Considering buying an F1 kitten - does anyone know this breeder?

[admin]

For me, I can't garner the information I need from a website to make a purchase decision. I need to speak with the breeder, have a comfort level with them and lastly be able to see the kitten(s) before I reach a decision.

My criteria isn't based on looks as much as it is on personality. Having lots of photos doesn't necessarily help in that sense. It may in total give me a good picture of the quality of multiple kittens, yet our want of personality traits by far trumps the wrapper.

These days for breeders or for that matter any business to be SEO savvy (search engine optimized) they really need to have a lot of external links, social media attachment and blog entries from third parties. You can certainly use Google AdWords or AdSense, but you'll pay far more for it than an effort making your page show up in organic searches.

To that end, you really need to be everywhere and you really need to make a big effort so everything you do keeps with the quality standards of your business. You need to convey the same message on twitter, Facebook, pinterest and the like, never forgetting where true north is for your business. In that sense, many of the breeders sites fall far short of what they really do and in turn are totally remiss from making their value proposition.

Perhaps that's a bit of a rant, just expressing some of the frustration we had when making our first kitten decision. It's very much an emotional decision being made, and for all the looks and economics, you have a lot of places to make a purchase, just need to make that emotional connection for potential customers to call or send an email.

I agree to a certain extent John, but as a breeder and an web developer/programmer and SEO expert, I would argue as far as backlinks and blog entries...for my ecommerce businesses, I have never spent any time on back links and my sites were all ranked on page one of Google in the first three positions.

As a breeder, my website is ranked on page one for many of my keywords and I have few back links...back links just are not that important anymore despite what articles and bools may say...neither are blog entires...I have none.

 

[DocMac]

Paige, are you speaking English? I guess I'm just used to the Appalachian dialect.

 

[John Popp]

As a breeder, my website is ranked on page one for many of my keywords and I have few back links...back links just are not that important anymore despite what articles and bools may say...neither are blog entires...I have none.

Just a note that you have 5,817 and counting links here to your site which promotes your search engine rankings. Also what you do here greatly enhances your business.

 

[admin]

My post here isn't to criticize any breeders out there, but rather to give more insight into one of many SV kitten purchasers (like myself).

For me it's about the 1.) look of the kitten, 2.) the number of photos, 3.) the quality of the photos and 4.) price. I have been searching for an F1 kitten for some time now, scouring a meriad of breeder sites. One big problem I've seen on some sites, is that lack of photos per kitten. I need a lot of photos to make a decision, it really helps. I need prices, some do not list any price and require you to inquire (pain IMO, it needs to be fairly easy). As my searching as gone, I've been discouraged as my 4 criteria above haven't been met, until I accidentally stumbled across Kim's FB site (I had typed 'Savannah Cat' in FB). The drawback to her site is that, yes, it's not widely advertised and like any FB page, you do have to navigate thru some crud. You won't get arguments from me over this. But beyond that, my 4 criteria were easily met. One added advantage is that you can navigate into other past customer's FB sites to see their current pictures of their cats. That's a nice touch and yes, sometimes breeders do post previous or current customer cats on their websites. Kim has and currently has some very nice F1 kittens IMO. There are often 6-10 photos of each and they are nice photos. The price...very good IMO. I've seen the 'King of Blah Blah Blah' like titles and prices listed as high as $55K!!! Those are big detractors to me and I walk away from such sites. Price is very important. A breeder can argue that high $15K+ costs that much to breed such F1 kittens...that's fine although I will walk away. Others may bite though... Everyone has their limit.

That being said, Shango's new F1 playmate will be arriving in about 7 weeks. Kim was a delight to work with and had no issues purchasing from her or her FB site. cheers! ...dj

I understand your point but you can get a great looking kitten online from a total scammer, yet there were many photos, the price was cheap and the kitten looked good. So while price is important, I did not see you mention health or whether the kitten is social for any of your criteria...

I am not going to sell one of my kittens to anyone I don't speak to more than once and get a feeling for where my kitten will live and who exactly my kitten will live with...I find email and FB highly lacking in the human factor...I ask many personal questions because these are my babies I am sending off and entrusting to someone I really don't know...so I try to get to know my kitten buyers by email and phone...email alone is not sufficient. If you were a breeder and you had precious kittens born that you raised and spent many hours, days and weeks with, you would understand. To many of us, our kittens are our children...

You are entitled to your opinion, but just remember - flashy pictures, quality flashy pictures, cheap price and many flashy pictures do not necessarily equal reputable.

And just to be clear, my post has nothing to do with any breeder...I do not want people to think that flashy pictures and cheap prices are all that is important - that is how so many people are getting scammed.

 

[admin]

Just a note that you have 5,817 and counting links here to your site which promotes your search engine rankings. Also what you do here greatly enhances your business.

LOL, John!!! yes, you are right, of course But my website was ranked highly before that..and my business had virtually few back links...

 

[Logan Fuller]

This subject is actually something I've worked a lot on, as I run an online company which relies heavily on SEO and viral (word of mouth) marketing.

John and Paige, I think you're both right in different ways regarding SEO and back links. Google traditionally would push websites with large numbers of back links higher up in their search results - this used to be seen as the best way to gauge quality. Now that this system has begun to be manipulated by lower quality websites (read: spam!), Google has been pushing away from using back links as a primary indicator, and has actually started punishing sites with large numbers of back links that they feel were acquired fraudulently.

Google's algorithms are incredibly advanced, and are constantly being tweaked to provide results that match best with what a search user is actually looking for. The best strategy at this point is to focus on creating highly relevant content that your target users want to engage with - that's why Savannah Cat Chat does so well in Google's rankings!

Just my two cents. I appreciate the advice that you've all given me for my F1 kitten search, and am happy to help out with tips or advice if you are a breeder with a website !

 

[admin]

This subject is actually something I've worked a lot on, as I run an online company which relies heavily on SEO and viral (word of mouth) marketing.

John and Paige, I think you're both right in different ways regarding SEO and back links. Google traditionally would push websites with large numbers of back links higher up in their search results - this used to be seen as the best way to gauge quality. Now that this system has begun to be manipulated by lower quality websites (read: spam!), Google has been pushing away from using back links as a primary indicator, and has actually started punishing sites with large numbers of back links that they feel were acquired fraudulently.

Google's algorithms are incredibly advanced, and are constantly being tweaked to provide results that match best with what a search user is actually looking for. The best strategy at this point is to focus on creating highly relevant content that your target users want to engage with - that's why Savannah Cat Chat does so well in Google's rankings!

Just my two cents. I appreciate the advice that you've all given me for my F1 kitten search, and am happy to help out with tips or advice if you are a breeder with a website !

Thanks Logan i was actually referring to my cattery website...seems like the forum began ranking really highly within 3 months for the reasons you have indicated

 

[John Popp]

You're absolutely right Logan! Two ways to have a good search engine presence. The first is paying Google and the second is having lots of meaningful content on your site and others. The moment you believe you can get over on Google they already changed the rules of engagement months ago.

 

[MK Anderson]

Logan just do your homework and what right for you. Cats in general hybird f-1 down or not, have different personality! some want you there all the time some don't. I have a very needy deaf cat not Savannah that is super needy and likes people here! Then I have a f-3 Savannah that loves people, cats ect, but doesn't require someone also home...I'm lucky tho my daughter home schools so someone is always here ... Good luck on finding your f-1 I'm sure he/she will be fine

 

[Trish Allearz]

I hate advertising.

There- i said it.

I hate ads on Facebook, I hate ads on my website, I hate advertising- period.

BUT... it has to be done. Sigh.

I'd rather play with mah kitties.