WUF Design

No matter what size your business, it's always a good idea to remind people to check their junk folder!

Dog walkers we love you! If you're a dog walker and looking for business support then this awesome guy can help you :)

Yappers,

Today, on National Dog Walker Appreciation Day we’re celebrating the incredible work of dog walkers and giving a special shoutout to Nathan Dunleavy the dog walking business mentor, a highly respected and qualified Dog Pro and Yappily ambassador.

Nathan’s Dog Mentoring program is perfect for those looking to start a professional dog-walking business or for existing Dog Pros wanting to expand into this rewarding field. With his expert guidance, dog walkers are not just providing a service—they’re making a real difference in the lives of the dogs they care for.

If you are ready to start your own professional dog-walking business or expand your existing services then visit Nathan's website to learn more about his expert mentoring program and how it can help you succeed in the dog-walking industry!

👉 https://dogwalkingmentor.co.uk

Listings are still an important foundational step for local businesses' SEO strategies. Google uses directory listings to help create an accurate company perception and check NAP.

Name
Address
Phone

Not only that, but a Local Business Discovery and Trust Report in 2023 found that 62% of consumers would be turned away from a business if they found incorrect information online.

Listing your business in a directory optimised for search engines like Yappily increases Google's trust, helps your overall visibility, and showcases you as a positive, force-free and ethical business.

What's not to love!

With a basic listing at just £10 and a premium with added SEO juice at £100 for the year, we'd love to have you join us :)

[link in comments]

We love nothing more than hearing news from clients about their wins and achievements and we love the part their website plays in this.

News in today...

"I just wanted to let you know I got 3 best rated again for dog walking in # # #.

That’s 3 on the bounce now !

I have you to thank for this so I wanted to let you know

It’s definitely all your doing so I hope that brings a little joy your way 💞💞"

It does absolutely bring us joy, helping and supporting everyone to do what they do, and get more of the right help to dogs is at the heart of everything for us all.

This is not just a WUF win, but a win for dogs everywhere.

It's super in-depth, but the PDSA Paw Report is well worth a read.

The PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report is the UK's largest annual assessment of pet wellbeing.

The 2024 (PAW) Report reveals worrying trends about dog training in the UK and how using aversive tools and techniques are harming, not helping our dogs.

The report tells us that using positive, reward-based training is much better for dogs, helping them feel safer and more secure. It also highlights the need for better education on effective and humane training methods.

The PDSA says;

'An issue that may be contributing to confrontational behaviour and poor welfare in dogs is the use of aversive training methods'

Full report here 👇
https://www.pdsa.org.uk/what-we-do/pdsa-animal-wellbeing-report/paw-report-2024/dogs

WUF member Becky at East Coast Dog Training has started a podcast!

And as always with WUF, it’s on the website in the proper way - so, what have we done?

We utilised the blog functionality to create a podcast page, and then a separate post for each podcast episode. So there’s now a blog category called podcast, all the episode posts go into that, and are then shown on the podcast page!

Why is this good? Because it gives you the opportunity to

A. SEO up each episode page for Google
B. Provide lots of content that is helpful to the listener, this could be the video version, a transcript and a list of useful links relating to the episode.
C. You get a separate URL to go and use in your social media marketing for each episode.

Becky also requested an RSS feed to link to her Metricool account and with a bit of wizardry we have created a feed with just the podcast posts alone on.

Back on the site, Rosie has created a separate design template for the podcast posts from the blog post one. This means there’s now visual difference between the two, helping people on the site to understand where they are and what they are looking at.

The template has links to all episodes on the Spotify player and Youtube, and then for each episode Becky will link with icons directly to that episode. She’ll also embed a player for direct listening.

It’s really important to provide options with content like this. For example, you might have someone who listen to the embedded player on their desktop, but when switching to their phone they prefer the Spotify link and app so that it keeps playing when they phone is locked.

