Bark & Stride
Bark & Stride had an outdated website that hadn’t been maintained in years — and a Google Business Profile that had been suspended for four years without them even knowing.
The Mission
Bark & Stride is a professional dog walking and training business based in Hailsham, East Sussex, with over eleven years of experience in the field. Despite that experience and a loyal local reputation, their online presence told a very different story. Their website was outdated, unmanaged, and no longer reflected the quality of the business behind it.
What made this project stand out, however, was what we discovered when we looked under the bonnet. Bark & Stride’s Google Business Profile — one of the most important tools a local service business has for being found online — had been suspended by Google. Not recently. Since 2021. Four years of invisible presence in local search, with no map listing, no reviews surfacing, and no enquiries coming in through Google at all. The owner hadn’t realised. The suspension notifications had been missed, and with no one managing the account, the profile had simply sat dormant.
The goal was clear: rebuild the website for a better user experience and professional look, recover the Google Business Profile, and give Bark & Stride the online presence their eleven years of experience deserved.
How We Helped
A Website Worth Finding
We rebuilt the Bark & Stride website from the ground up on WordPress — clean, fast, mobile-friendly, and built to reflect the professionalism and warmth of the business. We took time to understand exactly what the owner wanted, discussing layouts, imagery and tone to make sure the finished site genuinely felt like Bark & Stride.
The result is a website with standout imagery, well-written service pages, and a clear, easy-to-navigate structure that makes it simple for dog owners to find what they need and get in touch.
Clear Service Structure
We organised the site around Bark & Stride’s core offerings — dog walking and positive, reward-based training — using friendly, accessible language that speaks directly to local pet owners. The business’s credentials, including being a Canine Body Language Specialist, are woven naturally into the content to build trust and give visitors confidence in who they’re dealing with.
SEO-Ready Foundations
Every page was built with on-page SEO in place from the start — optimised structure, service-focused content, and local signals throughout. The site is set up to help Bark & Stride get found by dog owners in Hailsham and the surrounding area searching for exactly what they offer.
Reinstating a Lost Google Business Profile
This was the most impactful part of the entire project. When we reviewed Bark & Stride’s local presence, we discovered their Google Business Profile had been suspended since 2021 — most likely because the listing had been set up as a standard business address rather than a Service Area Business, which is how mobile and visiting service businesses like dog walkers should be configured. Google had sent notifications, but they had been missed, and the profile had been inactive ever since without the owner realising.
We identified what had gone wrong, gathered the evidence Google needed, and worked through the reinstatement process directly with Google to get the profile back live. Once reinstated, we fully optimised the profile — accurate business information, service area settings, services listed with descriptions, and everything aligned with the new website to send the right signals to Google.
The impact was immediate. New enquiries started coming in directly as a result of the profile being live again — proof of just how much visibility had been lost, and how quickly it can be recovered when things are set up correctly.
Managed Hosting & Maintenance
Bark & Stride’s website is now fully hosted and managed by Ready Rank. Updates, security, backups and any changes needed are all taken care of, giving the owner a completely hands-off experience and the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone is always keeping an eye on things.
The Result
Bark & Stride now has a website they love — beautiful, professional, and genuinely representative of the business they’ve built over eleven years. But the bigger win was recovering four years of lost visibility in one go. With the Google Business Profile reinstated and fully optimised, Bark & Stride are back on the map — quite literally — and new enquiries have already followed as a direct result. For a local service business that relies on being found by people nearby, that reinstatement alone has been transformational.
From Our Client
“I’ve been a professional dog walker in Hailsham for 11 years. I approached Steve from Ready Rank to see if he could rebuild my website. I met with him to go over what I’d like. Steve is very professional, he is easy to talk to and took all I said into account. He found out that my Google Business Page had been suspended, as it happens in 2021! Steve told me what evidence he needed and he worked with Google to reinstate it. This makes a massive difference to my business. The website he has designed is beautiful, the images stand out and he optimised the pages so people can easily search for my services. It is well written and feels like he has taken into account everything I’ve said and taken all my thoughts and feelings into consideration. He has coped so well with me, having a few difficulties with technology at times. A patient and understanding man. I was amazed at how quickly he created my beautiful website. I would highly recommend using his services.”
Sammi Parr
Bark & Stride — Dog Walking & Training, Hailsham
Let’s Build Yours
If you’re a local service business looking for a website that actually works for you – whether that’s a new build, SEO support, or improving your online presence, get in touch with Ready Rank today.
