Are you looking for new ways to reach customers? Digital marketing provides all the tools you need to market your veterinary services to new audiences.
There are approximately 74,000 monthly searches for ‘vets near me’ in Google, and 14,800 for ‘emergency vet near me’.
As most pet owners will consult their smartphone when looking for a veterinary professional, or veterinary advice, you need to ensure your business is showing up on page one of Google.
Keeping your digital channels up-to-date and sharing your expertise online will ensure that you are visible in the places that pet owners are searching.
As veterinary marketing experts with decades of experience, we know the techniques that get results. This guide provides an overview of the digital marketing tactics that veterinary practices and referral centres can implement to increase their online profile.
How to market a veterinary practice online
Local SEO should be the number one digital marketing priority for veterinary practices.
The above search queries demonstrate the volume of searches users are making with the phrase ‘near me’ as they actively search for localised services.
This is where Local Map Pack results come into play.
Map results show up in Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) when a search query includes local intent, such as a location or the phrase ‘near me’.
Google determines these based on relevance, distance and prominence so that user searches are matched with local the businesses and services that meet their needs.
Google Business Profile
One of the quickest ways to improve your local presence is to ensure you have a Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) and that it is regularly updated.
This helps to demonstrate your relevance, prominence and proximity to users searching in your area and is why optimisation is key to making your business visible on a local level.
What is a Google Business Profile?
This is the panel of information that appears to the right of the screen when you search for a business.
It includes contact information, reviews, images and more.
Google Business Profiles are connected to Google maps, so your profile will show up in the map listings if it is optimised correctly.
Why should you put effort into optimising and updating your Google Business Profile?
- It’s FREE to create
- Highlights your location on Google Maps
- Supports and improves your overall SEO by listing your products and services
- It’s quick and easy to publish news and updates to your profile
- It includes links to your website and social media channels
Set up or sign in to your Google Business Profile.
SEO tips for the veterinary industry
Before you start writing content for your website, you need to understand how potential customers are searching online. By understanding the exact words and phrases users are searching, you can align your website and content with their needs, and optimise your site to show up in Google.
Not in the top 3? Then you're not being found:Research shows the top 3 Google results get 54.4% of all clicks*
At R&Co, we use specialised SEO software to undertake keyword research. These are the words and phrases that users are typing into search engines when looking for veterinary services or veterinary advice. We can see the average number of searches for these phrases per month and optimise your website for them, so you start to gain more visibility in Google and gain new visitors to your site.
Keyword research provides valuable insight that enables accurate, data-driven website optimisation. However, there are ways you can gain insight into what users want to know.
Utilise customer queries for content
Consider the questions that you are most often asked by clients about their pets.
This is a great starting point for planning the type of content you need on your website, as other pet owners are probably searching for similar information online.
For example, warning symptoms for different ailments, weight guidelines and healthy eating tips for overweight pets, or tips on how to clean a dog’s teeth.
Why veterinary SEO marketing has to work harder
When it comes to SEO marketing, the veterinary industry has to go the extra mile to be visible in Google’s SERPs.
Google wants to provide the users of its search engine with helpful, reliable, people-first content, especially when it is about Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics.
YMYL topics include anything that could potentially impact the health, finances or safety of users, for example, when misinformation could have a serious impact on the user’s life. This includes the veterinary, medical and pharma industries.
Google introduced an algorithm to ensure that only the most credible and trustworthy sources are displayed in the top search results.
This means that businesses operating within the veterinary industry need to work harder to demonstrate their credentials to Google through the content they publish on their websites.
What is YMYL content?
YMYL content must demonstrate a high level of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) to be viewed as reliable and helpful by Google.
These are the signals that Google uses when determining which websites to display in the SERPs.
To display these signals, content from veterinary practices and related businesses should:
- Create high quality content that is accurate and up to date
- Be transparent on who is providing advice and why they are qualified to provide it – you can do this by including bios on your website and attributing blog posts to named authors, such as registered veterinary nurses and surgeons
- Use credible sources – include links from your website to trusted sources of data and information
- Maintain positive brand reputation – request reviews and testimonials from your customers, and respond to any negative reviews
- Use PR to gain positive mentions of your veterinary business in the online media
- Update your website regularly with news and advice
Why you need to add digital PR to the veterinary marketing mix
Having positive mentions of your veterinary brand on websites other than your own is needed to support SEO, along with backlinks to your site.
A backlink – where one website links to another – acts as an endorsement from one website to another in the eyes of Google, so the more links you can gain from high-quality, trusted websites, the better the impact on your SEO.
High-quality and trusted websites include national, regional and trade news websites, as well as websites that are relevant to the pet care and veterinary industries.
For example, industry organisations like the British Veterinary Association and Veterinary Marketing Association, Country Living and similar lifestyle titles, and education establishments like the Royal Veterinary College.
To encourage a media outlet to link to your veterinary website, you need a reason for them to link. Having unique data, resources or assets on your site can help you to gain these all-important backlinks.
Read about our award-winning digital PR campaign for Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists, which utilised an interactive map and online resources to raise awareness of fatal dog disease Alabama Rot.
Examples of linkable assets for digital PR
Unique analysis or data – this could be data on the most common reasons for a trip to the vet, or which breeds are most likely to present with certain conditions.
Downloadable resources – create something users will find helpful, such as a weight loss guide for dogs and cats, or child-friendly sheets for learning what household items are dangerous to pets.
Expert comments – share advice on trending topics. Heatwaves and cold snaps happen every year, what advice can you share on keeping pets cool or warm when the temperature changes dramatically.
For more advice, read our guide to creating a PR strategy for your veterinary business, or find inspiration in our blog on making veterinary PR suitable for consumers where we share insights into how we make complex medical cases into newsworthy stories.
You can also pick up some tips on how to gain media coverage for your business in this blog about the local, trade and national press.
Email marketing for veterinary brands
Veterinary practices that are well-established can utilise their existing customer list to promote key services and offers, while sharing expert advice.
Email marketing enables you to communicate with an audience that is already aware of your brand and it’s one of the most effective digital channels for conversions.
Top tips for your email marketing:
- Make it personal – email marketing open rates increase to 29% when personalised to the user, according to research from Campaign Monitor
- Utilise their pet’s birthday – emails about a user’s anniversary or birthday are three times more likely to be opened, according to Forbes
- Don’t neglect the subject line – data from Hubspot shows 47% of users open a marketing email based on the subject line
- Repurpose content from your website and social media channels to drive more users to your platforms
Do you want your veterinary website to rank higher in search engines? Find out more about our veterinary marketing services and SEO expertise.
