Have you ever wondered what makes the best dog training websites so much more effective than others? Why one site seems to bring its owner more clients than they can handle, and others, well, don’t?

The secret is that top dog training websites work so well because they act like the perfect sales rep. How? By answering potential clients’ questions within the first few seconds of them visiting the site.

So today we’re going to unpack exactly what makes a great dog training website — the hidden tricks that can take your site visitor from “maybe” to “sign me up now.”

Questions the best dog training websites answer

The very first question a visitor to a dog training site will have is: 

“Can you help me with my dog training problem?”

Next, they’ll ask:

“Do you work with people like me?” or “Do you work with dogs like mine?”

They’ll also want to know:

“Do you work in my area?” and 

“Can I afford you?”

Finally, website visitors also want to know:

“Can I trust you to do what you say you will?”

How the top dog training websites answer those questions

The best websites answer those questions on the home page within seconds, with little or no scrolling, and no digging around.

So how might a dog trainer’s site do that? Let’s unpack each question…

“Can you help me with my dog training problem?”

Firstly, break the question down into the types of common problems owners experience:

• Reactivity
• Puppy training
• Loose leash walking
• Day-to-day manners and control around the home

Which of these do you specialize in? To have a great dog training website your homepage needs to clearly show the types of issues you routinely resolve. Ideally this needs to be obvious from your hero section or the section directly below it. Don’t bury it at the bottom of the page.

“Do you work with people like me?”

The best websites answer this by using copy that makes an emotional connection, so visitors feel heard. 

They also get the message across by including images that represent the trainer’s ideal client. 

You can do the same. Want to work with young families? Have pictures of dogs and children. Prefer a more mature client group? Have photos of older owners with their dogs.

“Do you work in my area?”

The top dog training sites make the business location very clear. You can do this by adding your location as far up the page as possible. Include copy such as “Mad Mutts Dog Training, Granite Falls, North Carolina” in the main header text, or just underneath it.

It can also help to include a clear map in the footer and references to local places, maybe even pictures that show local landmarks. These will all help your website visitor work out where you are in the world.

Don’t forget to include information about whether you travel to them, or if you have a facility they’ll need to come to instead.

“Can I afford you?”

If you offer group classes, your prices need to be clearly listed. You don’t want to be fielding inquiries from everyone who might be interested — you’ll waste far too much time.

But displaying your package prices is an entirely different matter. 

Although it’s generally not a great idea to list your package prices on your website, you do need to give people an indication of what they may pay to work with you. The most effective dog training sites give enough information that visitors can self-select to make an inquiry call.

The design and styling of a website can also convey the sort of price point a visitor might expect to pay. Not sure your does? You can use copy along the lines of “Package prices start from $X” to tell people if you’re way outside of their budget.

You can find more about pricing information on your website in this blog post. 

“Can I trust you?”

The top dog training websites make it very clear the trainer can do what they say they can. 

There are three main ways they do this:

• Credentials – clients are unlikely to understand what they mean but showing you’ve got some formal training can go a long way to easing concerns you might be a fraud.
• Before/after videos – these are great for showcasing what you can do. Read more about creating before/after videos in our post here.
• Testimonials – people like to read about previous client experiences. They’re powerful, but the downside is you have to get clients to write them. Find out how to ask for testimonials without feeling icky, here. 

There are pros and cons to each but if you can provide a mix, right there on your home page, you’ll be well on your way to proving your worth. Take a look at some of the best dog training websites and you’ll notice the proof and trust signals are front and center — virtually no scrolling required. 

Other factors to creating a great dog training website

The information on the home page is vital, but it’s not the whole story. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that on the best dog training websites the entire site is set up to make the process of researching a trainer, and then reaching out to them, easy.

How do they do that?

They have a clear call to action

The whole point of a dog training website is to bring in clients. But if a site leaves visitors confused about their next steps, they’ll just leave, pronto. The best dog training sites make it obvious what the visitor needs to do next. They have clear, easy to find call-to-action buttons and text. 

They’re mobile friendly

Did you know that the majority of searches are now done on mobile? Yep. That means to have a great dog training website that ranks well in search, yours needs to be accessible on a mobile device.

There are a lot of different aspects to having a mobile-friendly website but one of the biggest factors is load speed. You can check your site’s load speed at Google’s free Page Speed tester.

They have great images

Humans are predominantly visual. The most effective dog training websites play into this by having fabulous images. How? Their images are:

• Good quality with in-focus subjects
• Appealing
• Well framed so different parts aren’t cut off weirdly
• Created to display well no matter what screen size the viewer uses

Not sure if your images make the grade? You can learn more about creating great images for your website here.

They have a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy

You can have the greatest dog training website ever, but if no one can find it, it’s not doing its job. So how do the best websites get found? They have an SEO strategy. 

The best way to approach SEO — so you get found in Google search — is to think about what the average owner, experiencing problems with their dog, will do. Generally, they’ll either search for “how do I stop my dog…?“-type information, or they’ll search for a dog trainer near them. 

The most easily found dog training websites cover both scenarios. They have answers to the “how do I…?“ questions in the form of blog posts (or vlog posts) and they’ll include local SEO information on all their pages.

With both those pieces in place, Google is far more likely to rank them in searches. And as we all know, higher ranking means more eyeballs and potentially more clients.

So now we’ve deconstructed effective dog training websites, how does yours compare to the best? 

Hopefully it’s up there too! But if it’s not, and you’d like a website overhaul to bring your site up to par, get in touch.