“Design” is a word with a lot of meanings.

The idea of designing, building, and improving things helps us to create better products, services, and user experiences.

And, even though you might not think it, this applies to your dog website as well.

In today’s article, we’ll be showing off the different design aspects of dog websites, showing you how you can improve yours, for better results.

Everything from mobile design to better back-end SEO can improve the look and functionality of your site. So join us, today, as we see what goes into better dog website design.

Go Mobile

One of the most important considerations for any website owner, no matter the industry, is a decent mobile version of their website.

Or even just a passable one.

Mobile usage has been sort of a silent revolution, but make no mistake, the world has gone mobile, and it’s not a passing fad. More users experience the Internet through a mobile device now than on a desktop computer. Which means, when you get visitors looking for dogs on your site, they’re more likely to be looking at you through a phone than a monitor.

With that in mind, you have to ask yourself: “How well optimized is my dog website design for mobile devices?”

A good mobile website should be tailored specifically to mobile users. The biggest mistake any web developer makes is assuming mobile users will be “okay” using the desktop version of their site on their phone or tablet.

These versions are bigger, clunkier, and take more data to use. Users have to zoom in and hunt down buttons, and, the longer they’re there, the greater chance they’ll leave and not come back.

But How Do I Get Mobile?

Start by streamlining your dog website design. Create a site that loads quickly by removing anything unnecessary. Scale it down to fit better on mobile screens, with important information close to the top, “above the fold” so that users don’t have to scroll down to find it.

The added benefit? Better mobile design helps to improve search engine rankings. Google and the other major search engines assign values to websites based on how “good” they are for users. If an engine sees that you offer desktop and mobile dog website design that people benefit from, it places you higher in the results for specific searches.

For an example of a site that works just as well on mobile as it does on desktop, look no further than Pet Crates Direct.

Link Off To Social

Moving from mobile, which everybody uses, to something else everyone uses, let’s touch on the question of social media.

It can be easy for many businesses to look at social media and think it’s not a serious platform. This notion couldn’t be more wrong, especially for dog website design.

Social media is crucial to bringing in traffic to your website, and you need to link off to it and link back from it.

Start by setting up and maintaining a series of social profiles on as many relevant networks as you can. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are good places to start. Each has their own unique user bases, all of which are ready to hear about your dogs.

All you’ve got to do is reach out, spend a little time networking, and you’ll find an audience wherever you go.

Once you’ve got your profiles make sure to use them regularly. Check in daily, talk to followers, and interact with other businesses within your industry. The networking opportunities are endless.

Make sure to regularly link back to your main website without seeming spammy. Include a few links in the dog website design itself back to these profiles.

With more users than ever getting their news from social media outlets, it’s naive to believe you can just get by without being on one. These platforms also help to drive interaction.

The more relevant you are socially, the better it is for your website.

Improve The Site Itself

Of course, the quickest route between two points is a straight line.

If you want to improve your dog website design, why not start by making the site itself look and operate better?

A few improvements to check off would include:

• Simplifying: Simpler sites with less unnecessary content load quicker. If your users can get the information about your services they need and make a decision faster, they’ll appreciate your dog website design more.
• Better navigation: Go through your site with a fine-toothed comb, and get rid of any “dead ends” users might run up against. Run out of information to give users on what dogs you offer or their vaccination records? Link out to a purchase form, or back to the homepage.
• Calls to action: Simply put, this is a compelling combination of words that urges users to do something. Buy. Order. Call. Submit. Whatever your end goal is, the idea is to actually say to do that. Keep reading to find out more!
• Better use of colors: This is an idea that ties into calls to action. Use complementary colors to put users at ease. Visit a color combination or design site to see which colors to match up – you’d be surprised at the difference this makes. Then start actively using them to make your dog website design better.
• Ten-foot test: Get up and stand ten feet from your screen, with the site open. Can’t tell at a glance that you deal with dogs? Your dog website design can probably be simpler.
• Testimonials: Fortunate enough to have many satisfied clients? Ask some of them to provide you with a testimonial to put on your site. Most people are completely fine with this, and it speaks volumes about the quality of your work.

Pictures

Not to be too glib, but your best dog website design resource is those adorable little dog faces.

So use them!

If you aren’t using images to make your point, you’re missing out. Format the pictures to make sure they look uniform, applying whatever filter makes your little guys look their best. With a little work and an eye for good design, you can use pictures to make your site look and work better.

Emotions are crucial when trying to make a sale. You’ll want to appeal to these emotions to help find homes for your dogs, by showing their faces.

Be Responsive

We mentioned social media and the impact it can have on your interaction with your clients.

If someone reaches out to you on social media or via your website, be ready to respond to them as soon as possible,

For dog sellers or breeders, taking longer than a few hours to get back to someone looking to buy a pup can mean the difference between a sale or none.

And with increased social media presence comes a need for responsiveness of a different kind: responding to negative comments.

When clients take you to task, be ready to apologize or defend your dog website design ASAP, or they may think you don’t care

e-Commerce Integration

If this isn’t obvious, it should be – the ability to pay for a service online is central to good internet business.

Integrate payment options into your dog website design. Paypal, money transfers, and credit cards should all be covered, or payment becomes more difficult for the user, and they might go elsewhere.

An important note: make sure to vet buyers before giving away dogs bought online with no screening process.

SEO And Conversion Driving

As a final note on improving your dog website design, the backend of your design can have a huge impact on who sees it and uses it.

Search engine optimization has revolutionized web development, and it can make or break commercial websites.

“What is SEO?” you may ask. Simply put, it’s the development of your copy and website architecture to make a better answer to search engines looking in your field.

And the results can be gigantic.

Consider hiring a professional to help you coordinate your SEO if you’re not familiar with it yet. Or do the research yourself and start making tweaks. Whichever way you go, don’t waste another day–make your dog website a better search option than the other guy’s.

Better Dog Website Design: No Barking Matter

Ultimately, dog businesses operate the same way online as any other.

You want users searching for dogs to find your site before anybody else’s.

You also want them to love the way your site looks and runs. It also wouldn’t hurt if they could access it on mobile and love the way that looks and runs as well.

Finally, you want to convert their visit into a query, a review, or, ideally, a dog purchase.

Searches, visits, then conversions–these are the three steps that justify a website’s existence.

Interested in better designs, and what they can mean for your website or business? Visit us today, and discover design on a whole new level.