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Pet Copywriter Lindsay Pevny

Pet Copywriter Lindsay Pevny

Blogging, Web Content & Product Description Writing For The Pet Industry

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How I Got My Pet Blog Post To Rank #1 In Google Search Results

pet blog top google search resultThey say second is the best, but that’s not true when it comes to getting your blog post noticed by Google. 

The first search result usually gets clicked 33% of the time, while the second result, on average, is clicked 18% of the time; the third, 12%.

I got my pet blog post to rank as the first result when you Google any variation of “transition from puppy pads to outside” – and it wasn’t by accident. It also didn’t happen overnight.

About nine months ago, the day I published my post on Little Dog Tips, I was looking for information on the topic for my own personal education. I was surprised to find that there was no specific blog post addressing my question, though there were a few, somewhat related results. The top results didn’t have the most accurate, most extensive information.

But now that my blog post is the #1 result – not just on the first page, but the first result on the first page – almost everyone who googles this question will land on my blog.

Every month, over 1000 visitors come to my blog from this #1 search ranking. This is about 1/3 of my monthly visitors, so this 9-month old post is bringing in a ton of my traffic.

Choosing Your Target Keywords

Though it’s hard to remember 9 months back, I believe a query similar to “transition from puppy pads to outside” appeared in the related searches at the bottom of the page.

In fact, I can now see what I probably noticed that day: “how to transition from puppy pads to outside” – no wonder I chose this exact title!

Yup, "how to transition from puppy pads to outside" still appears in Searches Related To.
Yup, “how to transition from puppy pads to outside” still appears in Searches Related To.

If a search query shows up here, there’s a strong chance that many people are using this exact phrase to conduct their searches.

When you have an idea for a blog post topic, be sure to Google it to check out the competition, and scroll down for ideas on phrasing. Judging by my traffic, plenty of people use the word “transition” to describe this doggy potty-training process. Take into consideration what your target audience will be typing in hopes of finding a blog post like yours.

How I Wrote A #1 Ranking Blog Post

Now that I had a long-form keyword with little competition, I was ready to publish a great blog post on the topic.

No other blog had described in detail how to get a dog to stop peeing on puppy pads and going to the bathroom outdoors. I had just achieved this with my dog, so with little research I was able to write a fully detailed, 958-word blog post.

While I did predict an opportunity for the first page (as a brand new blogger, I wasn’t expecting to make the top result!) my first priority was solving the reader’s problem. Like me, they were tired of using puppy pads, but when they ran out of pads, their dog was having accidents because it was never trained to relieve itself outdoors. I did my best to provide a foolproof solution, and step-by-step instructions.

When you’re writing (or hiring a freelance pet blogger) your audience should come first. Genuinely valuable posts have the best chance of ranking, but they only occur when you write with your audience in mind – not traffic.

Optimizing For My Keyword Phrase

My full keyword phrase was “how to transition from puppy pads to outside,” but I couldn’t use this entire phrase anywhere in the blog post except the title.

I used “transition from puppy pads to outside” again, with several other occurrences of “puppy pads,” sometimes in the H2 headings. “Puppy pads” also appears in the image alt text.

“Transition from puppy pads to outside” also comes up in the snippet I created in the Yoast snippet editor, though in my search results I’m noticing that you won’t always see the same snippet.

How I Got My Pet Blog Post To Rank First In Google Search

Google Knows What You Mean

When I search for a slightly different phrase, including “potty pads,” not “puppy pads,” I get the same result. My blog post may also appear for people looking for “quitting potty pads” and similar phrases, even though I did not use those phrases in my post.

Choose just one phrase to focus on in your blog post instead of trying to rank for near matches.

How Long It Took To Reach The Top

I published my blog post on September 2, 2015.

My Google Analytics shows that extra search traffic did not come rushing in until February 25, 2016.

For a while between, my blog post was the second search result, it only recently became the first.

I only launched my blog in June 2015, so when the blog post was first published, my site did not have the authority to get high search rankings.

Additionally, I edited the post several times over the past few months to make it more SEO-friendly, and saw a direct result in the post’s ranking.

Other Things I Did

Do you ever comment on someone else’s blog, where you’re able to add your Name, Email Address and Website? This is the default WordPress blog commenting format, and it’s a good way to build links and get traffic.

Here’s a little secret: you don’t always have to put your website homepage as the Website. You can also paste a link to your blog post. This may have boosted my post’s SEO while getting those first few visitors.

An even littler secret: I made sure to comment on blogs that were on a very closely related topic. I googled (“Your email address will not be published” + puppy pads) to find WordPress blogs that allowed comments with links and were close to my topic. Backlinks on related posts might have been very good for my post’s SEO ranking, though I’m not entirely sure it’s relevant. This is my untested theory, though it does seem to work!