We don’t just make websites, we support all clients in growing their businesses in fact the website really is just the starting point!

[Link in comments]

Rosie is excited to share another new brand ID created for Country Woofs.

Danielle came to WUF for help in setting up her new licensed dog boarding business, pitched at the premium end of the market from her gorgeous country cottage.

And who better to deliver this than Rosie and Kelly who are licensed home dog boarders themselves.

Danielle diligently filled in the brand ID docs and her 3 brand words are Premium, Comfort and Fun.

Keeping these at the heart of the brand, Rosie delivered an entire concept for Danielle to use across all aspects of her new business.

Rosie was keen to set Danielle’s branding above and apart from the existing businesses in Danielle’s local area. The standard delivery of a country cottage style logo would have been swirly fonts with a muted colour palette, but Rosie is always looking to think outside of the box and deliver a next level design.

The colours have a strength to them, they are warm and friendly whilst still being professional. The font confirms and conveys this also. Then there’s a small set of icons for Danielle to use that complement the design as a whole.

You’ll notice that there is not a paw print in sight - because we LOVE going behind the brand and beyond the obvious.

Next on the list is Danielle’s copy, and then her website, which WUF designer Sean can’t wait to use all this gorgeousness on!

The BEST feedback, received for a new brand ID.

Having nailed this on the first round of delivery we are excited to launch this tomorrow morning!

We'll also be adopting 'Love x 1 million!' as the tagline for the new WUF website, as it sums up what we do just perfectly :)

We have space for, and are keen to work with pet pros and businesses looking for full service support. So that's starting with the brand identity and messaging, onto copywriting + a fully optimised SEO website build.

If you're looking to get that feeling of 'Love x 1 million!' about your brand and business, do get in touch.

It's been an epic build, and we're thrilled to receive this incredible feedback.
Currently in soft launch, we'll be launching this properly soon!

"Since launching the new site just a week ago, I've already received over 20 brand-new inquiries and had the highest-grossing week since opening our facility.

I truly believe this is a sign of what’s to come. Thank you, Rosie, for bringing this to life!"

Social media?

Yeah, nailing that as well..

🚩 Red Flags Alert! 🚩

Last week, our "Red Flags" post created quite a buzz in the dog community! 🎉

✨ Reach: 27.7K people 🌍
💬 Comments: 227
👍 Likes: 681
🔄 Shares: 136

It’s amazing to see that we reached so many people with this important message!

Thanks to this one post, thousands of people may now know exactly what to stay away from.

A big thank you to all the dog lovers who shared this post and helped spread the word! Let’s continue raising awareness—Do you have any red flags you would like to add? Tell us in the comments below ⬇️

Thank you for being such an amazing community! ❤️

Hot on the heels of their new brand identity, this client's one-page website is nearly ready to go.

We've still got some tweaks and edits to make, but we are very much looking forward to getting this one live.

Ever wondered how many dogs in the UK are raw fed? 🥩🐾

We collaborated with our friends at Paleo Ridge Raw Dog Food to explore the benefits of raw feeding. Check out our latest blog to find out what, why and where!

Head to the comments below to get the full scoop 👇

Another WUF client, Kate from Canine Co is growing her business!

She's hanging up her scissors and has now opened the doors to her new academy.

Kate says "Our academy is dedicated to providing top-tier education and hands-on training for aspiring dog groomers, ensuring every student is equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to excel in this rewarding career."

We are so pleased for Kate. It's been a long time in the planning, and we were so excited to finally create the academy page on the website for her.

Recently launched!

The WUF team loved working with the well and long established Hammersmith Dog Training Club to give their very old website a very new look!

This project included a new brand identity, website design and SEO optimisation.

We are particularly proud of the classes page. It might not look so special, but using tables on websites and making them work just as well on desktop as on mobile can be problematic. This solution looks and works great on both. No more pinching and zooming to try and view when the class times are.

The professional and fun design hits the spot with their target London clients.

