Are you looking for ways to improve your veterinary business? Enhancing your website’s online presence is a great place to start.

More and more people are searching for veterinary services on the internet. If a pet is in need of routine services or emergency medical care, then the owner will typically look for a local vet on Google.


As the owner of a veterinary clinic, the goal is to serve your community well and get as many new clients coming through your doors as possible.

Most people stick with the same vet for several years or more. You want people to immediately see your business when they type in phrases like “veterinary clinic near me” or “emergency veterinarian service.”

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the best way to accomplish this goal. There are certain SEO best practices that will help your veterinary clinic rise up the local rankings and attract more visitors to your website.

Here are our top 5 veterinary SEO tips to help your business boost its local rankings. Follow our advice and you should see a noticeable increase in your organic search traffic and receive more quality client leads.
 
 

1. Create Informative and Original Content

As Google continues to refine its search algorithm, many SEO techniques that were once popular have fallen by the wayside.

With that said, there are certain SEO staples that never seem to go out of style.

The creation of informative and original content is even more important now than it was in the past.

Creating good content is crucial for veterinarian practices where competition is incredibly steep.

Your website content should answer frequently asked questions that people have about animal hospitals and veterinary services.

Your website content should also highlight the expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness of your business. This is what people in the SEO industry refer to as E-A-T.
The major search engines will prioritize your website content if it has strong E-A-T standards.

Google will improve your ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs) if they see you have a history of writing quality content about pet care and veterinary services.

Additionally, your business will generate better leads if people connect with your content and trust the information you give them.
Simply put, content remains the king of the veterinary SEO industry. You will not improve your organic search results without publishing high-quality content consistently.
 
 

2. Practice White Hat Link Building

Along with content creation, link building is super important for veterinary marketing.

Particularly white hat link building, which attempts to follow the rules set in place by the major search engines.

If you use deceptive and sketchy techniques to acquire links (black hat SEO), then Google will recognize this and penalize your website.

Using white hat strategies to build links will help your website’s SEO performance over the long term.

This is ultimately what you want since SEO is about playing the long game and developing your website’s authority over time.

Here are our top white hat link-building tips for local veterinarians.
 

• Create link-worthy content on your website.
   
• Make guest posts on websites with high authority scores.
   
• Create infographics that other websites share.
   
• Build business listings on local website directories.
   
• Comment on authoritative blogs in the veterinary industry

At BANG! Web Site Design, our veterinary SEO clients have all benefited from the white hat link-building tips listed above.

One particular client has received dozens of high-authority backlinks based on the popularity of a single blog post.

The blog post currently sits in the 3rd position on Google for the search term “how do dogs smell.”

Bottom line, the combination of content creation with modern link-building strategies is still a proven strategy for SEO success.

Your website will see a gradual increase in its keyword rankings and organic search traffic if you gradually improve your website’s link-building efforts over time.
 
 

3. Improve Your Keyword Research

Essentially, keyword research involves finding the search terms that speak to your target audience and best represent your brand.

Targeting the right keywords remains the bedrock of any local SEO campaign. The goal is to mirror what people type into Google when they search for your particular services.

Targeting the wrong keywords can stop your SEO campaign in its tracks. You do not want your website ranking for keywords that have no relevance to your veterinary clinic.     

Many people who are new to local search will gather a list of keywords and immediately start writing their website content.

If you take this approach, you could end up targeting many high-volume keywords with a lot of keyword competition.

Unless your website has a high authority score, you will find it difficult to rank for these types of search terms.

It is better to break down your keyword list using the following approach.

Generic Keywords:
 

• Broad terms
   
• Shorter in length
   
• High search volume
   
• Low conversion rate
   

Focused Keywords:
 

• More descriptive than generic keywords
   
• Usually, two to three words
   
• Medium competition
   

Long-Tail Keywords:
 

• Longer search terms often with 4-6 words in the phrase
   
• More targeted than generic or focused keywords
   
• Lower search volume
   
• Higher conversion rates which make up for the lower search volume

When writing your website content, you should aim to have a mixture of generic, focused, and long-tail keywords.

