Why Your Equine Vet Practice Needs SEO — and How to Use SEO to Get More Clients

When horse owners need to find an equine vet to register with, or carry out a pre-purchase examination, they will probably take to Google Search. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is what helps websites get found in search engines, including Google Search. When you carry out SEO, you are telling search engines that your equine vet practice website is relevant to the search engine user's query.

TL; DR: Here's A Quick Summary

SEO (search engine optimisation) can help your equine vet practice get found by your target clients, and convince them that your practice is the right choice for them. SEO has two main roles for equine vet practices:

1. SEO helps your equine vet practice get found locally (this is called local SEO)

2. SEO helps you build trust and educate your target audience

Why is SEO Relevant to Equine Vet Marketing?

When people run a search engine query (let’s say they Google “equine vet practice Kent”) the search engine algorithm will determine which website pages to display and where. Search engines use a range of signal to decide which pages to rank for each search. Therefore, SEO is partly about getting your equine vet practice website in front of your target clients when they look for what you offer.

Your clients will want an equine vet practice that is trustworthy and experienced, and search engines are no different. SEO is also about demonstrating that your website (and your practice) are trustworthy, with the relevant experience, expertise, and authority.

SEO Helps Your Equine Vet Practice Get Found Locally

Equine vet practices usually operate within a specific geographical area. This could be across one or more counties, or across a wider region. Search engine data* shows that people often use local search terms when looking for an equine vet practice.

For example, people might search for “equine vets near me” (average 130 monthly searches) or “equine vets worcestershire” (average 30 monthly searches). It makes sense to ensure that your website is optimised to rank for all of the geographical areas covered by your equine vet practice.

*SEO data from SE Ranking, June 2025

How to do Local SEO for Your Equine Vet Practice

There are a few things to consider when optimising your equine vet practice website for local searches.

Firstly, you should know which areas you want to target. These could be villages, towns, counties, or regions. Often, a county or region (e.g. West Midlands, Scotland, Warwickshire) can attract a higher number of searches. Using common sense can get you so far - simply identify the areas your practice covers, and think about optimising your website for each of those. However, it can be difficult to know how many searches there are for each keyword, which is where working with an equine marketing consultant can help. I offer an SEO keyword research service to equine businesses that want to understand which keywords to target, and how.

Secondly, you will need to consider whether it’s worth creating a full landing page for a geographical area, or whether you will cover the keywords throughout your website. In many cases, both approaches are recommended for maximum visibility.

Thirdly, you should claim and optimise your Google Business Profile, which allows you to specify your location and coverage area. Google Search uses Google Business Profiles to display listings alongside a map when people search for services in a specific location.

For step-by-step instructions on how to get your business found locally, check out my guide to local SEO. Also, take a look at my guide to the 5 things your website needs if you want to get found locally for more things you can do to optimise your website for local SEO.

If you want to work with an independent equine marketing consultant to get your equine vet practice visible in local searches, check out my SEO packages. I offer a range of SEO services to equine businesses, including local SEO packages.

Build Trust in Your Equine Vet Practice and Your Website

Any equine vet knows how important client trust is. By placing their beloved horses in your care, often in distressing circumstances, your clients are putting enormous trust in you. When choosing an equine vet practice, horse owners will be looking for a practice they can trust.

Trustworthiness is also important for SEO. Search engines, such as Google, look for signs that a website is trustworthy. Sites that are considered to be trustworthy are likely to rank better in the search results, so this is really important if you want to get found online.

SEO and Trust: Google EEAT

Google Search uses a framework known as EEAT to understand what makes website content helpful and trustworthy. In an age when anyone can write anything, this is how Google identifies content that is genuinely helpful, authentic, and trustworthy.

EEAT stands for "experience", "expertise", "authoritativeness", and "trustworthiness". By demonstrating your real-life experience in the field, showcasing your professional expertise, and developing authority, you can build trust with your target audience and the search engines.

Below is a brief outline of how you can demonstrate EEAT with your equine vet practice website.

Demonstrate Your Real-Life Experience as an Equine Vet Practice

Case studies, testimonials and reviews are key to demonstrating your real-life experience as an equine vet. By including these on your website, you are showing search engines and your website visitors that you have real experience of helping horses and their owners.

Showcase Your Professional Expertise

Your prospective clients want a vet that is qualified and knowledgeable, and so does Google! By demonstrating your expertise in equine veterinary science, routine care, first aid and other relevant topics, you are telling Google and its users that you know what you are doing!

Educational blog content is key to demonstrating your expertise. Posting regular, informative, accurate and engaging articles is one of the best ways to improve your SEO whilst building trust.

Carrying out keyword research is the crucial first step in any SEO blogging strategy. This means that you will write about topics that are actually being searched for online. Examples could include “signs of laminitis in horses” (average 590 monthly searches) or “what causes colic in horses” (average 480 monthly searches).

Remember who your audience is. Your blog articles are being written for horse owners, not other equine vets! Consider what they need to know, and how you can convey that information clearly.

If you decide to use the proper or scientific name for something (e.g. the proximal phalanx), put the common name alongside it in brackets (e.g. the long pastern). This improves the readability of the article, which is good for SEO as it makes the copy more engaging and useful to the average horse owner.

Build Authority as a Source of Credible Information

Building authority is about showcasing your credentials and helping search engines understand that your website is a credible source of information. Ways to help build your authority include having listings in relevant directories, and gaining backlinks from other websites to your own.

Establish and Earn Trust

Trust is earned by demonstrating a combination of experience, expertise, and authority. Furthermore, content that is factually accurate, cites other trustworthy websites, is transparent about who wrote the content and provides secure connections and payment portals (where relevant) is likely to be considered trustworthy. Providing up-to-date and consistent contact information is also a way of demonstrating trustworthiness.

Independent Equine Marketing Consultant

Since 2020, I have helped a range of equine businesses, including equine vet practices, drive more organic traffic to their websites through SEO. Using a combination of technical SEO best practices and content strategy, I helps my clients captivate, connect with, and convert their target clients organically, authentically, and sustainable.

As an equine marketing consultant, my sector-specific knowledge allows my clients to benefit from working with a professional marketer who understands the equestrian industry. A big part of my work includes writing search engine optimised blog articles and website content for equine vet practices, and my ability to understand complex veterinary topics and convey them to the average horse owner helps to bridge the gap between vet and client. Explore my equine marketing services and book your complimentary, no-obligation discovery call to discuss your marketing challenges with an equine marketing consultant.

In the meantime, take a look at this case study to explore how I helped one service-based business in the equestrian sector increase their organic website traffic from under 400 monthly users, to over 5,000.

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About the Author: Rhiannon Harradine ACIM

Rhiannon is an independent marketing consultant who specialises in marketing for equestrian businesses, and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (ACIM). Rhiannon has been supporting small and equine businesses with their marketing since 2020. Today, she helps equine business owners grow online using organic, authentic, sustainable marketing channels, including SEO, email, and blog content.