Marketing

Step One for Pet Sitters is to Understand How Search Works (Everything Else Will Follow)

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If you want to appear higher in the Google search results, understanding how search works to begin with is a great start.

Are you happy with where your pet sitting website lands in Google when a potential client searches for, let’s say, ‘pet sitter + [your town]?’

Are you wondering how to improve your search rankings or how to show up in Google more often?

First, you must understand how search works to begin with.

And what better way to get a quick primer than from the horses mouth!

Watch this 3-minute video from Matt Cutts (part of the quality search team at Google) for the basics. (Then, don’t miss the upcoming webinar announced below!)

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How to Target Multiple Cities with Your Pet Sitting Business Website

target multiple cities
Targeting multiple cities with your pet sitting business is possible if you take some specific SEO action.

How many different areas, cities or neighborhoods does your pet sitting website target?

Chances are you want to appear in the search results for more than just your city + [pet sitting keyword], right?

So how exactly do you show up for multiple cities that you currently serve?

In order to answer the question, let me take a step back for a minute to make this one point:

When we are talking about your pet sitting website, Google sees your site as individual pages, not as one full website.

So when somebody does a search for (as an example) ‘Seattle pet sitter’ it is not going to return your full website in the search results, it will return an individual page from your website (the most relevant pages from your website).

Most typically this will be your home page, but not always the case.

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The Price of Home Invasion Security and How It Relates to Your Pet Sitting Business

alarm photo
Can you put a price on home security? How about a price on pet services?

What sort of price tag can you place on your home alarm system that is designed to protect you, your loved ones and your valuables?

We recently moved into a new home (back in my home state of New Jersey, for those following along) and naturally we wanted to activate service with the alarm company.

There was already a box and keypad installed with a sticker announcing the company that installed it and had previously provided monitoring.

I decided to give them a call to find out the details.

After about a twenty minute phone call with the nice gentleman (the owner of the company), I learned a few things:

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How to Become the Most Reliable and Dependable Pet Sitter Ever

strong dependable pet sitterHow would YOU specifically handle this situation?

If you’ve been in the pet industry for any length of time, you no doubt have a certain script that you follow for new client inquiries.

Whether this script is formal and on paper, or simply in your head at this point, you know what typical points you need to cover.

However, every once in a while, you get hit with a certain new client inquiry that requires a more delicate approach.

A Recent Email I Received

Take this recent email submission (pasted in full) we received through my pet sitting business (Alitia’s Animals) and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Potential client writes: “This is my third time looking for a reliable , dependable pet sitter for a long term relationship with my older two dogs. I’m passionate about taking care of my 2 dogs and the rescues that I take in.”

If you replied to this email with your usual approach, you’d be missing out on a great opportunity to gain a valuable client for life!

Let’s look at the email much closer…

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Are Pets Not As Valuable As We Think? (And 2 Solid New Service Ideas to Offer Your Clients)

service bellHave you ever considered the idea that pets might be a ‘hazard’ to the elderly?

Personally, I have not considered that absurd thought, but one article I recently came across revealed this intriguing fact:

“Over 86,000 people per year have to go to the emergency room because of falls involving their dogs and cats, and these fractures can be devastating for the elderly,” said Judy Stevens, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

I was going to present that as the topic for this blog post, but it got me thinking about something else you will appreciate much more.

Instead of debating the merits of that statistic in this article, I would rather offer you a solid actionable service that you can add to your website today and offer your potential clients to help grow your business.

(Something to help you grow your business is much better than trying to debate the value of pets, right?!)

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How To Never Lose Again To The Kid Next Door When It Comes To Price

barcodeHow many times have you weighed in on the hot topic of “should you list prices on your website, or not list prices on your website?”

You’ll be happy to know that this article is not about that specific debate, but rather will offer a solid middle ground that should make both sides happy.

Whether we are talking about “ICs vs. Employees” or “does advertising your pet sitting business on your car compromise the pet owner’s security,” nothing is more highly contested than the ‘prices on your website’ debate.

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10 Elements On Your Pet Sitting Website That Will Bring In More Clients

How exciting would it be for you to have more email submissions from your pet sitting website and to have your phone ringing more often?

Some weeks back, I made available a document (link to the file is below) that highlighted the 10 elements from my own pet sitting website that have been responsible for bringing in more leads every day.

And, as you know, converting more of your website visitors into leads is the quickest way to grow your pet sitting business.

Surprisingly, the way to accomplish that is NOT to simply get more visitors to your site (because you could have a ton of visitors with no one choosing to get in touch with you!) but rather to understand exactly what inspires, encourages and entices your users to take action.

Learning what gets more of your current visitors to make contact with you is not done by accident.

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6 Things Football Teaches Us About Pet Sitting

football on the fieldAfter a magnificent win by my favorite football team, the NY Giants, to win Super Bowl XLVI, it only seems fitting to discuss how many of the strategies and qualities it takes to win games can also be applied to success in your pet sitting business.

Vince Lombardi is one of the (if not the) most respected and admired coaches in football.

In fact, it is the Lombardi trophy that is awarded to the winner of each Super Bowl, so the guy must have been pretty special to the game.

Lombardi is known for his motivational speeches and after reviewing some of his famous quotes, it becomes more evident how he was talking about much more than simply football.

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How Is Your Pet Sitting Business Like Baking A Chocolate Cake?

chocolate cakeTruth be told, I’m not much of a cook. Ironically, I love food so that’s a bit of a dilemma.

What I’m most comfortable treating myself to is the quick and easy chocolate goodness provided by Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake – yes, right out of the box.

For my money, there’s nothing much simpler than following the directions:

Step 1 – Preheat oven.

Step 2 – Blend ingredients.

Step 3 – Bake 30 minutes.

That’s all there is to it. And the outcome greatly outweighs the skill involved to achieve the result.

But, What If…?

Baking a cake from a box is admittedly a simple process. Follow a few steps and wait a bit and you’ve got yourself a delicious cake.

But let’s not take the step by step process for granted. Because whether you realize it or not, most everything we look to accomplish in our day to day life is the direct result of following small, specific steps to reach the desired goal.

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The Simple Way To Stop Confusing Your Website Visitors and Start Helping Them

confusedDo you know what I love most about receiving email inquiries from my pet sitting website?

Besides enjoying the obvious lead, I love getting to learn more about how my website is actually performing.

Here’s what I mean. I recently received an email that said the following:

“I wanted to inquire about pricing info for in-home boarding. Your site was very informative and I wanted to look into this option further.”

It’s no secret that I take pride in my pet sitting website and work hard to make sure it converts as many visitors as possible into leads (which could become potential new clients).

When I read the statement about how informative my site was, I knew what I always thought was correct:

Every visitor arrives on your website with certain questions in mind. The better you help answer those questions, the more likely the visitor will take action and get in touch with you.

Is your pet sitting website helping or confusing your visitors?

You’ve probably already heard that content is king. Simply put, the more relevant content you have on your website, the more your visitors – and Google – will love you.

Below are 9 questions that your visitors need to know the answers to before they will even consider getting in touch with you. (It’s also a perfect way to add more content to your site.)

Side Note: #4 is my favorite secret weapon. Focus on that one alone and you’ll see results.

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