What a pet sitter website needs: pages, words and photos
A pet sitter's website has to answer a simple question: can I trust this person in my home with my animals while I am away? The pages that answer it are a clear list of services, the area you cover, how booking works, a real page about you, and your policies. Keep it short, keep it current, and make it easy to start the conversation.
What pet owners want to know first
Someone booking a pet sitter is usually planning a trip, a hospital stay or a long workweek. They are about to give a stranger their house key. Before they reach out, they look for:
- Which services you offer. Drop-in visits, overnight stays, dog walks, cat care, small animals, medication.
- Whether you cover their neighborhood. A list of towns or zip codes, said plainly.
- Whether you are available when they need you. Especially holidays, which book up early.
- How the first meeting works. Most sitters meet the pet and owner before the first booking.
- Who you are. A face, a name and some experience.
- That you are insured. More on that in the companion guide on trust with keys and pets.
The pages a pet sitting site needs
Home
Say what you do and where in the first line: "Pet sitting and dog walking in Lakewood and west Denver: drop-in visits, overnights and daily walks." Then a photo of you with an animal, a short welcome, and a button to request a meet-and-greet. If you specialize, say so here: cats, senior pets, pets with medical needs, multi-pet homes, farm animals.
Services
Describe each service in terms of what actually happens. Owners want to picture the visit.
- Drop-in visits: how long each lasts, what you do (feed, fresh water, litter, play, a short walk, medication), and how many visits a day you suggest for cats and for dogs.
- Overnight stays: what time you arrive and leave, whether you stay the whole night, and how long the pets are alone during the day.
- Dog walks: length, solo or small group, and whether you walk in all weather.
- Extras: bringing in mail, watering plants, rotating lights, taking out trash bins. Many owners value these as much as the pet care.
Prices can be listed per visit or per night, with extras listed separately. Holiday rates should be stated before the holidays, not discovered on the invoice.
Service area
List the towns, neighborhoods or zip codes you cover, and whether you go beyond them for an extra fee. A simple list is easier to read on a phone than a map image. Service area pages shows ways to write it.
About
A real photo of you, ideally with your own pets or a client's (with their permission). Then a few honest paragraphs: how long you have cared for animals, relevant experience (vet clinic work, shelter volunteering, a pet first aid course), why you started, and the kinds of pets you are comfortable with. If you have a team, add each sitter with a photo and a line about them.
How it works
Owners like to see the steps laid out:
- Send a request with your dates, your pets and your address.
- We set up a free meet-and-greet at your home.
- You give us the key or the code and the care notes.
- We send you a photo and an update after every visit.
- You pay by the method we agree on.
Keep it to five steps or fewer.
Policies
Booking deadlines, holiday booking windows, cancellation notice, payment timing, what happens if your return is delayed, and aggressive pets. A sentence or two each.
Contact and request form
Covered below.
Photos that help
- You with animals: walking a dog, sitting with a cat, giving medication calmly.
- Pets of different sizes and species, so owners see their kind of pet.
- If you have a branded leash, car magnet or uniform, a photo showing it helps neighbors recognize you.
Never post photos that show a client's house number, street, car plates or the inside of their home in a way that could identify it. Owners do not want the world to see their living room or know they were away.
What to leave off
- Stock photos of puppies in baskets.
- Long blog posts about pet nutrition. That is your vet's job.
- A calendar that shows your bookings. It reveals which homes are empty.
- Old holiday rates or an availability note from last summer.
- A complicated pricing grid with dozens of combinations. Base rates plus a short list of extras is enough.
A booking path that works while you are out
Pet sitters are rarely at a desk. You are driving between visits or walking a dog. A good request form gets you the details you need so you can reply quickly from your phone. Ask for:
- Owner's name, phone and email.
- Address or at least the neighborhood.
- Dates and times needed.
- Pets: names, species, breeds, ages.
- Any medications or special needs.
- The service they want: drop-ins, overnights, walks.
- How they heard about you.
Then say when you reply: "We answer requests within a few hours between visits, and always the same day." Put your phone number at the top of every page as a tappable link, and say whether you prefer calls or texts. If you use a booking app for existing clients, link to it clearly and say new clients start with the form. Make sure the form reaches your phone; making sure nothing gets lost from your contact form covers how to check.
What to do this week
- Write one sentence that says your services and your area, and put it at the top of your home page.
- Describe each service by what happens during the visit.
- List your towns or zip codes in plain text.
- Write a five-step "How it works" section.
- Set up a request form with the fields above and send yourself a test.
If you already have a site and it is out of date or awkward on a phone, you can see your pet sitting site rebuilt first and decide with the result in front of you.