Link in comments to view :)

Rosie had a lovely visit with a local dog groomer today, she's a booked-in client, and we needed some pics of her and the salon.

She also had the amazing experience of meeting Archie and Ruby the Maine C**n cats, who she says were absolutely incredible.

Wonderful feedback from a WUF client who we launched at the beginning of the year.

They also let us know that they are going to be making changes to their services as they move forward and niche down their offers.

The perfect example of what happens when you go pro with your website.

❤️ Increased enquiries
❤️ Increased quality of enquiries
❤️ Business growth
❤️ Personal growth

Rosie was thrilled to receive this feedback, and looks forward to supporting this WUF club member as they grow their business!

Collie Encounters brand new branding!

Working closely together, Jessica and Rosie made sure that everything FELT like a good fit for Jessica's new name and business.

Because that sometimes elusive 'feels just like me' is oh so important in giving people the confidence to move forward and shout about their business.

Jessica is currently on the WUF waitlist for a one-page website and Rosie can't wait to get going on it.

If your brand and business don't really feel like you, if you're going through a bit of a change or pivot, and your existing logo isn't aligning with what's in your head and heart, please get in touch. We'd love to help.

WUF is excited to show you another new brand identity, this time for Jessica and her all newly named and re-vamped business Collie Encounters

Here's a taster in the form of her brand board.. full details and spec tomorrow.

It's been a fun and collaborative one and Rosie said she loved working with closely with Jessica to get the (awesome) end result.

When you are doing a full site refresh for a business there are a few essential things to manage the transfer.

One of these is creating redirects from the old URL's to the new ones making it easy for the Google robots to understand the new layout, and for people clicking old links to be automatically re directed to the new pages.

Another, is to have a custom 404 page so that if people do hit a dead link maybe from social media, they don't bounce off the website in frustration but click on one of the helpfully provided new links.

Whilst doing the last pre-launch checks on this website Rosie was pleased to find the 404 page. Custom made in brand colours with a little animation on the hot air balloon to make people smile.

Rosie is going in for round 2 with the APBC at the end of September and giving a webinar about all things SEO and Google Business Profile.

She'll also be covering a bit on AI and the new SearchGPT and why it might not be something to be so afraid of.

Pic on post: A client sent this in. She was using Google's AI model Gemini to brainstorm some ideas around enrichment, and look who popped up. Yep, that's a Yappily image with a credit to the website as well.

Lovely that our client knew about Yappily already, but if she hadn't this might have encouraged a click-through to the website and an explore and a raise of awareness.

A huge refresh on it's way for a WUF client in the USA. We are hoping to get this one live this week!

As a facility, rather than 1:1 service we've balanced the design to be fun and appealing to puppy owners, whilst still retaining a sleek professional vibe designed to appeal to their target audience over there.

The upgrade to the blog post design is immense.

What a fantastic service this shop offers 👏

How could you serve people better? What could you offer that makes you stand out?

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=880398660775184&set=a.442551117893276

**NOW FULL** REACTIVE DOG SHOPPING NIGHT - Thursday 8th August

Capone would like to tell you that our popular reactive dog shopping night is happening again this week and we have just one slot available at 19:30.

The following month we have our reactive dog night on 5th September.

These night's are for you and your reactive dog, whether people or dog reactive, to enjoy shopping in peace without danger of other cutomers or dogs entering the store whilst you shop.

We also welcome XL Bullies to our Reactive Dog Shopping Nights as we understand from our many XL Bully owning customers that they don't feel comfortable bringing their XL Bully into a busy shop environment. Your XL Bully doesn't have to be reactie to enjoy these evenings.

Every dog that comes into the shop will receive a free puppacino and treat samples whilst you shop. If your dog is people reactive then we will stay behind the counter whilst you shop and take direction from you.

When arriving please stay in your car until you are welcomed into the shop at the start of your appointment. This allows us to ensure that customer's don't cross paths with each other.

