Web-SEO Content & Consulting For Pet Industry Marketers
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Wildly Profitable Marketing for the Pet Industry
Finally — a how-to Marketing Success Guide for all pet and veterinary businesses. Co-written by PetCopywriter.com's Pam Foster.
PetCopywriter.com owner
Pam Foster is a SuccessWorks
Certified SEO Copywriter
Pet Marketing Success Begins and Ends Above the Fold
April 25, 2012
Quick — what’s the first thing your website visitors see when they arrive at your site? This is a very important question; more important than you’d ever imagine.
That’s because your pet website’s first impression is EVERYTHING.
If people don’t like what they see on that very first screen of your site, they probably won’t stick around and buy from you.
Consider the following two findings from Website Usability guru Jakob Nielsen*:
- “Web users spend 80% of their time looking at information above the page fold.”
This means if people don’t understand the benefits of your products or services when they land on your site — they’ll move on without scrolling down to see more information.
- “The first 10 seconds of the page visit are critical for users’ decision to stay or leave.”
If your content isn’t immediately helpful to visitors, giving them a reason to do business with you… it’s very likely that you’ll lose them.
Here’s one more new finding that may shock you. We found this in a recent issue of Website Magazine:
“When viewing a website, it takes users less than 2/10ths of a second to form their first impression,” according to research at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Wow. So, what do you think? Does your website’s Above-the-Fold impression instantly help visitors understand the following need-to-know information about what you offer?
- What company is this?
- What do they offer me?
- How does this website solve my needs?
- How do I see how the product or service works… get more details… or contact them?
- Would I feel comfortable doing business with them?
That’s a lot of information to project in just seconds at the top of your website. But it doesn’t have to be hard. When you focus on the questions listed above, you can clear out all the rest and keep it nice and simple. I recently redesigned PetCopywriter.com to enhance my first impression for visitors, focusing on those questions listed above.
This pet website's first impression is very clear, helpful and easy to understand.
Here’s an excellent example of a pet website that provides clear, “what’s in it for me” messages and a great user experience above the fold.
There’s no question about what this website offers, how to get more information about its services, and how to get started with them immediately.
In addition, it uses SEO keywords in a smart and smooth way.
If you’re not sure about your first impression, perhaps it’s time for a professional, objective assessment that reveals your gaps and opportunities to improve (and boost sales!).
Questions? Comments? Please share.
Here’s to a prosperous pet website!
Cheers,
Pam Foster
PetCopywriter.com
*Jakob Nielsen findings can be found at AlertBox.com.
Brandi is helping me introduce 12 blog topics for marketing your pet business in 2012
December 21, 2011
Greetings and Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays! This photo of Brandi, in her lovely holiday sweater, is from my friend and fellow copywriting colleague Sean McCool. (Thanks for the photo, Sean!)
This is my last blog post for 2011 because I’ll be traveling cross-country with my faithful companion Louie (the Westie pup) the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We’re spending the winter in the warm and sunny southeast.
I hope you’re doing something fun this winter, too, such as growing your business by leaps and bounds!
I’d like to wrap up the year with 12 ideas to get you blogging in early 2012. Perhaps these ideas will spark a series of blog posts that captivate your audience and even motivate them to share your blog with their friends and colleagues.
Ready? Here are 12 blog topics and categories to help with marketing your pet business in 2012:
1. Provide How-To Tips
People are always searching the Web for tips on pet care. Offer a whole series of how-to- tips related to the solutions you offer, whether you’re marketing pet products or services. For example, if you sell reflective dog collars and leashes (one of my favorite examples), you could offer how-to tips on dog-walking safety at night.
Fascinating Facebook Facts for Pet Retail Marketing
November 28, 2011
This weekend, I was browsing through some pet retail magazines and came across a new report that might interest you. It’s called Strategies for Effective Facebook Wall Posts for the Retail Industry, and it includes a number of fascinating facts that may well be worth considering for your pet business Facebook page, whether you’re marketing pet products or services.
