Have you heard of Doug the Conscious Cat or The Dogington Post? How about the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show? Most animals nowadays have their own personal pages on various social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms. And what is interesting is, even a larger number of them have blogs.
Seriously, who doesn’t like watching videos about kittens and puppies online? A single video of pet parents playing with their dedicated pets can go viral in a few seconds.
There are so many animal foundations that are raising millions of funds to help save various animals. In addition, there are so many pet shops and grooming centers that are profitable and can be found in every nook and cranny of every town.
Will they be in a position to be profitable without pet lovers? Absolutely, not. There are a large number of pet enthusiasts worldwide.
Perhaps you like animals too or maybe just dogs. Or maybe you’d like to share your passion for rescuing abandoned animals with like-minded individuals. If yes, then instead of jumping into and creating a blog, it is better to have a plan in mind first.
That’s why we’ve put together a guide to help you become a successful Pet Blogger step by step.
This blog will cover a wide range of topics, including:
- What exactly is a pet blog?
- How to Begin Your Own Pet Blog?
- How to Make Money with Your Pet Blog.
Are you ready? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
WHAT IS A PET BLOG?
As the human population is growing, so is the number of pets. In 2022 it is estimated that 17.4 Million, that is almost 62% of households have pets.
A pet blog is a type of blog that focuses on pets, their care, and their lifestyle. It is a platform where pet owners and animal lovers share their experiences, knowledge, and tips on raising and caring for different types of pets.
Pet blogs can cover a wide range of topics, including pet nutrition, behavior, training, health, grooming, and activities. They may also feature product reviews, pet-friendly travel, adoption stories, and news and events related to pets. Addittionaly, some pet blogs may focus on a specific type of pet, such as cats, dogs, birds, or reptiles, while others may cover a variety of pets.
So, if you have decided to start a Pet blog, it can be really rewarding. To give some inspiration we have a list of the Top 5 popular Pet blogs available online.
TOP 5 PET BLOGS
1. The Conscious cat
The Conscious Cat is a beautiful pet blog that aims to create a joyful life for all cats and their cat owners. It is an ultimate resource for conscious living, health, and happiness for cats and their owners.
From cat nutrition to cat health, behavior, and toys, this blog has it all!
2. The Dogington Post
The Dogington Post is an ultimate resource for any dog lover in the world. This website talks about dog lifestyle, health and nutrition, dog training, various breeds, adoption, and various other dog-related topics.
This is not it! The blogger also takes into consideration the entertainment of his readers through a dedicated Entertainment section on the site. This has so many interesting topics including Celebrity Pets, Dog Astrology, and many others.
If you are a dog lover this blog is a must-visit!
3. Adopt A Pet
Adopt A Pet is started by pet lovers who are on a mission to find homes for homeless pets. They help various people, agencies, and pet rescue troops, advertise their homeless pets to millions of adopters a month, and that too for free.
Apart from this, the website has a complete guide for pet owners. Out of all the interesting topics, what we found really unique were tips on dealing with Dog Fear And Aggression and others.
4. Go Pet Friendly
Go Pet Friendly is a beautiful pet blog that connects various pet travelers with each other. The blogger shares his experiences or stories to help various pet owners become better pet travelers.
From Trip planners to destination guides to different blogs on pets, the main aim of the blog is to help pet parents create more memories with their pets.
If you are planning an on-road trip with your animal, you can access their Road Trip Guide which is a must-read.
5. P.L.A.Y
If P.L.A.Y makes quality dog beds for pets keeping pets, dog owners, and the planet in mind. It also has various pet blogs, pet toys, travel care, accessories, and a lot more for all pet owners.
Some interesting articles include 7 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe While Playing Outdoors and others.
Now, seems like you have an idea about a few popular blogs available online! It is therefore a perfect time to dive in a step-by-step guide to starting your pet blog, read on!
HOW TO START A PET BLOG? (8 EASY TIPS)
1. PICK A PET NICHE
Whether you start a blog about pets or something else, the first step is to have a clear focus. This means, from thousand niches present on the net, you need to pick the one you are interested in.
It is very difficult to make your blogs successful by speaking about different genders. Therefore, you need to narrow down your focus and pick a niche that drives you the most.
In addition, talking about a specific niche everywhere on your website also makes it easy for you to monetize.
Do you want to spread awareness about animal cruelty? Help homeless dogs? Do you want to talk about Dog care? Or something else. Find your end goal.
To help you with this, below are some trending niches to pick from.