To book the final remaining space please call 01484 246420.

We can't wait to welcome you.

Laura x

A beautiful new brand kit delivered. Including a custom Facebook header that works just as well on desktop as it does on mobile. No cut off words or tops of heads!

The three G's icon works perfectly as the profile pic and also translates really well into a custom pattern for use on social media graphics.

Rosie had an interesting chat with this client about the gundog world and how it was becoming less male-dominated, with new colours, such as pink and lilac, being introduced into the toys and props.

The aim was to keep this brand strong but still feminine. The purple also links to the client's existing dog training brand, so both have their own identities but hold a consistency between them.

Recently completed brand and logo work for a current client.

These pups are going to have the BEST start in life being raised by a highly experienced dog behaviourist.

Rosie says "This was just one of those projects that I knew exactly what I wanted for right from the start. Having provided 2 options and then doing a round of trying things out from there, we ended up sticking with the first version. Sometimes you just nail things the first time!'

Further details tomorrow including the smashing new Facebook header.

WUF is keeping an eye on everything AI so that we continue to offer best practice to and for our clients.

It’s important for us to know what’s coming up next, and how this could potentially impact content creation, SEO and visibility for client’s businesses.

You might not like AI, or agree with it, but it’s fast becoming embedded in our daily online lives, and we are embracing it along with all the opportunities that it may bring our clients.

And on that note, Open AI, the owners of ChatGPT, have announced a new search engine - SearchGPT, and you can read about it here https://openai.com/index/searchgpt-prototype/

Founder of WUF and Yappily Rosie is presenting a webinar for the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors - APBC next Wednesday evening all about websites.

Do we even need a website?
How to get people to find your first
Making your website work for you
Your website as part of your marketing strategy

Each section includes action points to help you get found and get booked.

And we are happy to announce that there's also going to be part 2 at the end of September, all about SEO and Google Business Profile because Rosie couldn't squeeze it all into an hour!

In today’s digital age, having an outstanding website is vital for pet professionals who need to stand out and be found first by pet guardians.

Join Rosie for this webinar to discover the essential tools and techniques to
ensure guardians and caregivers discover you and then book you.
https://bit.ly/3LoOQCd

Home page approval received for this absolute BEAUTY!

Rosie had a very distinct vision of this in her head and is thrilled that the client loves it as much as she does. Trick Woofs, we got you!

Catch Founder of WUF design, Rosie Robinson, delivering a live webinar for the APBC on August 7th.

Working with clients as they grow their businesses is at the heart of everything I do. Thank you for this super review Nathan!

"What do I recommend about WUF Design?

Blooming everything!!

I did a review back in December under my personal profile and now I’m back to do another, under one of my biz profiles. Why? Because Rosie has done it again, she has literally blown me away with her latest peace of work for me.

Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, WHY didn’t I find you sooner?! I sound like a broken record…

After doing my one page website/landing/sales page in Dec, I decided to change the name slightly of my business and my logo & brand needed to be updated to reflect this.

My previous graphic designer hadn’t even given me all the correct files for my old logo, luckily Rosie was still able to work her magic.

I say that, as I believe she's a magician. I now have a fresh new logo and I absolutely LOVE it.

Thank you Rosie, everyone - I highly recommend working with Rosie, if you get the chance, you won’t be disappointed! 💙🧡"

A new logo for a current client. I love it when businesses grow and diversify. After lots of chats and thinks, Nikki is starting to slowly separate out the school side of her grooming business.

Up until now it's all gone under the same name as her local grooming business, but with an eye on the future it now has it's own logo, identity and socials page. For now, it will remain a page on her current website, and when the time is right we will give it it's own website home.

Growing and changing doesn't have to be done all at once. It can be a gradual process that you lean into over time, giving you space to work things out as you go!

We've kept the same green as her main logo and used a couple of elements for continuity. New bolder fonts and shapes give it its own identity whilst still remaining part of the family.