobile devices? 
• Are all your service pages properly indexed? 
• Are your Title Tags and Meta Descriptions clear and concise and based on current SEO standards? 
• Does the User Experience build trust throughout the site?
• Are your site’s images and videos optimized?

If you’re not sure, don’t worry – you’re not alone. While you’re busy taking care of pets and their people, we’re working to stay ahead of the trends and best practices in website design and development. Here are a few key points to jump start your thinking about any changes your website might need:

• Website Design
  • Design with potential customers in mind by featuring content to answer the problem they are trying to solve.
  • Structure and optimize your site to be compatible with desktop and mobile platforms.
  • Be consistent throughout the site to maintain the integrity of your brand. Color scheme, typography, graphics, and overall style all play a role in establishing trust and converting customers. 
  • Apply a thoughtful, neatly structured appearance to help guide visitors through the site. Keep the design simple and easy to follow with good spacing (especially white space), clear navigation, strategic use of photos, and Call To Action (CTA) buttons and banners that are easy to find.
  • Build with accessibility in mind. It’s the best way to reach and serve your potential customers. We recommend using an accessibility plugin from UserWay to help make your site ADA compliant and minimize the risk of potential lawsuits. The plugin also offers a paid version that provides additional protection.
  • Provide clear and concise navigation menus designed to meet a site visitor’s intent by matching their search query.

• Performance Optimization
  • Page Speed (the amount of time it takes a page to load) is a potential factor in search engine ranking results.
  • We use a simulation testing process to measure load times and functionality for desktop, tablet and mobile devices, plus a variety of operating systems and browsers.
  • It’s imperative to optimize all images and videos without losing quality. If they are too large and slow down your website, you will lose visitors and points off your SEO scores.
  • Check for and clean up broken links.
  • Security and scalability can be customized for your needs.

• Custom Website SEO
  Custom built sites allow more control over the SEO elements that matter, which contributes to the overall effectiveness, visibility, and user experience of your website.
  • Improves Search Engine Rankings: Optimizes website elements for better understanding by search engines, leading to higher rankings. 
  • Increases Organic Traffic: Higher rankings enhance the visibility of your site, attracting more organic visitors. 
  • Enhances User Experience: A well-optimized site offers a better user experience, with faster load times and easier navigation. 
  • Boosts Conversion Rates: An optimized website is more likely to convert visitors into customers or leads due to improved user engagement. 
  • Maximizes Content Visibility: Ensures your content is effectively indexed and ranked, making it easier for users to find the information they need. 
  • Supports Mobile Optimization: Ensures the site is accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices, crucial for maintaining visibility and engagement. 
  • Local SEO Enhancement: Optimizes your site for local search, helping to attract local customers and improve visibility in local search results for local businesses.
  • Facilitates Website Indexing: Helps search engines crawl and index your site more effectively, essential for appearing in search results.
  • Allows Fine Tuning: Ensures all other elements of your website (FAQs, videos, and more) are optimized for easy search engine access. 

Our team at Pet Resort Marketing – Powered by Nehmedia, Inc. has worked with more than 160 pet resort brands across 190+ locations in the past 12 years. If you decide to work with us, we’ll bring years of industry insights and hands-on experience to the process. We’ll become familiar with your business, starting with a discovery meeting to understand your personality and style, target audience, challenges, and goals. Then we’ll build the design around your business, instead of trying to force fit your unique needs into an existing template. We always keep the user’s intent at the forefront while incorporating rock solid back-end features to keep your site easy to find and running smoothly.

Throughout the process of building your site, it’s tested on various browsers, operating systems, and simulated devices, reviewed by several PRM experts for copy clarity and cohesiveness, and optimized for maximum performance on Google’s CORE Web Vitals. If any questions or issues come up, our customer support is responsive, timely, helpful and thorough. No more chatting with a computer or waiting days for an email reply.

In today’s digital environment, you have a lot of choices when it comes to the design, development and maintenance of your website. Whether you choose to work with us or another trusted partner, investing in your website is one of the best decisions you can make for the long-term success of your digital marketing strategy and your pet care business as a whole.