- Posting 1-4 times a week produces 71% higher user engagement than 5 or more posts for retail brands: quality trumps frequency
- Posts containing fewer than 80 characters produce 66% higher engagement than longer posts (wow!)
- Posts containing questions generate more than double the amount of comments, even if they may get fewer “likes,”
- Top retail sales keywords that produced more user engagement: “$ off” and “coupon” worked best (55% higher user engagement rates); while the words “sale” and “percent off” (or % off) produced the lowest; even posts about offers less than $10 off produce 17% higher engagement than percent-off posts
- The 2 most effective types of retail brand posts contain a single photo attachment or use only words. Posts containing only words produce 94% higher engagement than avg.
- Wednesday is the best day to post, although you obviously shouldn’t post ONLY on Wednesday.
Original content ideas for marketing to pet owners
October 20, 2011
Today I was on a conference call with Heather Lloyd Martin, SEO Copywriting pioneer, mentor and friend of mine. She was talking about some of the things that are critical to web success today and I immediately thought of how these tips can be applied to your pet marketing strategies or pet SEO success (of course!). So I’ll address each one in my upcoming blog posts, starting with this one:
First of all, original web content is an absolute MUST these days for marketing to pet owners –whether you’re marketing pet products, pet services or both.
Here are a couple of examples of what I mean.
1. If you manage a pet ecommerce website and you’re using the manufacturer’s content for each product you carry… I’m afraid your online store’s content might be invisible to search engines. You’re missing out on oodles of traffic from potential customers.
That’s because Google’s Panda update has clamped down on “copycat” websites that have the same content as others. Their latest search algorithms are focused on finding original, fresh content for people searching online for answers… and Google rewards websites that offer something unique and highly relevant.
What you can do right now.
Find ways to offer original content on your website so you can attract more pet-friendly customers via SEO. This means revising each of the manufacturers’ product descriptions with your own spin.
For example, if your online store includes a particular line of pet products because they’re eco-friendly and they reflect your commitment to green products – say so! Tell your visitors why the products are favored by you and treasured by your customers. Make a point to add your own brand voice to the copy. No-one has the same brand voice as you, so this will help make your content unique. Customer reviews can also help, but if you’re just starting to offer those, start revising the product descriptions ASAP.
2. You need to find a way to add fresh, original and highly relevant content to your site each week.
You’ll be delighted and amazed at the search-engine traffic power of writing helpful blog posts, for example. I just started helping a client add blog posts each week, and suddenly after 6 posts or so, the client’s site is turning up on top of Google’s page one for the keywords we targeted. These blog posts are getting attention and driving site visits — all with just a few posts for starters. Great stuff, right?
What you can do right now.
Map out an Editorial Calendar for blog posts or new articles that you commit to adding at least once a week. You could start with a “how-to,” “best-of” or “seasonal tips” blog series that drives people to check out the products on your site.
This can work in the following way. Let’s say you write a blog post about Daylight Savings Time and the importance of pet safety. You could mention that the arrival of shorter days/darker commutes can spell trouble for pets being walked at dinnertime. You might list the top 5 reflective dog products that can help pet owners solve this problem… and link to the reflective leashes, collars and vests you offer in your store. See how cool that could be? And then, when someone types “reflective dog collars” in Google – voila! Your blog post could be smiling right at them on page one of Google. It’s certainly worth a shot.
If you’re marketing pet services such as dog walking, you could have the same type of blog post about Daylight Savings Time except discuss the ways you pledge to keep dogs safe during their walks. Then link to your services page where you feature your dog-walking options. Be sure to include a mention of the towns you serve so your local prospects find you.
Are you stumped about adding original content to your pet website? Or do you have a tip to share? Please let us know. I promise to respond.
Until next time,
Here’s to a profitable website!
Cheers,
Pam Foster
PetCopywriter.com
More WOW ideas for marketing your local pet business
September 20, 2011
I was just reading Entrepreneur (October 2011) and came across a fabulous article about Animal General Hospital in Port St. Lucie, FL.