I also shared my blog post on social media, but oddly enough, much lesser than most of my other posts. It’s an evergreen topic that never gets outdated, but it only applies to people in a specific situation. So, it’s not a must-read for most of my audience. Always share your posts and try to get others to share, too, but don’t worry if your post doesn’t go viral on social media.

Boosting Your Old Blog Posts

It took 6 months for Google to notice my post. Building your blog’s authority takes months. As you publish new posts, make sure to go back and check your old blog posts, change your focus keywords, edit H2 headings, photo alt tags, and add social media friendly images. Share old posts on social media, and link to them in your comment URL (not in the body of your comment).

The longer your focus keyword, the better chance you have of writing a blog post that ranks highly for it. The more you write, the more chances you’ll get at publishing a #1 post.

Last of all, don’t get discouraged if you’ve been blogging for months and don’t seem to be getting much traffic from Google. Your breakthrough is right around the corner.

Need Help Climbing To The Top?

It takes time, patience, and plenty of well-written content to start seeing your blog posts reach Google’s front page. Hiring an experienced freelance pet blogger like me helps you get there without spending time away from your business. Subscribe to my email list to get your free copy of Content Marketing for Dog Businesses and stay up to date with my blog posts – I’ll be sharing many more helpful, free tips!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Luis Valdes says

    June 5, 2016 at 7:51 pm

    Wow! I’m new to blogging and currently reading through different ways to optimize blogs, websites, local SEO etc. Your insight on how to figure out what would be the best phrase to use is awesome. Thank you for posting this!

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      June 6, 2016 at 2:35 am

      So glad to help, Luis, thanks for commenting!

      Reply
  2. Rosemary Lombard says

    June 6, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    Thanks for the information. My research and publishing are about turtles (including my forthcoming Turtles All the Way: Poems from Finishing Line Press), but the same SEO principles apply. I’d appreciate having your Marketing for Dog Businesses.

    Rosemary Lombard, Chelonian Connection cognition laboratory

    Reply
    • Lindsay says

      June 7, 2016 at 2:47 am

      Turtles, how interesting! I’d love to talk about your research and publishing, I’ll check out your blog.

      Reply
  3. Kyle Connor says

    June 16, 2016 at 1:27 pm

    Wow. That’s great that you got your website to rank on top of Google. Like i believe, Long Tail Keywords have done the trick for you.
    I can use your post as an example in my next research paper.
    BTW, https://www.google.com/#q=SEO+optimization+studymode if anyone’s interested, you’ll find tons of research papers full of SEO tactics already waiting to be read and implemented.
    Cheers!

    Reply
  4. Barbie Kalpp says

    June 21, 2016 at 9:22 am

    Lindsay,I love your blog ideas. I too post to several formats. I need to get back to posting on patch.com it’s great to see when you become noted as a star blogger and to see it on patch.com

    Have a dog gone great day Lindsay! 🙂

    Reply
  5. amna says

    June 22, 2016 at 11:00 am

    Hi ,

    Nice way to rank your post top in google.

    Reply
  6. Malaika Fernandes says

    July 28, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    Thank you for the info:). Just started blogging a few days ago

    Reply
  7. Marya says

    July 29, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    This was super helpful. I’ve been frustrated with my posts not ranking but I need to give it time as I only started back up in May.

    Reply

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Testimonials

Lindsay is the answer to

Lindsay is the answer to our prayers, we had been doing a search for a blogger content writer and had not found anyone who worked with pet professionals. She really captured our passion for the dog walking pet sitting industry and gave us a voice, she is very detail oriented and on time. We hired her to blog and do the content for our web site. Very pleased with her professionalism we will continue to use her services and highly recommend her.

Gerald Koons
The Pet Nanny of Concord, CA
Woof App

Lindsay wrote a blog post for the Woof Rescue App last year, which was quickly shared over 1,000 times. That’s pretty great based on how new our blog was at the time! I know I can count on Lindsay to deliver quality content on-time and with little guidance. We will definitely reach out to her again for future needs.

Mark Wade
Woof Rescue App
Dog Breed Cartoon

If you are looking for a dog blogger and copywriter, look no further, Lindsay is the ultimate deal! She wrote over 40 blog posts for us to date, topics ranging from breed specific to DIY home projects to giveaways. Her work is very well researched and generated a huge traffic to our website, exactly what you need when you start up as a niche business. Her writing style is captivating and her blog posts are a lot of fun to read; you know that when you receive many user comments engaging in conversations! Lindsay also knows how to engage readers on social media channels and uses various tools to get the job done. We are very happy with her work and highly recommend her. Two Paws UP 🙂

Claude Hanhart
Dog Breed Cartoon

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