According to one recent study, there were about 86.9 million households in the United States that owned a pet as of 2024. To put that into perspective, not only does it represent about 66% of all homes in the country, but it’s an enormous increase from 56% just a few decades prior in the late 1980s.
To most people, pets are legitimate family members, and for good reason. They care for them the same way they do their children. When it comes time to enlist the help of a pet services company, they won’t just go with the first recommendation they get without first researching them online.
They’re going to turn to search engines like Google to find a pet services company that can be trusted beyond the shadow of a doubt. One that earned its reputation and that will take good care of their furry little friends.
In a world where 68% of all online experiences begin with a search engine, you need to do whatever it takes to make sure that the company those potential customers find is yours.
Search engine optimization is how you get found in the modern era. If you want to leverage it to give your pet services business a chance at long-term success, there are a number of key things to keep in mind along the way.
Why SEO Matters: Making an Impact
Again: search engine optimization or SEO is all about making sure that your business is as easy to find on Google as possible. When someone searches for “pet services business in [CITY],” yours should be the name that jumps to the top of the list.
But why does this matter? Because these days, even after getting a personal recommendation from a friend or family member, 96% of people will still learn about a local business online.
Note that the critical word in that sentence is “local.” When you operate a service-based business, success isn’t about attracting the biggest possible audience. It’s about reaching the right one – the people who live and work in the same place that you do.
Someone from northern Virginia isn’t going to take their pet to Maryland or West Virginia to get groomed. Why would you spend a lot of money on general online visibility tactics when the majority of the people you’re reaching will never become your ideal customer in the first place?
When it comes to local searches, on the other hand, know that a massive 80% of them convert. Not only that, but 62% of people say that they will outright ignore a business that doesn’t have a web presence.
So in that way, it’s not just about “getting found on Google” in the general sense. For a pet services business specifically, you need to get found on Google by the right pet owners at exactly the right time.
SEO Best Practices for Pet Services Businesses
If you took a look at your closest competitor, you’d probably be looking at a very different pet services businesses from your own. All this is to say that there is no “one size fits all” approach to getting found on Google.
Your organization has unique strengths. You do things in a certain way, and you offer a level of service that people won’t be able to find anywhere else. Those are the qualities you need to amplify through search engine optimization and similar means.
Having said that, there are best practices that you can follow to help make getting found on Google and other search engines as easy as possible. Collectively, they create the robust strategy you need to get your business’ message in front of the right pet owner at exactly the right time.
Optimize for Local Audiences
Maybe the biggest step you can take towards getting found on Google involves capitalizing on every opportunity you have to optimize your site for local audiences.
Always claim and optimize your Google Business Profile, for example, as this is what most Google users will see before they even decide whether to visit your website. Make sure that your profile is fully updated with accurate business hours, contact info, and a compelling description of your services. You can also use features like Google Posts, which allow you to share offers, updates, or blog posts directly in your profile.
In a broader sense, you’ll also want to make sure that your pet services business is listed consistently across all local directories (Yelp, Angie’s List, Yellow Pages, etc.). Also double-check that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all platforms. The last thing you want to do is accidentally confuse a potential customer because you have one phone number listed on one site and a separate phone number listed on another.
You should also incorporate local terms into your page titles, headers, and meta descriptions. If there is absolutely anything notable about where you live and what you do, make sure you use it to your advantage.
The Lost Art of On-Page SEO
Many people make the mistake of assuming that search engine optimization and content marketing are essentially the same thing.
Yes, you want to make sure you’re publishing as much high value, relevant content to the pet services industry as possible. Yes, you want to make sure that content is filled with local keywords as organically as possible.
But if that’s all you do, guess what happens – that content might rank highly temporarily, but it will inevitably be replaced. You also need to focus on getting your primary domain to rank – your homepage, services pages, and things of that nature. Those don’t change and are therefore a constant in your larger SEO strategy.
There are a few straightforward things you can do to that end. Include primary and secondary keywords in your page titles, meta descriptions, headers, and body content. Focus on optimizing for “service + location” keywords, as most pet services customers search for services specific to their area. Use internal links to connect related pages on your site, which improves user navigation and helps search engines understand your site structure.
Online Reviews and Reputation Management
Finally, don’t neglect the new, digital version of word-of-mouth – online reviews and reputation management.
Pay attention to the conversations that people are already having about your pet services business and do whatever you can to make sure the sentiment is positive. Ask happy customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other relevant platforms. Respond to both positive and negative reviews to show that you care about customer feedback.
Likewise, don’t be afraid to use tools like Surefire Local to track your online reputation and manage reviews. The more positive reviews you have, the better your chances of ranking higher locally. The higher you rank locally, the more pet owners will pick up the phone and give you a call.
These are just a few of the many best practices you can use to help your pet services business get found on Google in 2025. The most important thing to take away from this, however, is that this is something you need to commit yourself to on a regular basis.
If you write a high-quality, thoughtful, valuable blog post today and put it on your pet services website, you might get some traction. But after a few weeks (or even days), it will soon get lost in the shuffle of new content. You need to continue to post those blogs on a regular basis to not only shine a spotlight on yourself, but keep it there.
The same is true of social media. Conversations change and you need to change with them. New directories pop up to manage all the time. Certain keywords will suddenly become competitive and you need to be in a position to capitalize on that.
All this is to say that getting found on Google and staying found are two different things, and you need to manage your own expectations for the best results moving forward. This also helps to underline the importance of having an all-in-one marketing platform like Surefire Local by your side.
Surefire Local brings together everything you need to conduct a far-reaching, thorough marketing campaign under one roof. You can manage more than 80 different directories from a single location. You can manage all the various social media profiles your pet services business has from one place. The list goes on and on.
This means that from a productivity standpoint alone, a tool like Surefire Local can save up a tremendous amount of your time so that you can focus on more important matters. The job is still getting done, only now you’re not spending so much effort on it to achieve the same results.
What you’re left with is a well-oiled machine that is built to keep pet owners and their furry little friends coming right to your door. At that point, you have the maximum amount of effort needed to devote to building and maintaining those relationships through superior services – which is exactly the way it should be.
If you’re having a difficult time standing out from a crowd on Google with your pet services business, don’t worry – you’ve come to the right place. Contact the Surefire Local team to find out more information on the SEO best practices you can start using today. You can also click here to attend a Surefire Local demo to see the results that a powerful all-in-one marketing platform can generate that you may have a hard time replicating on your own.