It’s almost time to reset for the New Year, which means… of course, reflecting and brainstorming how to make the year 2023 better in terms of business. Whether you’re a goal-setter or resolution-setter or neither of the above, it can still feel re-energizing to refresh certain aspects of business and feel good about it as you head into the New Year.
So, we’re digging into 7 quick and easy ways you can refresh your pet business website for the New Year.
Ready??? Let’s go!
1. Update the copyright year in your footer.
This tells people your business is active and relevant. Imagine going to a website and you can’t tell if the hours are correct because wow, it seems like their copyright year hasn’t been updated in a couple of years. That would lead me to believe that this business isn’t around anymore or perhaps the information on their website isn’t reliable since who knows when the last time they updated it was!
And, if you don’t have a copyright on your website, it’s time to add one! Scroll down to our footer below to see an example of what this looks like! Change it to 2023. 😉
2. Perform a quick website audit.
What does this actually mean? It means going through every page of your website and making sure:
All of the information is still correct (i.e. years are updated, hours are correct, years of experience is accurate, etc.)
All of the links still work and are sending people to relevant and up-to-date information.
Your plugins are up to date (if applicable - mainly for WordPress users here!)
This is super important to do because, similar to number 1, if you have broken links on your website, people will question how reliable other content is on your site. This also leads Google to potentially ‘ding’ you if you’re leading your website viewers astray with broken links. Not to mention, imagine if one of these broken links would have resulted in a sale or booking?! That’s money lost, my friend! So, comb through each page of your website and make sure the information is correct and all links are working properly.
3. Make sure you have a clear call-to-action (CTA) button on EVERY relevant page of your website.
This one may not be a ‘review’ necessarily compared to an addition if you don’t have them yet, but call-to-action buttons are quick ways to:
Tell your website visitor what to do next
Increase your bookings/sales/conversions
Make your website clear
Inspire action
You should have a clear CTA button on most, if not all of your website pages leading people to the next step of your process where it makes sense. This helps with user-friendliness, flow, conversions - you name it! And as for what text to put in your CTA buttons, keep it simple (2-3 words) and use verbs so they know exactly what action will occur when they click the button.
4. The dreaded face picture… ADD an updated picture of your face on your website!
Us designers and marketers don’t just say “include your face” for no reason! There’s science behind this suggestion and it boils down to trust and personability. People don’t just buy from a company. They buy from people. And, that means they need to trust you before they buy from you.
By having a picture on your website that shows your face LOOKING into their eyes and smiling, you’ll be able to increase trust with your website visitors. So… no sunglasses, no dark hats, no photos from sooo far away they wouldn’t be able to recognize you.
This small action can make SUCH a big difference on your site!
5. Review your copyrighting (i.e. the text on your website).
Let’s be honest… Most of us tend to focus on what our pricing includes and other surface-level inclusions.
My advice for your New Year refresh? Try to dig a bit deeper, especially considering there are so many similar pet businesses out there also only focusing on what their pricing includes. A great way to differentiate yourself is to talk about what you’re REALLY providing for your clients. How are you transforming or changing or making their lives easier?
If you want to expand a bit on your pet business copywriting, check out our post here on our Website Copywriting Secrets for Pet Business Owners. This can help you get on the right track toward making simple yet impactful improvements to your website copy.
6. Clean up your contact form.
As business owners, we typically think we need ALLLLLL the info from potential clients. I mean, no one wants to go in blind to a phone call or meet & greet, right? Totally get that! But here’s the problem with that.
What if someone just has a basic question like… availability, if you accept an unspayed pet, etc. and now they have to fill out this super long questionnaire just to get that one tiny question answered. You know what they’re going to do? X out of your website and head to the next pet sitter or dog trainer who doesn’t ask a bazillion questions from the beginning.
Yes, you can get a lot of valuable information from a longer questionnaire, but when you’re making a big ask of a random potential client, they’ll be less likely to spend that time when they don’t know you or whether they want to move forward yet. This is what we marketers call a ‘barrier to entry.’ We want to stay away from as many of those barriers as possible and one great way to do so is to make it as easy as possible for people to take that first small step to work with you!
So, keep your contact form as simple as possible. You can still ask basic questions like: Name, Email, What service they’re interested in, what zip code they live in, etc. But keep it simple and sweet for their first commitment!
For more information on what specifically to include on your pet business contact page, we’ve got all the deets and answers for you right here!
7. Post a new blog!
I know several of you who probably will LOVE this blog post until this final suggestion right here… post a new blog. But bear with me!!!
This doesn’t have to be a super long and well-written piece of content that takes you hours and hours to write. You don’t have to be a great writer and you don’t have to be super creative with your blog posts.
Perhaps a blog post on…
How to sign up for your booking software
Going over one or more of your most frequently asked questions so you can save time in the New Year with fewer questions!
Writing up a client spotlight/experience/transformation
What can this do for your business? Well… you can save time in your process or client communication, you can weed out clients that wouldn’t be a good match for your business, you can increase website traffic, and you can inspire action takers and new clients to convert! (Oh… not to mention helping you out on those search engine rankings… hello SEO!)
For ideas on what to blog about, head on over to get your hands on our FREE Blog Post Ideas for Pet Businesses, which includes TONS of blog post ideas plus the 14 specific topics you need to have on your pet service business blog (whether you’re a dog walker, pet sitter, dog trainer, pet photographer - this is for you!).
P.S. We also have our official 2022 List of Pet Holidays up and live on the blog (2023 blog post coming soon) if you’re planning your pet business content for the New Year!
Need even more? Get the ultimate course to teach you everything you need to know to strategize your blog posts, come up with content ideas, and write titles & outlines... ALL in less time and with MORE purpose. That's right—ALL of that is in our Blogging For Your Pet Biz course! Check it out here.
