I’ve looked at loads of kennel websites in my time, and they all seem to make the same mistakes!
If you’re a great breeder you should get out there and seen online. After all, that’s how most people shop for puppies these days. If you already have a website and it’s not getting enough eyeballs on it, it’s probably suffering some or even all of these problems.
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Kennel websites having no content
What’s content? Oh, that’s simply written information. And Google – being a content engine – loves information. But most dog breeders barely put any on their website.
Most kennel websites typically have the home page where they might say a few words about themselves, then a page with photos of their parent dogs, another with pics of their current litter, and a contact page. And that’s pretty much it!
If you want to rank well in Google so you turn up on the search results when someone is researching your breed then write about it! Communicate your passion, your perspective and your expertise about your breed on your website. And it’s a great way to build your authority and reputation online.
But remember, it must be original content. If you copy and paste it from somewhere else, Google will know and rank you down for it. And a decent amount of it too. The rule of thumb is to write at least 500 words for each page.
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Kennel websites with poor SEO
Most breeders do not understand SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization. And why should they? But if you want Google to notice your website, and dish it up near the top on search results, then you have to get a grip on it. Or pay a specialist to build a high performing breeder website for you.
Basically SEO is how you communicate to Google what each webpage on your website is about. It involves knowledge of the common keywords used by people when they search online about your breed. And then building a page around each of them on your site. With the keywords at critical locations on the page.
Other important SEO attributes include having a site map and privacy policy on your site.
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Kennel websites that are not mobile friendly
Some website builders commonly used by breeders look terrible on mobile devices such as phones and tablets. Google is all about the user experience so gives higher ranking to sites that look good on all devices.
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Kennel websites that are slow to load
Again, some website builders deliver websites that take too long to load online. Google will penalize such sites. The use of large images exacerbates this problem.
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Site insecure
Sites without SSL certification (SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer) will show up as not secure. Your browser may even stop you from visiting it. If your website address is http://www.YOURSITE.com instead of https://www.YOURWEBSITE.com then it does not have SSL certification.
Some website hosting companies offer free SSL with their hosting plans. Do your homework before you choose a host as it can be expensive to put it on later.
Luckily there is a single dog breeder website solution that fixes all these shortfalls. To learn about it and see a comparison of the website options available for dog breeders and how they stack up check the dog breeder and kennel websites review here.