LIST OF PET NICHES
- Pet Food
- Pet Nutrition
- A dedicated Dog Breed ( Pug, Golden Retriever, etc)
- Pet Healthcare
- Pet Supplies
- Adoption Centers for Pet
- Pet Training
- Dog Walking
- Homeless Dogs
- Dog Travel
- Disabled Dogs
- Dog Houses
- Breeding Dogs
- Dog Toys
- Dog Beds
- Pet Accessories
- Kittens
- Specific Cat breeds
- Birdhouses
- Complete Cat Healthcare
- Specific Fish Breed
- Beekeeping
- Pet Product Reviews
- Pet Training Certifications
- Aquarium Care
- Helping Street Dogs
- Dog Illnesses
- Dog Treatments and many more
Have you decided on something, already? Hold on! Before you finalize, we have a few quick tips for you:
- Check the demand using keyword tools like Semrush or simply Google Autosuggest. High competitive niches are tough to master, they are generally dominated by big players. This is why choosing a micro niche(narrow) is a better option to start with.
- You need to do proper research before starting your blog site. See how others are doing, look for all the monetization opportunities, trend analysis, growth, and various other important factors.
- Do you want to target the Newbie Pet owners or the professional ones? Whoever it is, see if the niche matches your target audience. You can do market research on social media platforms or various online forums to see what people are looking for.
- Even if the niche is in demand within the audience it is important for you to enjoy it. See if you can write posts related to this niche even after a few years down the line. If not, you need to drop it and find something else, right away!
Have you chosen anything for yourself? Congratulations! You have set the blogging process in motion.
2 SET UP YOUR BLOG SITE (LITTLE TECHNICAL)
Now you must focus on choosing a blogging platform and a hosting provider for your blog site.
A blogging platform typically includes a user-friendly interface that allows bloggers to create and edit posts, manage their content, and interact with their audience. It may also offer a range of features such as templates, themes, plugins, and widgets that allow bloggers to customize the look and functionality of their blog, as well as tools for managing comments, social media integration, and search engine optimization.
While, hosting is the service that provides you with the storage and access to the server that makes your blog available on the internet.
When choosing a blogging platform for your website, keep a few things in mind:
- Text Editor
- Ease of use
- Scalability
- Built-in Customizations
- Search Engine Friendly
- Plugin Options
- Cost
Regardless of whether your chosen platform includes hosting or not, it’s important to choose a hosting provider that meets your needs and provides reliable service. Look for a provider that offers sufficient storage, bandwidth, security, and technical support to ensure your blog runs smoothly and is accessible to your audience.
Our Recommendation: If you are Choosing WordPress choosing Bluehost can be a good bet.
3 CHOOSE THE RIGHT DOMAIN NAME
Now, that your blogging website is set up, you need to move on and choose a domain name for it. As a domain name is what is going to represent your brand, it deserves a lot of thinking and research.
Don’t worry if you don’t know where to start. We have a list of factors to keep in mind while choosing a name for your website.
WHAT IS AN IDEAL DOMAIN NAME?
- Memorable enough to stand out
- Represents your blog vision clearly
- Does not contain hyphens
- Has room for modification since in the future might want to add a few more categories to your website
- Contains your name if you are famous
- Is not taken by any other brand and is copyright free
- Short and sweet
- Unique
- Preferably has a .com extension
- Easy to understand
If selecting a domain name is too hard for you, always check for some inspirations online. You can do this by looking at your competitors or using some online name generator tools.
As domain names are generally sold out quickly, you need to check for their availability online.
Were you able to finalize a name? Congratulations! You get to move on to the next step.
4. DESIGN YOUR WEBSITE
: A good website theme can improve the user experience for your visitors. It can make your site easy to navigate, visually appealing, and engaging, which can encourage users to stay on your site longer, explore more content, and even return in the future.
Are you confused about choosing one for your site? Not to worry! We got your back!
CHOOSING THE RIGHT THEME
MAKE NAVIGATION EASY
You can make the hyperlinks obvious, have a search bar on every page to search for any blog topic or other resources easily, add social icons to prominent places for readers to connect with you, put various CTAS, add your navigation bars in a standard place (top, sidebar, and footer), and choose responsive designs.
COMPATIBILITY
As nowadays more than half of the users use their mobile phones to browse the web, so you need to pick a theme that is mobile-friendly. Consider previewing your theme in different resolution sizes to ensure it is working fine.
There is nothing worse than a website breaking on mobile or other browsers, so make sure you got yourself covered.
CHOOSE YOUR BRAND COLORS
Colors play a very important role in building a brand presence. Colour sets the mood of brand expression. Emotions are powerful and have the ability to drive decision-making.
CHOOSE A PAID THEME
While there are a wide variety of free themes available online, we still recommend you go with the [premium ones. This is because they are updated frequently to check their security, have more customization options, a wide range of compatible plugins, and on top of all look more professional.
DO NOT VIOLATE ANY RULES
If you are on WordPress, check your theme does not violate any WordPress standards to work efficiently.
EASY TO LOAD
While working with a theme, you should ensure that it is not cluttered with too much functionality. This slows the speed of your theme and thereby affects the performance of your site. So, decide on themes that are simple and sufficient.
