We know the demands of running a veterinary practice can make it seem like you don’t have time for anything—especially when it comes to your veterinary website. Setting a baseline takes much less time than you think, however. In fact, you can make a big difference in just five minutes with these simple veterinary website tests. The outcomes will give you a road map of what you need to do to make the most of your digital footprint. Please note, you do not have to know all the language on these reports as they have been helpfully coded in green, yellow, and red. If your indicators on the report are all in green, you are good! If you have yellow and red show up, it’s time to have a conversation with your veterinary website provider. 

Check Your Responsiveness

Google has undergone three major core updates in 2023. Every time Google shifts, websites either bob along with the shift or get smashed. Making sure your website is responsive on various platforms is an important way to make sure you’re keeping Google happy. Luckily, all you have to do for this test is to open your website on your desktop, your laptop, and your phone. You want to click around and focus specifically on the following:

• Is all of your content there? Does it adapt to the smaller screen sizes in a way that makes it easy to navigate and read?
• Phone Number: Does your phone number link to click to call when using on your phone?
• Social Media: Do your social media links take you to your pages or to the general homepage of a site like Facebook.com? 
• Address: Is your address hyperlinked to your Google business profile?
• External Links: Are any external links (going to other websites) opening in a new tab, or do they take a user off of your site to send them to the other site?

Veterinary websites that are responsive to different formats (like mobile versus desktop) and make it easy for users to navigate will rank higher than those that don’t.

Make Sure Your Content Is Original

A second quick test to run is focused on content. Ever since Google launched its Google Panda rule, duplicated content on a website is a no-go. Hard stop. Do not pass Go. Google will kick you where it hurts the most, and drop your website in its rankings. There is no exception to the rule. Period. If you purchased a website that is considered a template, many times it comes with stock text copy to illustrate what should be on the page. This text should be stripped out and replaced with original content created by the hospital. If your website has content that it created or purchased for your hospital, and the copyright is owned by your business, nobody else should be using it. 

So, is your content a beautifully unique unicorn? Take this test to find out!

Check Your Links

Finally, a little housekeeping goes a long way, even only once or twice a year. As Google shifts, websites shift and things break. Even if you don’t change anything, if another website or resource you linked to changes, your link to them breaks. To find out if the links on your website are working or broken, load time of your website, and number of words on your pages, click here.

Disappointed in the results of your veterinary website tests? We can help.

A properly functioning website can do wonders for your business and your digital marketing efforts. Beyond Indigo Pets creates custom websites with unique content and fast page speeds to keep your business front and center. To learn more about our website design or our veterinary marketing, please call (877) 244-9322 or fill out this form.