If your website is built using WordPress, then recent major changes mean it might not work exactly as you’d like – in fact your website might even break completely. In this blog we will look at the issue and how the latest version release of WordPress could cause you and us a headache if not approached carefully!

In the past, it was commonplace to put information on your website which you knew people would want to have access to (for example, “top tips”, information about promotions you’re going to run or special offers, pet health resources, or whatever), and then ask for people’s email addresses, However, this becomes legally much more complex in the age of GDPR, as your data subjects have many more rights. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the legal issues around this approach to client data.

It’s very easy to think that attackers wouldn’t be interested in your website – after all, even the biggest veterinary practice looks like small fry next to BA, or the NHS, or one of the big department stores. And that’s true, from a certain point of view – you have far fewer visitors. However, that also makes you an excellent target for people distributing malware, or trying to set up a botnet, or indeed any other “black hat” (aka “cybercriminal”) out there. In this blog, I want to talk about a worrying trend we’ve seen recently in terms of hacking attempts on what seem like really low profile websites.

The greatest constant is change, as they say… and we’re REALLY seeing it in marketing at the moment! We were just getting used to dealing with the Baby Boomers, but now we’ve got to adapt to Gen X, and the “Millennials” – and the first of Gen Z are now reaching adulthood too. As a result, strategies that might have worked as little as ten years ago are increasingly becoming ineffective! In this blog, I’m going to briefly review what we know about the current trends in client preferences – and give a sneak peek at some of our new research.

It appears to be a feature of modern life – brand names change, it sometimes seems, as quickly as the seasons! And in our industry, it’s more common than most, with corporates and chains buying up independents, and independents rebranding through mergers, partnership changes, or even just to carve out a niche. However, once you factor in websites, there’s a very real security risk in rebranding that is often forgotten by web devs, marketing agencies and even security professionals. In this blog, we’re going to be talking about some truly frightening research reported this week by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.

I’m sure your practice has a website now – not having one is a sure-fire way to lose clients (or at least, not to gain them!). However… what device are you reading this on? If it’s a desktop computer, you’re in a tiny minority! Even if it’s on a full-sized laptop, that’s not common either. While that might be how you prefer to browse the internet, it isn’t the norm any more – and hasn’t been since 2016. So, is your website ready for a modern audience? Or are you losing potential clients who can’t access the riches your site has to offer?

There are an increasing number of veterinary practices in the UK – however, the number of pets is static, or even trending slightly downward. That means that to successfully run a practice in most (although not quite all!) areas, you are in competition – professional, possibly even friendly, but still competition – with neighbouring practices. In this blog, we’re going to focus on recruiting new clients and retaining existing fringe-clients, and how digital marketing can help with that.

In case you didn’t know, the PDSA’s 2018 PAW report has just been published. The key point that was apparent throughout the document was how poorly informed many of the UK’s pet owners are. This is abundantly clear in the dearth of knowledge about the Animal Welfare Act (25% had apparently never heard of it, and poor knowledge of this legislation strongly correlates with poor provision of preventative healthcare; and only 13% could correctly identify all 5 Welfare Needs). It is also clear that with pet obesity a growing problem (in every sense!) there is a genuine crisis in pet owner education. Increasingly, we’re dealing with an online, highly connected client base, for whom telephoning or visiting their vet is not their preferred method of seeking information.

Anyone who follows the technical or marketing press will know that, in January, Facebook made some dramatic changes to their newsfeed algorithm. This was described in no uncertain terms as being “catastrophic” and a “disaster” for publishers and businesses, with one blogger coining my favourite neologism of the year the “Algopocalypse”. Now that all the dust has settled, this blog is going to look at the changes, and assess the impact they’ve had on the wider online publishing industry, and on us at VetHelpDirect.

OK, I know I said I wouldn’t write another one… but we’re really worried about how much confusion there is among vets about the GDPR. Unfortunately, there is some misleading and even factually inaccurate information being published in the veterinary press which could cause commercial problems for practices, frustration to clients and even, potentially, animal welfare issues. In particular, we’re worried about the idea that seems to have taken hold to the effect that you always need to get consent to email your existing client base.