It would be easiest if the answer were no, right? After all, humans and dogs were best friends millenia before the internet was invented. And dog businesses have gotten along without websites for years and years.
But Yes. Your Dog Business Needs a Website.
Where do you go first when you’re looking for something? The yellow pages? Your junk mail? Of course not. You go to Google. And your potential clients are looking for you on Google too. The question is, will they find you?
The only way they can find you is if you’re there. And the only way you can be there is by having your very own website. In fact, having a website is important for your dog business for several different reasons.
Having a Website Inspires Confidence in Your Clientele.
Nothing says professional, accessible, and well-established like a beautiful, well-designed website. The days are past when you could excuse yourself from having a website because you were a small, local business. Now even the neighborhood coffee shop has a website. So you need one too.
People increasingly go to the internet whenever they need to know, find, or buy something. If you can’t be found on the web, well, it’s almost as if you don’t exist.
Having a Website Helps You Define Who You Are.
You can only pass out brochures to so many people, and it’s easy for those brochures to get lost, stashed away somewhere, or even thrown away. A website is always there, telling people who you are, what you do, and why they should trust you with their furry companions.
On your website, you can post all your services, your prices, testimonials from happy clients, even photos and videos of you, doing what you do best. Your potential clients will get to know you on your website, and by the time you meet, they’ll already want to be customers.
Having a Website Gives You a Chance to Show Off Cute Dog Pictures
Let’s face it. One of the major reasons for the invention of the internet was to distribute cute pictures of animals. OK, I jest. But it’s a pretty big way we use the internet today. I mean, what percentage of Flikr, Facebook, and Pinterest is dedicated to cute pictures of dogs?
Having your own dog website allows you to put up cute pictures of dogs (maybe even your dog), and help people transfer their warm, fuzzy feelings about those dog pictures to your dog business. Instant win.
And then there’s the real biggie that we started out with:
Having a Dog Business Website Helps You Get Found.
In the past couple of years, Google has redefined its search algorithms to help people find the very specific things they’re now searching for, especially when those things are location specific. Like “dog walkers in Pocatello, Idaho” or “poodle groomer in San Francisco.” So if that’s exactly what you are, having a website and optimizing it for very specific search terms will help people find exactly what they’re looking for–you!
All this might seem overwhelming, but don’t despair. Over the next little while, we’ll be posting some step-by-step instructions for setting up a website, choosing a domain name, getting it hosted, and optimizing it for local search.
On the other hand, if you’d rather be torn apart by a pack of wild dogs than spin your head with SEO, HTML, ALT tags, CTR’s, and ROI, check out the Canine Club Academy’s Business Toolkit. As well as providing you with gorgeous, easy-to-customize business cards, brochures, and other print materials, as part of the Course we walk you through setting up your very own dog business website.
