I’m lucky with my pet portrait business in that I’m able to shout loud about my work through various Internet channels and get a steady stream of orders.
Over the past few years I’ve maintained a good profile on Google and other search engines. My business website, Sarah’s Pet Portraits, is regularly at the top of the first. page under the ‘pet portaits’ search term.
This is because I regularly optimise my website adding and changing content. I won’t be the first business to have spotted a new trend in the competition to be top of the tree – the split website. This is where businesses have separate websites for their products whilst still operating under the same brand name.
This enables them to increase their profile across Google’s front page by taking two or more positions denting the prospects of competitors to feature alongside. This makes it tough for small businesses to compete on a level playing field.
It also reduces customer choice as some very talented and competitively priced artists are pushed out of sight, as with the best will in the world they do not have the time to continually optimise their website.
However that is the only answer so myself and other small pet portrait businesses are going to have to make even more regular website changes to keep our heads above water in the hope that we will be spotted on the horizon.