It seems that the owner of this veterinary practice figured out how to engage local-community clients and prospects online, using the practice’s website in combination with free social networking, email and YouTube plus a modest paid-search advertising campaign (Google Adwords and Facebook ads).
The result: instead of spending $27,000 over 18 months for Yellow Pages and getting lame results, his online strategy only cost $3,600 plus staff time, but his business grew with 250 new clients and $75,000 in additional annual revenue. Can you say “WOW”???
Here are 3 ideas your local pet business can take away from this as you plan your fall and winter pet marketing strategies: (more…)
An important message about marketing pet products
February 21, 2011
New numbers from the February 2011 issue of DELIVER magazine, published by the U.S. Postal Service, point to a very healthy pet economy. Here are just a few indicators of a strong pet industry (printed by the USPS from various sources):
- Millions of families have pets: 62% of American households own a pet! (Wow)
- Millions of pet owners have the income to spend on pet products: 30% of pet supply-buying households have an income of $100K+, and another 20% have incomes between $50K and $74K.
- Consider the ramifications of this in pet-food purchases alone: $10,377 is spent on dog and cat food during a pet’s lifetime (U.S.). Canada is next at $8,038.
So how can you get more of that market share for your pet business? How can you stand out in the cluttered marketplace and attract more customers?
There’s no single, simple answer to these questions. But it’s clear that all pet businesses have an exciting opportunity to grow in this healthy climate.
Today I offer this suggestion to help you stand back and take a fresh look at your pet business messages: (more…)
The best pet marketing strategies start with the fundamentals
December 9, 2010
Last week, I was going through my pile of marketing books and deciding which ones are keepers… and which can go to charity. Suddenly I came across one of my all-time favorites, Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.
Have you read this classic gem first published in 1923? I have, and I was motivated to read through it again to see what relevance it has to today’s web content world, and specifically for the pet industry.
Believe it or not, the tested marketing principles presented by Claude 87 years ago are SPOT ON when it comes to writing pet web content that connects with an audience and generates sales orders. I can only assume that it’s because we’re still marketing to people after all. Our basic desires, wishes, needs and wants haven’t changed all that much. It’s very likely that your customers want to help their pets or customers stay well or feel better, solve problems and enjoy life, etc. — just as people did 87 years ago.
Therefore, I’m devoting the next few tips to specific and powerful ideas mentioned in Scientific Advertising; and applying them to web content best practices, whether you’re marketing to pet owners, retailers or veterinary practices. Here’s the first one:
Give prospects enough information to take action
Is it true that we must always be very brief online because people won’t read lots of content? Here’s what Claude has to say about this common misconception that I hear a lot in the web content world:
“Would you say that to a salesman? With a prospect standing before him, would you confine him to a certain number of words? That would be an unthinkable handicap. The only readers we get are people whom our subject interests. Consider them as prospects standing before you, seeking for information. Give them enough to get action.”
Ahhh… thank you Claude! I’m constantly torn between the pressure of being super-concise and also giving people what they need to know before making a buying decision.
Here’s how I answer the question, “How much content is too much for a pet business website?”
It depends. If your prospect is buying a dog leash, she probably doesn’t need much content.
But if you’re asking a prospect to change the way she performs a major business task, invest hundreds of dollars in a new service, switch to a new service or trust an online tool that requires the sharing of sensitive information… you may need to spend some time (and content) explaining why she should bother. You may need to explain how it works, why it’s the ideal solution, how other customers are benefiting, etc.
You need to overcome objections, offer delightful surprise bonus benefits and literally win the prospect over. This takes salesmanship in the form of web content.
Here’s a great way to do this (I use this technique all the time):
Interview your best salesperson and ask him or her to go through a pitch that works well with prospects. Capture what is said, how it’s said, what makes the prospect light up and how much it takes to complete a typical sales call. You may discover that it takes more than a catchy paragraph to sway people and move them to buy.
How much content is right for your pet website? As much as it takes to get the highest number of responses.
Until next time, here’s to a prosperous site!
Pam Foster, PetCopywriter.com
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Posted in pet marketing,pet marketing strategies,Pet Website by PetCopywriter