Maybe you’ve caught on to the new tidying craze brought on by Marie Kondo, a Japanese consultant on decluttering and organization… and her hit show on Netflix.
I bought her book a few years ago, and I loved it!
And while I never fully worked my way through the entire method… I found that even small amounts of tidying were really helpful to clearing up my mind and helping me to prioritize my life, both physically and mentally.
In fact, just last month, I recycled nearly 30 pounds of paper from my office!
What a relief it was to let all that stuff go…
But, it occurs to me that we can tidy up our digital lives, too… whether that means the thousands of emails in my personal inbox, or my website content.
And this goes for your pet or veterinary website, too…
With your pet or veterinary website, choose quality over quantity
When it comes to creating content, often we’re taught that more is better…
More keywords… longer blog posts… more frequent blog posts… more web pages to be indexed… more lead generators… more emails sent out to your lists…
More, more, more…
But, is that really the most helpful way to grow your pet or veterinary business?
To some extent, most businesses come down to a numbers game… and that’s even more true if you have a pet business that requires a large number of sales in order to make end’s meet.
But at the same time, you have to consider not only finding enough prospects… but the power of finding the right prospects.
By the “right” prospects, I mean qualified buyers and engaged customers.
For example, I once had an A-list copywriter tell me that in order to earn six figures a year, he only needs 3-7 good clients…
Can you imagine if he had tried to earn that same income by doing small projects at a time? By taking on 50 different clients for smaller amounts, rather than focusing on quality relationships with a handful of well-qualified prospects?
And what about your pet business, veterinary practice, or pet-related website… is it the same way?
Wouldn’t it be better to have a few hundred visitors per month, with 50% making a purchase… rather than thousands of visitors, but only 5% making a purchase?
That’s especially true when you factor in the cost of advertising to a wide audience…
… because it’s a lot less expensive to reach a few hundred visitors than it is to reach thousands…
Obviously, this is a very basic example, and the exact numbers will vary… but you get my point, which is that targeted marketing is a better return on investment than casting a wide net with no particular focus.
And in order to really speak to your audience, you’ll want to find a copywriter or marketer who understands your business… someone who can speak directly to the clients or customers who are really, genuinely interested in purchasing your products or services…
Those are the prospects you’ll want to prioritize, through focused marketing and good quality copy.
Tidying up your content
When it comes to advertising your products or services in the pet or veterinary market — the content on your website is your customer’s first impression of you… and you only get one chance to make a good first impression.
There’s a lot that goes into the process of creating good content… but for now, let me focus on one thing…
That is, your content is only going to get results if your prospects actually read it!
So, how can you increase the chances that your copy will be read?
Remember that most people are busy, and want to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible — especially when searching online…
So, make it easy for them!
White space
Add more “white space,” by which I mean, more background and less text.
Eliminate big blocks of text, and make smaller paragraphs (1-2 sentences each) that are easy to scan.
Subheadings
Include subheadings (for example, just like the words “white space” and “subheadings” in my blog post that you’re reading right now), so your prospect can skim and go straight to the topic that is of interest to them…
Graphics
Make graphics small and simple, so that they don’t delay your web pages from loading, and don’t cause your prospect to have to wait…
Say it in as few words as possible
Cut out anything that is unnecessary or distracting from your main message — and your main message should be the benefits that your prospect will get by using your product or service…
Practice the art of saying your message in as few words as possible — your readers will appreciate it!
Appropriate use of keywords
And finally, avoid keyword stuffing…
Keyword stuffing is the practice of inserting your keywords over and over again, in an effort to improve your SEO…
For example, if you offer dental cleanings for dogs, don’t stuff your content like this:
“Dental Cleanings for Dogs:
We offer the best dental cleanings for dogs. So if your dog needs a dental cleaning, contact us to find out more about our dog dental cleanings. Ask about our coupons for dog dental cleanings.”
This type of content is created for Google’s web crawlers, not for actual human beings… and as such, it’s hard for your prospects to read and doesn’t offer them a whole lot of information that’s actually valuable to them.
This used to be standard practice, but, according to SEO guru Heather Lloyd-Martin, this practice has fallen out of favor — and can even hurt your search engine rankings!
Google’s web crawlers are smarter now, and can understand not only the actual keywords, but also variations of them, and the “intent” behind your content. This means that your content has to sound natural and be of value.
The good news is, that means you can speak on normal, human terms and still get some SEO value!
For example:
“Why does my dog need a dental cleaning?
Most dogs and cats have some degree of periodontal disease by the time they’re three years old. That can lead not only to bad breath and tooth loss, but also to bacteria potentially spreading to other parts of the body. As such, a dental cleaning is a valuable part of your dog’s oral and overall health. Contact us today to schedule a consult for a dental cleaning – and ask about our coupons for new clients.”
So here again, it’s all about quality over quantity…
This is much more valuable to your client, because it:
- Covers the important keywords “dog dental cleaning”
- Covers related keywords (like tooth, periodontal disease, bad breath, etc)
- Sounds like it was written by an actual human, for an actual human
All of this makes it a win-win-win for web content!
Figure out what works and what doesn’t
Here’s some more good news…
Step back and take a sigh of relief, because you don’t have to be a master at everything!
How many times have you heard this…
That in order to effectively market yourself so that clients can find you, you need to:
Create a blog (and post at least twice per week)… have an Instagram account… post to Facebook nearly every day… post to Twitter… create YouTube videos…
And so on…
While this might be true for huge companies with a large national or international presence…
It’s not necessarily true for many small to mid-size pet and veterinary businesses — and especially not true if you depend largely on local clients.
Will these things help you?
Sure, they could… but, you might need a small army just to keep up with your content demands…
But again, there’s good news…
According to Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman, in their book Content Rules, you don’t have to do everything to be successful with your content…
But, you do have to do at least one thing really well.
So, focus on what you think would work best for your business, whether that’s Facebook, another social media platform, your blog, or even a podcast or webinar…
Consider where your audience spends their time. For example, if you have a lot of millennial customers, you might want to be on social media. If you depend on local customers, consider a blog that discusses locally relevant issues in the context of pets.
But whatever you choose, take the time to create good quality content. Avoid fillers, and remember that sometimes less is more. That’s what’s most likely to keep your customers engaged and informed, and to help them find — and develop an ongoing relationship with — your business.
