In this article, you’ll discover the secrets to turbocharge your company’s pet marketing using local SEO strategies so you can be seen by more pet owners and dominate your market.
Running a successful pet business involves establishing a formidable online presence. After all, even if you have the most well-researched and balanced dog food in the market, the most durable litter boxes, or any superior pet-related product or service, if pet owners have never heard of your business (or can’t find you online), all your efforts might be for naught.
This is where Local Search Engine Optimization—or simply Local SEO—comes in handy. At its core, Local SEO involves optimizing your website and overall online presence to get better rankings (which means a higher rank or position) in search engine results pages (SERPs) for keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business in a certain geographic location (or locations). This makes it a crucial element of effective marketing for pet business.
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What You Should Know About The U.S. Pet Market and Local Searches
The pet industry in the U.S. has been constantly growing in the past decade. In fact, last year (2022), pet owners and enthusiasts spent a record-breaking $136.8 billion on their pets! This shows just how massive and competitive the pet market is. Through strategies that improve your local rank, you can make your pet business stand out from your competition and add many more pet lovers to your list of happy customers.
To further emphasize the importance of Local Search Engine Optimization, here’s something you should also know: 56% of all Google searches on mobile have local intent, which means that people often search for products and services that are in their locality. In addition to that, a whopping 88% of consumers who performed a local search using their smartphone actually proceeded to visit or contact a store within the next 24 hours. All of these numbers highlight the immense opportunities waiting for your pet business—as long as you optimize your online presence for local search!
Three Fundamental Local SEO Techniques For Pet Business Marketing
Optimizing your website for local searches—whether on your own or with the guidance of Local SEO experts like Zero Company— will help your pet company maximize your online visibility, drive more targeted traffic to your website (you can choose to send them to your homepage, online pet store, or dedicated landing page), and ultimately boost your sales.
Here are the 3 core techniques you can start with when implementing Local Search Engine Optimization for your pet services company:
Pet Marketing - Local SEO Strategy #1: Use Local Keywords
Since online search is still primarily based on keywords, it follows that Local SEO relies, first and foremost, on using the right local keywords.
Local SEO is a powerful tool that helps the right people in your area find your pet business. To achieve this, you need to understand what people are searching for and then leverage that knowledge to optimize your online presence.
Start by conducting keyword research to identify the most popular keywords that are searched by your target audience within your area—and then filter the results and leave only the keywords that are relevant to your pet company.
Once you have that list of relevant and popular pet-related keywords, you can begin incorporating them strategically into your website. Optimize your title tags, meta descriptions, and web content using those keywords. However, a word of caution is in order: do not spam! Always write with the human reader in mind! Make sure that your content flows naturally and fits contextually throughout your content. Your objective should be to provide valuable information to your target audience first, with the bonus that you’ll signal to search engines that your website is relevant to people’s local searches.
Local Search Engine Optimization enables pet owners and enthusiasts in your area to find your business online.
Pet Marketing - Local SEO Strategy #2: Claim and Optimize your Google Business Profile
Next in our list of fundamental strategies to improve your website’s local rank is a simple yet powerful strategy—claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business). Doing this can significantly improve your online presence on the search engine giant’s results and maps.
For this strategy, all you need to do is claim or add your free Business Profile on Google. Once you’ve claimed it, you can begin optimizing your Business Profile to provide complete and accurate information about your pet business.
As much as possible, fill out all fields in your profile. Make sure to provide the basics: your complete business name, address, phone number, website, and operating hours. All of these details are crucial for customers who are looking for pet businesses in their area.
In addition, make sure that all of the details that you provide there are consistent with what you published on your website and other online directories. Consistency builds trust and strengthens your credibility in the eyes of your target customers as well as the algorithm of search engines.
Many businesses are unaware of the impact of their chosen categories in their Google Business Profile. Make sure that you choose the most relevant categories for your pet business marketing. This helps the search engine know your offerings and display your profile to users who perform related local searches.
Likewise, prepare to upload some high-quality photos and videos to your Google Business Profile, which make your profile more interesting and genuine, while offering your target customers a glimpse of what to expect from your pet business, whether that’s well-crafted leather leashes, organic pet food, and so on. We also recommend adding posts like company news and updates such as events and promotions, which can engage users from SERPs and encourage them to visit your website or your physical store!
Keep in mind that optimizing your Google My Business profile is not a one-time thing; you need to maintain it by regularly updating it whenever there are any changes in your business information.
Pet Marketing - Local SEO Strategy #3: Harness Your Online Customer Reviews
Last on our list of the core strategies your pet business needs to implement for Local SEO is harnessing the power of customer reviews. Online reviews can boost your pet company’s visibility in search results. In addition, they also help earn the trust of potential customers.
Find ways to actively encourage your satisfied customers to leave online reviews on your website, online shop, Google Business Profile, and all other options where they can do so on the web. Let them know that you appreciate their feedback and that it can help other customers make their decisions.
Respond to users as soon as possible and engage with them by responding to their feedback, suggestions, and even negative comments or criticisms. Use those to not only show that your online reviews are unbiased but also as a basis for your pet company’s continuous improvement.
Your Google Business Profile and online reviews are two important elements of Local SEO that users look at, which you need to pay close attention to as well.
Need Help in Turbocharging Your Pet Marketing Through Local SEO?
Incorporating relevant and targeted local keywords in your online assets, optimizing your Google Business Profile, and making the most out of your customer reviews are three of the fundamental strategies that every pet company needs when implementing Local SEO.
If you need professional Local SEO services for turbocharging your pet company’s online presence and boosting your sales, Zero Company Performance Marketing can be of help. Our pet marketing agency has over two decades of experience in providing various online marketing services, including Local SEO, paid social media, and more.
Book a free consultation with our local SEO experts today and boost your pet marketing results!
