Industries

Marketing for vets

Websites and SEO for veterinary practices that want more registered clients, fees owners can find in seconds and an emergency route anyone can follow at 2am. Owners don't switch vets lightly. Arête builds the pages that help them choose you in the first place.

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The situation

How the work is won.

Most owners choose a vet at one of three moments: a new pet, a house move, or losing faith in their current practice. Once registered, many stay for years. So that one decision is worth a lot to you. Owners compare on location, opening hours, out-of-hours cover, prices and whether you're independent or part of a group. And with veterinary pricing under close public and regulatory attention, straightforward fee information counts for more than it used to.

What sends them looking

A new puppy, kitten or rabbit that needs vaccinations, neutering and a practice to register with.
Moving house and needing a practice within easy reach.
A worrying symptom or injury out of hours, and not knowing where to go.
A fee rise or a change of ownership at their current practice that gets them comparing.
A reptile, bird or other exotic that needs a vet who knows the species.

The problem

Why it's harder than it looks.

Where the work slips away

Turning one-off appointments and emergency visits into long-term registered clients.
Explaining out-of-hours arrangements when a separate service provides your emergency cover.
Publishing fees and health plan costs when treatment prices vary case by case.
Standing out as an independent next to the corporate groups. Or, if you're group-owned, saying so honestly.
Getting found for exotics, orthopaedics, dentistry and other specialist services, beyond general vet searches.

What makes customers hesitate

What a consultation, vaccination or routine procedure costs.
Who to call if their pet needs help at night or at the weekend.
Whether the practice is independent or part of a larger group.
Do the vets here know their species or breed?

The approach

Where Arête would start with vets.

Every service works on its own. Which one comes first depends on how your customers search and decide.

Proof and measurement

What customers check, and what counts.

What customers look for before they call

Published prices for common services, such as consultations, vaccinations and neutering.
Out-of-hours information that says exactly where emergency care is provided and how to reach it.
Vet and nurse profiles with qualifications and areas of interest.
RCVS Practice Standards Scheme accreditation and awards, where the practice holds them, described accurately.
Recent reviews from local owners on Google and independent platforms.

What counts as an enquiry

A new client registration completed online.
A first appointment or new pet check booked.
A pet health plan sign-up or enquiry.
A call to the practice from your website or Google Business Profile.

What gets tracked

New client registrations per month and per branch.
Health plan sign-ups that came through the website.
Calls and direction requests from each branch's Google Business Profile.
Visits to emergency and out-of-hours pages, which show how prominent that information needs to be.

Worth knowing

The rules and the practicalities.

Constraints for vets

The RCVS Code of Professional Conduct and its supporting guidance expect advertising to be accurate and not misleading, and the title 'specialist' is reserved for RCVS Recognised Specialists.
Prescription-only veterinary medicines cannot be advertised to the public, so content should discuss conditions and care without promoting named POM-V products.
RCVS guidance expects clients to be told clearly how emergency and out-of-hours care is provided, and your website is the natural place to state it.
Pet health plans are generally preventive care packages and not insurance, so they should be described that way.

Questions

Marketing for vets: your questions answered

Should a vet practice publish its prices online?

It's worth doing. Owners increasingly compare prices before they register, and the CMA's market investigation into veterinary services has made price transparency a live issue for the whole sector. Publishing prices for consultations, vaccinations, neutering and other common services answers the most frequent question before it turns into a phone call. Where costs vary, explain what affects them so owners can plan.

How should a group-owned practice talk about ownership?

Openly. Many owners want to know whether a practice is independent or part of a group, and saying so upfront avoids suspicion later. You can still put your local vets and nurses front and centre, along with continuity of care and the facilities the group gives you access to.

Is it worth marketing exotic pet services separately?

If your vets have hands-on experience with rabbits, reptiles, birds or other exotics, yes. Exotic owners are prepared to travel further for the right vet, and they search for species expertise by name. Give each species group its own page, describing exactly what you offer. That's the page they're looking for.