First registration: being the obvious local answer
A survey run for the CMA (the UK's competition regulator) asked 1,757 UK owners who had been with their practice under ten years why they chose it. Location came top at 68%, with recommendation second at 44%, online reviews were named by 19%, and 51% had considered only one practice. Owners could give several answers (fieldwork: November and December 2024). 53% of those owners chose when routine, non-emergency treatment came due, so for many owners the choice and the first booking come together.
On those figures, the website mostly confirms a choice the postcode and a neighbour already shaped. The first search has to return the obvious local answer: a Google listing with the right details, a page for each thing a new owner searches for (puppy vaccinations, kitten registration, dental checks), and recent reviews. SEO covers the keyword mapping and schema markup behind it.
Names and badges on the listing carry rules of their own. In the RCVS's reading a practice name is advertising, and using the words 'Veterinary Hospital' together is considered misleading unless the practice is accredited as such, or going through that process. The RCVS Practice Standards Scheme is a voluntary accreditation, the RCVS says 65% of UK practices have earned it, and the CMA guidance says practices must publish any current PSS awards and accreditations on the same timetable as the price list. Each service page names the vets who do that work; one not on the RCVS specialist list describes it with terms such as 'having a particular interest in', 'experienced in' or 'practice limited to'.
For US veterinarians and animal hospitals, the evidence differs. The AVMA's September 2023 survey covered 1,000 US dog or cat owners (archived copy). Owners ranked seven priorities, with their pet's health and safety first, and 48% put affordability in their top three, 40% positive reviews or recommendations, and 40% a veterinary office close to home. These are ranked priorities, not reasons for a choice already made, so compare the countries for direction only. On badges, AAHA, which says it is the only organisation that accredits veterinary practices in the US and Canada, says only 15% of veterinary hospitals have undergone its accreditation process, without naming the countries it covers. From the first month, log every new registration with its source (search, Google listing, referral, walk-in, plan).
First registration: the price and the booking
In the UK, the price is about to sit one click from the homepage of a practice's website, though the CMA's remedies will not apply to charitable organisations providing small animal veterinary services. The CMA found that fewer than 40% of practices had prices on their websites. On 22 September 2026 it made its Order for veterinary businesses, and its legally binding measures include price lists. Practices must publish a comprehensive price list for standard services, including consultations, common procedures, diagnostics, written prescriptions and cremation options. The guidance names the primary vaccination course, booster and kennel cough vaccination (each with consultation), and microchipping among the standard prices, for services a practice offers. It puts the list a maximum of one click from the homepage without scrolling, and easily identifiable by using 'price', 'pricing' or 'fees' in page navigation information and page metadata. Businesses with fewer than 15 first opinion practices count as smaller, and the guidance gives December 2026 for larger businesses and March 2027 for smaller ones. Group-owned practices must show common ownership on signage, at the premises and online, and the guidance gives March 2027 for groups to comply with ownership transparency.
The booking is covered too: any digital communication confirming a booking should contain the consultation fee and any pre-booked standard treatments, plus a direct link to the price list. That makes the registration form and its confirmation email a build job before a copy job, and design and build covers the site, tracking and handover. Check that the price page and the confirmation link match your real prices, and compare first-visit bookings with registrations.
The unexpected emergency
The RCVS tells UK owners that every veterinary practice in the UK must provide 24-hour emergency first aid and pain relief, and calls this a legal requirement. It tells vets to provide full details of their 24-hour emergency cover and make them publicly available, for example on the practice website. A practice that outsources out-of-hours care must also publish, under the CMA guidance and from the same dates as the price list, the provider's identity, telephone numbers, premises and web addresses, and when the provider is available and the nature of the service. The emergency page is read under stress, so it carries the number, the address and who answers, before anything else.
In Texas, the veterinary board's emergency rule includes that a veterinarian must tell the owner that the animal needs emergency care, after a reasonable opportunity to assess it and before treatment, and the disclosure must contain a description of the proposed treatments, with reasonable options if any, and the estimated price. The board's advertising rule also bars advertising that is false, deceptive or misleading, so "emergencies welcome" copy has to be true on the night. The share of calls answered, in and out of hours, shows whether that promise holds.
The next vaccination: reminders and the flea and worm shelf
Email marketing covers the automated flows and campaigns sent to an existing client list, which for a practice means reminder, recall and plan sequences. The RCVS says vets undertaking email marketing will need the consent of the recipient, unless they can rely on a "soft opt-in", and reads email marketing as including vaccination reminders and information on promotions, but not appointment reminders. It warns that emailing clients to ask for consent may itself amount to direct marketing without consent, while post can rely on the practice's legitimate interest. In the US, the FTC says the CAN-SPAM Act covers all commercial messages, and among its requirements, a marketing email must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out.
