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Website & SEO for Paris Petsitter: Launching a solo pet sitting business in France

Scope

After a month of using Rover and Pawshake to find petsitting clients in Paris, I knew I wanted more independence—and fewer fees. In March 2025, I launched Paris Petsitter, a solo-run, bilingual pet care service designed to serve both locals and expats across northern Île-de-France.

The goal? Full creative and operational control, with a lean, SEO-forward platform that could grow with me.

So I built it from scratch.

Screenshot of the full homepage for Paris Petsitter, showing bilingual navigation and call-to-action buttons. — A full-page overview of the Paris Petsitter homepage, built for both French locals and international expats.

The scope included:

Branded domain setup at parispetsitter.com for credibility and SEO value
Full WordPress development, including:
- Homepage
- Service breakdowns
- About page
- Contact form
- Blog for storytelling and keyword expansion
Manual bilingual UX in French and English—written, translated, and optimized by hand (Spanish to come next)
Google Search Console setup for keyword tracking and performance monitoring
Google Analytics to understand user flow and traffic behavior
Google My Business creation and optimization for local visibility
- I use the “posts” feature weekly to communicate availability or holidays
Cybersecurity setup via Cloudflare (firewall rules + regional blocking) and 2FA
Image compression with Squoosh and zero plugin bloat to keep things fast
Self-taught + self-managed, using Keysearch.co, and tutorials for problem-solving on the fly

All of this was built for under €60 total—and within the first day of launch, I booked my first client through the site (hello, Monsieur Paupiette 🐾).

Tools used

WordPress – Chosen for its flexibility and affordability, and fully customized without paid plugins
Hostinger – Affordable hosting plan to keep overhead under €60 (basic shared hosting)
Google Search Console – Tracks impressions, clicks, and keywords in real time
Google Analytics – Helps monitor traffic sources, user behavior, and device types
Google My Business – For local visibility and managing my availability through weekly updates
Cloudflare – Used for firewall rules, country blocking, and cybersecurity protection
Keysearch.co – For SEO research and competitive keyword analysis
Squoosh – Image compression tool used to maintain fast load speeds without plugin bloat

See the web design for yourself in the gallery below.

Overview of pet care services and testimonials, featuring Billy the orange cat and client René. — A detailed look at the personalized pet care services and real client love stories that define Paris Petsitter.

Rocio smiling on a cobbled staircase, wearing jeans and a brown jacket. — Rocio, founder of Paris Petsitter, sharing her personal story and passion for animal care in Paris.

of Paris Petsitter explaining service zones and availability for expats and travelers. — Service area descriptions for Paris and surrounding suburbs.

Contact form for pet parents to book services or ask questions, with full availability details. — The Paris Petsitter contact page, making it easy for clients to book or inquire about services across Paris and IDF.

Frequently asked questions about pet-sitting in Paris, including experience, services, and certifications. — The FAQ section of Paris Petsitter answers common client questions with clarity and care.

Footer of Paris Petsitter with newsletter signup, site links, and list of covered zones. — Stay connected with Paris Petsitter—view covered zones, join the newsletter, or explore more.

Visual gallery of Parisian neighborhoods and nearby towns covered by Paris Petsitter, including Épinay-sur-Seine and Argenteuil. — Area gallery from the French version of the site, showing where Paris Petsitter provides in-home pet care.

Rocio walking Poppy, an English Cocker Spaniel, in a Parisian park on a sunny day. — A snapshot from my blog, where I share personal stories like my weekend with Poppy, an affectionate Cocker Spaniel I walked through the 17th arrondissement—showcasing the trust and bond built with each companion in my care.

Rocio smiling while brushing an orange-and-white cat under warm desk lighting. — First-fold of the services page of Paris Petsitter.

Screenshot of a Paris Petsitter blog post featuring two orange tabby cats, Billy and Bobby, sunbathing indoors—part of a personal pet sitting story designed to build trust and improve SEO visibility for terms like “cat sitting Paris” and “garde de chats à Paris.” — Meet Billy & Bobby—two Dutch tabby brothers featured in one of my most-read blog posts. Stories like these help future clients connect with my care style and improve organic visibility for local cat sitting services in Paris.