You will find ranking for long-tail and focused keywords easier at the beginning of your veterinary SEO campaign.

As your website’s SEO improves, you will begin to rank for generic keywords and see your organic traffic grow considerably.
 
 

4. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

If you want new people to find your business, you should optimize your Google Business Profile.

Having high visibility on Google Business Profile will give your veterinary clinic greater visibility and increase your organic reach.

You should complete the following steps to improve your Google Business Profile ranking.
 

• Fill out each and every section of your business profile.
   
• Make sure your name, address, and phone number match what is on your website.
   
• Immediately update your profile if any changes occur.
   
• Add quality photos of your business.
   
• Ask your clients to post customer reviews.
   
• Respond to both positive and negative reviews.
   
• Make regular posts on your business profile.

When determining local search rankings, Google will take into account the relevance of your business, your location, and the prominence of your online presence.

A fully optimized Google My Business listing will give your veterinary clinic the best chance of cracking the Google algorithm and showing up in the map pack.
 
 

5. Have Consistency in Your Local Business Directories

The phrase “variety is the spice of life” implies that your life will be boring if everything stays the same.

However, you need consistency across the board when it comes to local citations and business listings.

It is crucial that business directories and listings have your correct information.

Google will look at these directory sites and business listings to verify its own information about your business.

If they find any discrepancies, your local search rankings will likely suffer.

At the very least, you should ensure that your website's contact information matches the information on the following major directories.
 

• Google Business Profile
   
• Bing
   
• MapQuest
   
• Yellow Pages
   
• Yelp
   
• Facebook
   
• Apple Maps
   
• LinkedIn

Consistency across your local business directories is important for your search results.

Inaccurate information also negatively impacts your customer conversion rate.

More than 93% of consumers report feeling frustrated by incorrect information on online directories.

Having the correct information across all your online listings will inspire trust in your audience.

A person is more likely to bring his or her pet to your clinic if you have a consistent online presence.

If you do not have the time to manage your local listings, then there are several local listing management tools that you can use.
 

• Moz Local
   
• Yext
   
• LocalFX
   
• BrightLocal
   
• Whitespark

You can also contact a Phoenix SEO company and have them handle the management of your local listings.

At BANG! Web Site Design, local management listing is one of the many SEO services we offer our monthly clients.
 
 

Parting Thoughts

When considering veterinary SEO for your website, you should imagine what your clients want to see.

They want to see informative, original content on your website that answers their questions and inspires them to use your services.

They want to know you have the authority and expertise to give their pet the best care possible.

This explains why most people never look beyond the first page of Google.

The way Google organizes its search results, ranking on the second page, makes it appear that your business is not as good as others on the first page.

While this may not be the case, you will lose business to veterinary clinics that rank higher than your own.

This is why targeting the right keywords and building links is crucial.

When performed well, these two actions will help your website move up the Google rankings.

Additionally, each business listing should have consistent information when creating local business citations.

You will never make it to the top of the local search results if Google sees incomplete or inconsistent business profiles.
 
 

Does Your Veterinary Website Need Help With Its SEO Performance?

BANG! Web Site Design can help you implement the 5 veterinary SEO tips listed above.

Our SEO experts have years of experience helping veterinary clinics improve their local search results.

We are confident that we can improve your digital marketing results and help your business reach new heights.

In addition to SEO, we offer website design services for veterinary clinics in need of a user-friendly website that generates client leads.

Contact us today at 602-427-5626 to schedule an initial consultation with our Phoenix web design and SEO company.

We service veterinary clinics and animal hospitals nationwide, so do not hesitate to call us if you are thinking about hiring an SEO agency.

You can also ask for a free SEO website audit that we provide to all our potential clients.
 
 

Helpful Resources:

• 7 Quick and Easy Ways to Improve Your SEO Performance
   
• What Is SEO and Why Do I Need It?
   
• SEO for Small Businesses – Little Competition – Big Results