Flea and worm products sit between marketing and medicines law. The VMD (the UK's Veterinary Medicines Directorate) says prescription-only medicines, meaning POM-V, POM-VPS and cascade products, must not be advertised to the general public, with some differences in Northern Ireland. Paid search adverts count as advertisements, and a search for something like 'arthritis in dogs' should not result in prescription medicines being advertised. A price list is not treated as advertising if all products are listed with equal prominence, under conditions including listing every product in the category and using the same text size and images for each. Separately, from the same dates as the price list, the CMA guidance says practices must publish the prices of their most commonly sold flea, tick and worming products on their website, with a prominent link to the VMD Register of Online Retailers, among other conditions. So check each product's category before it enters a keyword list or a post. The reminder flows themselves are judged on vaccination and booster recalls booked as a share of those due.
The plan renewal
In the same CMA survey, among UK owners who have or had a pet health plan in the past three years, 56% said the practice mentioned it and 26% saw it on the practice website. The CMA's Order includes rules for marketing plans, among them that each component's price, the total cost and how any advertised savings are calculated must be clear. Where a plan offers unlimited consultations, a practice that cannot demonstrate the average number of consultations for people on its plans must use no more than two per year in its savings calculations, and owners must get a reminder when an annual plan renews automatically. In the UK, the renewal reminder is therefore a required message and a retention moment at once: it should show what the client used in the year as well as what renewing costs. Count plan sign-ups, renewals and cancellations each month.
Photos, stories and the owner's consent
Consent decides which patient photos and stories a practice can use. On social media the RCVS asks vets not to post information about a client or a client's animal which could identify them, or pictures or videos of treatment being provided to patients, unless the client gives explicit consent. A recovery photo that names the pet, or a story a neighbour would recognise, can identify the owner as well, so ask at the visit, in writing, and name the uses (website, social media, a newsletter). The same rule shapes a reply to a critical review. The RCVS says vets should seek to avoid public disputes and may invite clients who post negative comments to contact the practice directly. The details of the animal's care stay out of public view unless the owner has agreed.
In the US, the AVMA's ethics principles say a testimonial is advertising and should be limited to representations that are readily subject to verification, and the FTC's 2024 rule on reviews and testimonials prohibits incentives conditioned on reviews expressing a particular sentiment, one of several practices it covers. We take on veterinary practices and animal hospitals in the UK and the US, work across both countries' time zones, and quote in GBP or USD.
↳ Frequently asked
01Should our website lead with new-client registration or with emergency appointments?
Lead with registration and routine booking, and keep emergency details one tap away. In the CMA's survey, 53% of UK owners who had been with their practice under ten years chose it when routine, non-emergency treatment came due. Make the booking page easy to find from the first search. The RCVS still expects full details of your 24-hour emergency cover to be publicly available, so the emergency number and provider belong in the header, not buried.
02Our practice does a lot of dentistry. How should the website present it?
Give it a service page of its own: the procedures you offer, such as dental checks, scale and polish and extractions, the vets and nurses who do them by name, the price from your price list, and a button that books a dental check. In the UK, unless a vet is on the RCVS specialist list, describe their dentistry with terms such as 'particular interest in' or 'experienced in', rather than 'specialist' or 'specialising in'.
03When does our price list have to be live on the website?
In the UK, the CMA's guidance gives December 2026 for larger businesses and March 2027 for smaller ones, meaning fewer than 15 first opinion practices. The list has to sit no more than one click from the homepage without scrolling, and use 'price', 'pricing' or 'fees' in the page navigation and metadata. In the US, this CMA duty does not apply, though Texas requires an estimated price in its emergency-care disclosure.
04Can I email vaccination reminders to every client?
In the UK, the RCVS reads vaccination reminders as email marketing, so you need consent or a valid soft opt-in, unlike appointment reminders. The RCVS warns that an email asking for that consent may itself break the rules, and says post can rely on the practice's legitimate interest. In the US, CAN-SPAM applies to every commercial message, and one of its requirements is that each marketing email explains clearly how to opt out.
05Can we call our practice a 'veterinary hospital'?
In the UK, only once it is accredited as one or is going through that process. The RCVS counts a practice name as advertising and treats 'Veterinary Hospital' as misleading otherwise, whether or not the practice is in the Practice Standards Scheme. In the US, Texas, for one, bars false, deceptive or misleading advertising, so make sure a hospital name matches what your premises offer and check your own state's rules.
06How do I advertise flea and worm treatment without breaking the rules?
In the UK, the VMD says prescription-only medicines must not be advertised to the general public, and paid search adverts count as advertisements. A price list is not treated as advertising when it meets the VMD's conditions, which include listing every product in the category with equal prominence. The CMA also requires practices to publish prices for their most commonly sold flea, tick and worm products, with a prominent link to the VMD Register of Online Retailers, among other conditions. Check each product's category before it goes into an ad.
07We have three sites. Should the marketing budget go on new registrations or on recalls?
Set each site's objective first, then compare spending within it. A site with room for new clients is buying registrations, so compare registration search, listing work and referral asks on cost per new registered client, and look past the first visit to what those clients go on to book. A site whose recalls lag behind the vaccinations due is buying returns, so compare reminder channels on recalls booked. Set a registration against a recall on cost alone and the cheaper outcome wins, whichever one the site needs.