Rocio standing in front of lush greenery, smiling warmly for the camera. — I offer pet-sitting services across Paris and northern Île-de-France—always with kindness and care.

English-language service area descriptions for Paris and surrounding suburbs, with paw-print visuals. — English-language version of Paris Petsitter explaining service zones and availability for expats and travelers.

Want a web designed like this? Then let’s talk →

Solution

This was a strategic experiment in lean, bilingual SEO and local visibility for a service-based microbusiness. As a solo operator, I wanted to prove that it was possible to build credibility, attract clients, and rank locally without spending a single euro on advertising or paid tools.

Every decision was rooted in that constraint:

I hand-built the site on WordPress using a lightweight theme, avoiding plugin bloat to keep things fast and secure.
I wrote and optimized each page in both French and English to serve locals and expats.
I structured the blog to double as an SEO asset and storytelling platform — each post highlights a real-life petsitting experience and captures search-friendly keywords like “garde d’animaux Paris” and “petsitter Saint-Ouen.”
I used Google My Business posts like a micro-newsfeed to communicate my availability — a small but powerful feature for trust-building and reducing back-and-forth.
My priority was to keep costs low while prioritizing site speed and security. I kept it under €60, using free or freemium tools and leaning on self-teaching (hello, Keysearch.co and ChatGPT tutorials) to troubleshoot tech or SEO issues in real time. x

More than anything, this project was about showing what’s possible when you blend resourcefulness, strategy, and care — for both the humans and animals involved.

Results

Within the first 24 days of launching Paris Petsitter, I tracked performance using Google Search Console to evaluate the SEO strategy in real time.

Comparing the first 12 days (March 9–21) to the following 12 days (March 22–April 3), I saw:

Total clicks: increased from 9 to 17 (+88.8%)
Impressions: increased from 1.18K to 1.44K (+22%)
Click-through rate (CTR): improved from 0.8% to 1.2% (+50%)

This early traction confirms that the bilingual SEO foundation, clean site architecture, and local keyword targeting are starting to gain visibility—without a single euro spent on ads.

See the results for yourself in the gallery below!

Screenshot of Google Search Console showing increased impressions and improved CTR for parispetsitter.com. — After launch, impressions jumped and CTR improved—proof that smart local SEO works.

SEO performance graph comparing total clicks after the site launch. — From 9 to 17 clicks in under two weeks—organic traffic doubled with zero ads.

Google Search Console screenshot showing top search queries for Paris Petsitter over the first 28 days since launch, including keywords like 'pet sitter paris' and 'cat sitter paris'. — SEO performance after 28 days: Paris Petsitter began ranking for high-intent bilingual search terms like “pet sitter paris,” “cat sitter paris,” and “garde d’animaux paris,” confirming strong initial visibility across both English and French keywords.

Want SEO results like these for your small local business? Reach out. →

Testimonials

Portrait of Karine, a smiling woman with short dark hair and glasses, sitting on a beige couch. A floral tattoo is visible on her shoulder.

Karine P. 🔗

Pet parent of Twist, the orange cat of Paris 19

“Congratulations on the launch of your website — it’s really well done, and I saw my sweet Twist featured 🥰 I’ll absolutely book with you again!”

Rocio S. 🔗

Web developer, SEO strategist, & petsitter-in-residence

“This project was an experiment in building lean and local. I wanted to prove to myself that a DIY, SEO-optimized, multilingual business site could be done affordably, and I’m proud of what I pulled off.”

Year completed

2025

Services

SEO copywriting

Local SEO

Website strategy

Bilingual UX writing

Custom WordPress Development

Content Architecture & Copywriting

Blog strategy

Google My Business setup & optimization

Google Search Console + Analytics integration

Cybersecurity configuration

SEO audit

Website

https://parispetsitter.com/

Project team members

Rocio Sanchez
Web developer,
SEO expert

Want to work with me?

Here’s what I did for this project — now let’s talk about yours.

reach out

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Website & SEO for Paris Petsitter: Launching a solo pet sitting business in France