new Vet ratings website

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murdoch

  • #1
    a bit of background- Im a veterinarian, trained in the UK,currently mostly based overseas. Have a couple of other small businesses- portrait paintings (www.portraitxpress.com) and run some asia product sourcing- just so its clear I am actually originally a Vet...so know this area!

    Im setting up a website similar to www.vetratingz.com which is
    a "directory of ratings, reviews, and recommendations for Veterinarians and Pet Doctors throughout the United States"... but Im setting it up for the UK. A bit similar to www.doctorscorecard.com which is for UK (and other) medical dr's.


    Clients can basically post reviews of clinics/ vets, to help people know where to go for good service, and share their experiences. It will also have a directory of clinics.

    It will also have a forum to discuss vet care for the pets.
    The forum is not social networking for pet owners, its more a place where people who own animals with different illnesses could meet to share their experiences.
    It may also have legal advice.


    So-

    • any advice from people here?
    • any words of wisdom from people who have run a forum before?
    • any suggestions on how I can improve the idea? Is the idea of any merit?
    • any suggestions on how to expand the idea? as its a very small market!
    • would you use it?
    • any suggestions for a site name? (we have some already registered, but site still being built and no final name yet).
     
    M

    murdoch

  • #3
    okay, fair point, but what WOULD you like then as a pet owner seeing a vet? is there any type of web based resource which would be useful.
    I agree the format of vetratingz.com is pretty terrible, i just use it as an illustration as my site is still being built and there is no current uk vet rating site.
    Would a site which tells people's about pet owners experiences at a vet clinic be of use to people in general, or not?
     
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    M

    murdoch

  • #5
    Thanks....
    okay its for the public, not for vets to use. Also any slanderous comments would be moderated out...
    yeah certainly its meant to be a 'useful free resource' rather than a place to slag off your vet, so i need to somehow work with that as the aim..
     
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    A

    activehedgehog1

  • #6
    It sounds a good idea. you will need quite a bit of marketing budget i would think though. But if you invest you could easily sell it on to a pet food company.

    My girlfriend is a vet so i would expect her to say that normally individuals choose there vets through word of mouth, especially equine.

    I would definitely try and add a social network side to it more also so that there is ongoing connections with reviewers.
     
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    wood1e2

    Free Member
    May 2, 2007
    2,317
    174
    Leicester
  • #7
    I would look at HTML Validation

    Remove the Google ads from the very top...it could be the first thing people see, which is find and dandy but you want them to see the website they have visited...not third party ads.

    Maybe change the titles, to match the keyword/keyphrases you want to be found under on search engines.

    It does not appear to be very UK centric, as States/Provinces do not exist in the UK. So maybe have a UK centric page for visitors from the UK, obviously Canada and US centric for them.

    Maybe change the colours as it looks a little 'down at heal' past its best.

    I would pick one name and stick with it, you do not want to be continuly changing your URL, if you have 4000(ish) vets registered already then they know the web address and so does the search engines.

    Hope this helps
     
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    M

    murdoch

  • #8
    activehegehog- thanks for your thoughts;
    wood1e2,
    thanks for your input; actually, the vetratingz .com is not my site, my site is still being built... but vetratingz is the nearest comparable thing there is to it, so I could explain my concept.
    But certainly a lot of things could be improved from that website.

    Anyone have any thoughts as to whether you would bother to look at this kind of website concept? or whether an incorporated forum for owners of poorly pets would be of any interest/benefit to readers?
     
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