We love our pets. In fact, they oftentimes live better lives than us, let’s be real. I know my cats eat better than me and I have heard of many dogs with extensive grooming routines. That’s because pets deserve the world, which is why you created a brand that’s focused on improving their lives, health, and happiness. But how can you better get pet parents’ eyes on your company and sell more of your pet products? Pet store SEO!
And you’re in the right place! We are an SEO-focused marketing agency that has extensive experience working with pet product brands to build their online presence, create a website that tells your brand’s unique story, and creates a loyal customer base with pet parents who keep coming back for more.
Here are some of our tips and tricks if you’re just starting out!
Pet store SEO tips and tricks
Conduct a keyword search
The first step in using SEO to sell more pet supplies is to conduct keyword research.
Keyword research involves identifying the search terms that people use to find products like yours. By understanding the keywords that are relevant to your business, you can optimize your website and content to target those keywords.
Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help you identify the best pet-supply related keywords to target. Once you have identified your target keywords, you can optimize your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, and content to include those keywords.
Optimize your website’s structure
Your website is often the first thing people see, which is why it’s important to optimize your website’s structure and improve its appearance.
This includes making sure your website is easy to navigate and has a clear hierarchy. Your website should also have a sitemap that helps search engines crawl and index your pages.
In addition, you should optimize your website’s URLs, which should include your target keywords. This helps search engines understand the content of your pages and can improve your search rankings.
Another important aspect of your website is ensuring it really tells your brand’s story, represents your unique brand, and highlights your products.
Add high-quality photos and videos, include unique designs, and include details that let pet parents know that you truly love pets, like showing customers’ pets using your product.
Create quality content
One of the most important aspects of using SEO to sell more pet supplies is creating quality content. Your website’s content should be informative, engaging, and relevant to your target audience. You should also make sure your content is optimized for your target keywords.
In addition to creating quality content for your website, you should also consider creating a blog.
Blogging is a great way to attract visitors to your website and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Your blog posts should also be optimized for your target keywords and should provide value to your readers.
If you struggle with writing, we have a crew of content writers and SEO blog experts that have extensive experience creating pet-related content so your blogs will come off as authentic, helpful, and full of care.
These blogs will help people better understand your products and how they will improve their pet’s life and also provide them with helpful tips for becoming better pet parents, making you a trusted source for content and products.
Build high-quality backlinks
Backlinks are definitely a part of pet store SEO that can’t be overlooked. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. High-quality backlinks can improve your website’s search rankings and drive traffic to your website.
To build high-quality backlinks, you should focus on creating quality content that other websites will want to link to. You can also reach out to other websites in your industry and ask them to link to your website.
Use social media
While not specific to SEO, social media can also be a powerful tool for showcasing your pet products when putting together a marketing strategy. By sharing your content on social media, you can increase the visibility of your website and attract more visitors.
Social media can also be used to engage your customers and potential customers. Share sales, host pet photo contests, and create fun content that will showcase your personality.
You should also make sure your social media profiles are optimized for your target keywords. This can help improve your search rankings and drive more traffic to your website, depending on the platform you are using.
Market Your Pet Shop The Right Way!
Using SEO to sell more pet supplies requires a comprehensive strategy that includes conducting keyword research, optimizing your website’s structure, creating quality content, building high-quality backlinks, and using social media.
By following these tips, you can outrank your competitors in Google search results and attract more customers to your business.
But we know this can be a lot of work. While you’re busy creating quality pet products, you can reach out to the experts at 1Digital to handle your SEO optimization. We have a team of pet store SEO experts who can create a customized plan based on your specific needs, including website optimization, blog content, and more. Reach out here and we will lend you a paw!
A Practical 30-Day Pet Store SEO Roadmap
Tips are easier to act on when they have a sequence. Here is the order we actually work in when we onboard a new pet brand, broken into four weekly sprints you can run yourself before deciding whether you need help.
Week 1 — Foundation and keyword mapping
Build a simple spreadsheet with one row per page on your store. For each category and top product, assign one primary keyword and two or three supporting phrases. Pet retail rewards specificity: “grain-free salmon dog food for sensitive stomachs” converts far better than “dog food” because the searcher has already self-qualified. Group keywords by buyer intent — informational (“how often should I bathe a Frenchie”), commercial (“best slow-feeder bowl”), and transactional (“buy hypoallergenic cat litter”) — and make sure every transactional phrase points to a page someone can actually buy from.
Week 2 — On-page and technical cleanup
Rewrite the title tag and meta description for your ten highest-revenue pages first. Add unique, hand-written copy to category pages (most pet stores leave these empty, which is a fast win). Compress product images — pet photography tends to be large — and add descriptive alt text that names the animal and use case. Confirm an XML sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console and that category pages are not accidentally set to noindex, a common platform default after a theme change.
Week 3 — Content that earns links
Publish one genuinely useful resource: a breed-specific feeding guide, a size chart for harnesses, or a vet-reviewed FAQ. Resources like these are what other pet blogs, breed forums, and local rescues actually link to. Pitch the resource to three relevant sites you already buy from or partner with.
Week 4 — Measure and iterate
In Google Search Console, look at the Queries report for pages that rank on page two (positions 11–20). These are your fastest opportunities — small on-page improvements often push a position-12 page onto page one. Track organic sessions and assisted conversions in GA4, not just rankings, so you are optimizing toward revenue rather than vanity metrics.
Pet-Industry SEO Questions We Hear Most
Should I write my own product descriptions if the manufacturer provides them?
Yes. Manufacturer copy is duplicated across every retailer that carries the product, so search engines have no reason to rank your version. Even two or three original sentences per product — covering who the product suits, sizing, and ingredients — meaningfully improves the page’s ability to rank.
How long until pet store SEO produces results?
For a newer domain, expect meaningful movement on low-competition long-tail terms within two to four months and on more competitive category terms within six to twelve. SEO compounds: the content and links you build keep working, unlike paid traffic that stops the moment the budget does.
Does product schema markup matter for a pet store?
It does. Adding valid Product structured data (price, availability, and review ratings) makes your listings eligible for rich results, which increases click-through even when your ranking position is unchanged. Most modern Shopify and BigCommerce themes include it, but it is worth validating in Google’s Rich Results Test.
If you would rather focus on sourcing great products than on title tags and link outreach, our pet store SEO team can build and run this roadmap for you. Either way, the framework above is the same one we use internally.