Hopefully, these tips have helped you choose a perfect theme for your website. If you need further help, you can bring up your questions in our comments section.
5. LET YOUR BRAND TALK
There are thousands of Pet blogs on the internet. So, how can you differentiate yourself from the competition?
The simple answer is- Through Strong Brand Building.
To build your brand you need to consistently work on branding aspects to make your brand memorable and unique.
Strong branding never stops and is continually adjusted to incorporate the market changes that keep happening. Moreover, branding helps your visitors form an opinion about your brand. This makes it imperative for you to work on it effectively.
FEW BRANDING ELEMENTS
LOGO
Every brand needs to have a logo that is a visual representation of the brand’s values.
It is probably the first thing a visitor interacts with and is used on various brand assets like visiting cards, physical products, social media pages, merchandise, etc.
COLOR SCHEME
Choose a color scheme that represents your brand motto and use it across all your branding assets like logo, marketing materials, web pages, etc.
CONSISTENCY
For every aspect of the brand you choose, make sure to keep it consistent throughout all your online pages. Take for example McDonald’s. You see Mcdonald’s same everywhere, whether it is their official website or social media pages, their branding is exactly the same. The idea is to enable people to recognize your brand through any posts that they see on the web.
TAG LINE
A tagline is a short phrase that is memorable, catchy, and communicates the essence of the brand or product in just a few words. For Example, ‘“The World on Time” for FedEx.
Figure out your brand tagline and incorporate it under your brand logo or other prominent places.
6. PREPARE YOUR CONTENT
By planning your blog content in advance, you can ensure that your content is well-organized and coherent. This makes it easier for your readers to follow your thoughts and ideas, and it can also help with your search engine optimization efforts. You will be happy to know that, we have a few useful tips that will help you plan your content the correct way-stick on!
PLAN YOUR CONTENT THE CORRECT WAY
FIND TOPICS
One approach is to focus on the specific interests and concerns of your target audience, which in this case would be pet owners. You can start by brainstorming common questions that pet owners might have, such as how to train a new puppy, what foods are safe for dogs, or how to help a cat adjust to a new home. You can also draw on your own experiences as a pet owner, or look for inspiration in pet-related news or trends. Aditionally, Social media can be a great source of inspiration as well, as you can see what other pet owners are talking about and join in the conversation. Ultimately, the key to finding topics for your pet blog is to stay curious, stay engaged with your audience, and always be on the lookout for new ideas and perspectives to share with your readers.
ENGAGING HEADLINE
Headlines are no less than lead magnets to attract readers online. Also, as the attention span have reduced considerably with time, it is important to prepare catchy headlines to glue your visitors.
It is not just the main heading but also various subheadings that you use. Make sure all your headings are clear, catchy, and not lengthy to attract more visitors.
INTRODUCTION
To make your introduction interesting you need to be clear for the readers to know what they can expect going ahead, explain to them the benefits of reading the post, ask them questions to bond with them, and use quotes, or even a short story to make it look attractive.
ADD RELEVANT ADD-ONS
To keep your audience interested, add high-quality images, videos, engaging podcasts, news, or even magazines to your website.
Do not just write long texts, rather break the monotony through visuals to make it look interesting.
SUMP UP
At the end of every blog, make sure you summarize the entire content well. Some readers tend to read the summary first and then the entire content just to see if it is worthy. To make it clear to the audience keep it simple and put the heading “Conclusion”. Sometimes you don’t need any experiments but rather stick to the basics.
Content is the essence of any blogging site, so go ahead and plan it wisely!
7. PROMOTE YOUR BLOGS
Apologies if you have launched your blog online without effective marketing, as your efforts may have gone to waste. It is crucial to promote your valuable content so that others can discover it. To help with this, we have put together a list of promotional techniques for you to choose from.
DIFFERENT STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTION
- Digital Products
- Physical Products like books or Tshirts
- Friends and Family Groups
- Guest Posting
- Connect with your readers
- Freelance Writing
- Interviews With Famous Peeople
- Online Forums
- Social Media Groups
- Add Sharing Options
- SEO
- Social Media
8 MAKE MONEY
For any blogger, the ultimate aim is to earn money through his/her blogs. This is why we have a few tips for you to make money:
- Online Advertisements
- Launching Paid Posts
- Paid Reviews
- Paid Subscriptions
- Ecommerce
- Youtube
- Paid Emailers/Newsletters
- Paid Pet Training Courses or Pet Webinar
- Affiliate Marketing
CONCLUSION
Starting a pet blog can be a great way to share your love of animals with the world. Whether you’re a seasoned pet owner or just starting out, there’s never been a better time to start sharing your experiences and insights online. So why wait? Start your pet blog today and join the vibrant community of pet bloggers who are making a difference in the lives of animals and their owners around the world. Remember, every pet has a story, and your blog is the perfect platform to tell it!
