If you’re a veterinary practice or company struggling with your vet SEO, you’ve come to the right place. I’m a vet myself (I’ve been graduated 8 years), but I work entirely as a pet content writer and veterinary SEO specialist now. Not only have I run the Veterinary Content Company for the last four years, providing pet writing services to businesses all over the world, but I’m also working 25 hours a week as a Content Marketing Manager for a veterinary CPD company, helping them grow their visibility on Google. In this article, I’m going to share some of my veterinary SEO secrets you can use to boost your own company’s SEO.

SEO for veterinarians: the basics

I know, you went to vet school – not marketing school. Our business lessons at vet school are sadly lacking, and the world is changing rapidly – there’s a chance you know you should be ‘doing SEO’ but you aren’t really sure what that is. Let’s take a look, before we get any further.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It means making tiny alterations to your website to make it stand out on Google (and other Search Engines). While nobody knows the ins and outs of Google’s algorithm, by testing and adjusting (and taking notes every time Google employees speak) we can make some pretty good guesses about ways that Google ranks websites. The goal is to make the right adjustments to your veterinary website to move into the top 10 results on Google, and ideally the top 5.

For more information, see our article “SEO for the Vet Industry“.

Do vets need SEO?

Well, yes, any business that wants customers should have a website, and unless you’re the only veterinary practice in the whole country, you probably need some sort of SEO. You’ll especially need SEO if your radius is wide – for example, if you are a mobile veterinarian – or if competition in your area is high – for example, in a city, where pet owners have their pick of vets nearby.

What about AIO?

If you’ve been trying to keep up with marketing trends, you may have heard of AIO – or Artificial Intelligence Optimisation. Because of the rise of generative AI search, there is a possibility that everything we know about ranking highly on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is incorrect. But so far, generative AI seems to mostly return responses that are high up on the SERPs anyway – more on that in another article. In other words, don’t worry about AIO yet, focus on your SEO, and AIO will follow.

4 top tips for your vet SEO

So, let’s look at SEO. As I mentioned, this is my niche area and what I do every single day, so here are my top tips for helping your website rank above your competitors.

1. Choose your keywords carefully

Nobody can rank for everything, and there’s no point ranking for something your (potential) customers aren’t searching for. As an example, a recent client had an excellently-performing website on the surface, with really high clicks, but they weren’t making any sales. I took a closer look, and determined that less than 0.01% of their clicks were clicking through elsewhere on the website. A closer look at the keywords, and they didn’t make sense for their potential customers. I knew their customers weren’t searching those keywords – they were attracting the wrong people. Carefully choosing your keywords is important for your vet SEO.

2. Don’t write for the bots

There’s nothing worse than clicking on a high-ranking website to find the content isn’t useful. Customers click away, then find another website that answers their questions. This is a negative signal to Google, and you won’t have that coveted top spot for long. Whatever you put on your website, make sure your customers are the end goal – help them, provide them with value, and they’ll stick.

3. One focus phrase per page

Each page of your website should have a focus, so it’s only natural that the keyword (focus phrase) should be different on each page. Audit your pages and compare them to your keyword list – some will fit easily and naturally, some might need some help, and some keywords might need new pages or posts adding that meet them.

4. Test and adjust (it takes time)

You’ll need to monitor your ranking on various tools – Google Search Console, SISTRIX, or whatever your chosen option is. Make changes to your website, but expect a couple of months to see the effects – it’s a slow game, but incremental increases in ranking are a good sign. Then, adjust your vet SEO again slightly and watch it again.

Conclusion

SEO for veterinarians is just as important as it is for other industries. On the whole, we vets haven’t been used to having to market our services, but despite the technology it’s still really no different to letting the town gossip know about your new x-ray suite. In times gone by, people might have got their info from the local post office – nowadays, it’s Google they turn to, and it’s Google you’ve got to impress and tell about your services. Vet SEO is easier than you think, and anybody can improve their website and help it move up the rankings. That said, if you’re fed up of grappling with veterinary digital marketing, give us a shout – my competitive streak comes out when it comes to vet SEO and I genuinely love the challenge and reward of seeing a website beat the competition. Just pop us an email and let us know what’s bothering you – initial consultations are free!

Need more help? We also have 10 steps to improve SEO for vet practices.

Joanna Woodnutt

Joanna Woodnutt

Dr Joanna Woodnutt MRCVS is a qualified vet, freelance writer, and editor at The Veterinary Content Company. She lives in the Channel Islands with her husband and daughter, as well as their naughty but loveable terrier, Pixie.