business
Ask the Experts: Optimizing Your Website Veronica Boutelle of dog*biz responds to pet professionals’ questions on all things
business and marketing
Q: Help! My new website isn’t working and I can’t figure out why. I’m frustrated. I just spent all this money and time and nothing seems to be happening. What am I doing wrong?
- A Frustrated Trainer in Texas
A: First, thanks for noticing our new name! Second, I’m sorry about the frustration with your new website. It’s a little hard to say what might be going on (or not going on!) without more information, but let’s go over the most common culprits responsible for an underperforming website. There are two main ways a site can fail. One is not being found, and the other is failing the user once found. Installing Google Analytics (or having a webmaster to do so for you) can help you determine which problem you’re having. If your site is brand new (i.e., you’ve never had a website at your current website address or URL), it may simply be that Google and the other search engines haven’t found you yet. That can take months, but you can help by submitting your site to the search engines (or having a webmaster or search engine optimization, aka SEO, specialist do so for you). Whether your site is brand new or you’ve replaced your old site on the same URL, you’ll want to engage in some good SEO to help search engines deliver your site higher on their list when someone goes looking for what you do in your area. SEO is a wide-ranging process with many aspects to it—too much to cover here, and requires specialized expertise and customized application—but there are a couple of simple things you can do to start the process. First, just read through the copy (i.e. the text) on your site to make sure you’ve got plenty of key words—the words someone might type into Google to find someone who does what you do where you do it. You want to do this on all of your pages, but the home page is most important. Focus on service words (dog training, dog trainer, puppy train-
BARKS from the Guild
© Can Stock Photo/adogslifephoto
Studies suggest that people take two to three seconds to decide whether to stay on any given website they land on
...look to add dynamic content to your site. A blog is a great way to do this. Google loves sites that continue to update content. And a blog creates continued opportunity to utilize key words, too. Plus it gives you a way to share valuable education with your community.
BARKS from the Guild is the 64-page bi-monthly pet industry trade magazine published by the Pet Professional Guild, available to Pet Professional Guild Australia members, supporters and the general public online (and in print, by monthly subscription). Widely read by pet industry professionals and pet owners alike, BARKS covers a vast range of topics encompassing animal behavior, pet care, training, education, industry trends, business AND MUCH MORE! If you would like to reach your target audience, BARKS is the perfect vehicle to achieve that goal. To contribute an article, please contact the editor, Susan Nilson: barkseditor@petprofessionalguild.com To advertise, please contact Kelly Fahey: Kelly@petprofessionalguild.com
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BARKS from the Guild/September 2018