What a pet groomer website needs: pages, words and photos

A pet groomer's website needs to answer four things fast: what you do, roughly what it costs for a dog like mine, what you require before the first visit, and how to get on your schedule. Add real photos of dogs you have groomed and a few honest words about who you are, and the site has done its job. Everything else is optional.

What pet owners check before they book

Someone looking for a new groomer has usually had a reason to look. Their old groomer retired, they moved, or the last visit went badly. They read more carefully than you might expect, and they look for:

• Whether you take their kind of pet. Small dogs only? Large breeds? Cats? Say it in the first lines of the home page.
• A ballpark price. "Starting at" prices by size are fine. Nobody expects an exact quote for a matted Newfoundland.
• How long the visit takes. Owners plan their day around drop-off and pick-up.
• What you require. Vaccination records, age limits for puppies, and your policy on matted coats.
• Whether their pet will be safe and calm. Photos of your actual salon or van, and of you with the animals, answer this better than any sentence.
• How to book. Online booking, a call, or a text.

The pages a grooming site needs

Home

Your business name, the town or area you serve, one line about what you do, and a button to book or call. Underneath: two or three photos of happy, freshly groomed dogs, your hours, and a short welcome in your own words. If you are a mobile groomer, say so in the first line, because it changes everything about how people book.

Services and prices

List your services in plain words and say what each one includes. Owners often do not know the difference between a bath and a full groom, so spell it out:

• Bath and tidy: bath, blow-dry, brush-out, nails, ears cleaned, light trim around eyes and paws.
• Full groom: everything in the bath plus a haircut to the style you agree on.
• Add-ons: teeth brushing, de-shedding treatment, nail grinding, flea bath.

Give "starting at" prices by size or weight band and explain what makes the price go up: coat condition, matting, behavior, extra time. Owners accept a higher price when they understood beforehand why it might happen. For help with the price question in general, see whether to list prices on your website.

Policies

This page saves you more phone time than any other. Keep each policy to a sentence or two:

• Vaccines you require and how to send proof.
• Late arrivals, no-shows and how much notice you need to cancel.
• Matted coats: what you will do, and that you may need to shave for the pet's comfort.
• Pick-up timing: whether you call or text when the pet is ready, and what happens if pick-up is late.
• Aggressive or very anxious pets: whether you can take them and under what conditions.

About

Who grooms the pets, how long you have done it, any training or certifications you hold, and why you do this work. A photo of you with a dog on the table does more than a long biography. If you have staff, add each groomer with a first name and a line about them.

Gallery

Before-and-after photos are the strongest thing on a grooming site. Shoot them in the same spot with the same light. Caption them simply: "Shih Tzu, puppy cut" or "Golden retriever, de-shed and tidy." Ask the owner if they mind before posting; most are happy to.

Contact and booking

Your phone number, address or service area, hours, and your booking link if you use one. More on that below.

Photos that make owners trust you

• Your real salon or van: clean tables, the tub, the drying area. People want to see where their pet will spend the morning.
• You or your staff handling animals gently.
• Dogs of many sizes and coat types, so visitors see their own pet in your work.

Skip stock photos of a poodle in a bubble bath. Pet owners can tell. Also avoid photos of a stressed animal, even if the cut came out great.

What to leave off

• A full price grid for every breed. It confuses more than it helps. Size bands with "starting at" prices are enough.
• Long paragraphs about the history of grooming or the benefits of brushing.
• An online booking button if you do not actually take bookings online. If new clients need a phone call first, say that instead.
• Out-of-date specials, holiday hours from last year or a staff member who left.

A contact path for a groomer with wet hands

You cannot answer the phone in the middle of a bath, and your customers know it. Plan for that instead of hoping they leave a message.

• Say how you return calls. "We are grooming most of the day. Leave a message or send a text and we will get back to you by the end of the day."
• Offer a short request form that asks for the pet's name, breed or size, age, last groom, the service wanted and preferred days. You get everything you need before you call back.
• Make the phone number tappable at the top of every page.
• If you use online booking, link to it clearly but say whether new clients can use it or must call first. Many groomers let returning clients book online and ask new ones to call, so they can talk about the pet first. Adding online booking to your website goes through how those tools work.

Check that form messages arrive on the phone you actually look at between appointments.

What to do this week

• Write one sentence that says who you groom, where, and how to book. Put it at the top of the home page.
• Make a simple services list with "starting at" prices by size.
• Write your policies in short sentences: vaccines, cancellations, matting, pick-up.
• Take before-and-after photos of your next three grooms, with the owners' permission.
• Add a note telling people how and when you return calls.

If you have a site already and it feels out of date, you can see your grooming site rebuilt first and decide once you have it in front of you. For the details of a breed-by-breed menu and the first visit, read the companion guide on services by breed and first visits.