Lola The Rescued Cat Has a New Look! | Lola The Rescued Cat
Thursday, June 29, 2017

Lola The Rescued Cat Has a New Look!

Lola: Hello, and Happy Thursday! Oh boy, do we have an exciting surprise for you today! Take a look around our blog for a second… do you notice anything different? Go ahead… take a look. We changed our design! 

Lexy: That’s right, folks! We have re-branded and re-designed. Mother has been working behind the scenes with Glogirly on our new look. It was so clandestine that even Katie and Waffles weren’t able to give us any information! I may be biased, but I think it’s just fab.  





Lola: Me, too.  At first, Lexy and I were a little insulted that she didn’t ask for our opinions, but she made good choices. I just love it! 

Lexy: Now for the full explanation, let’s turn it over to Mother. 

Dawn:  Thank you, girls. Where do I start? I guess the beginning would be a good place. 


In the Beginning

When I started my blog in 2014, the initial purpose was to market my book, in addition to being an extension of my Facebook page. It took me a long time to get started because I was on a different blogging platform that I couldn’t navigate. Debbie Glovatsky came to my rescue, set me up on Blogger, and re-designed my old blog. (She even weathered through my emails asking, “How do I publish a post?!?” and other questions.) At that point I wanted everything to match my book cover, which I loved (and still do.) It made sense at that time.



My Blog Came To Life! 

As I became more involved in the Blogosphere, I saw how much fun others were having with their blogs. They weren't only having fun, they were sharing important information that pet parents needed. I wanted to do that, and I wanted to raise more awareness of rescue and adoption as well. Little by little the girls allowed me to post more frequently and I started writing more informational articles. I also started getting on the radar of brands, PR agencies, and rescue groups. As all of this began to evolve, I realized my tagline “From being thrown in a dumpster to the luckiest cat in the world” no longer fit the direction of my blog. That tagline fits Lola and my book, but not the broader direction I wanted to pursue. 


BlogPaws 2017 Sealed the Deal

I had been thinking of re-designing and re-branding, but I didn’t know exactly what type of design I wanted. I learned SO much at BlogPaws this May – information that I was able to walk away with to implement change. In the Branding Workshop led by Chloe Divita, Felissa Effelbein and Aimee Beltran, ideas started coming to life and I realized I needed to do this now and create consistency with my branding. My fonts and color palettes were all over the place in my graphics and things were a big mishmash! 


I also learned how to better navigate and use Canva, AND I understood a little bit of SEO! 


My New Direction

I contacted Debbie again, and after telling her what I wanted to do she immediately had ideas for me. We started with tweaking my logo just a bit with a change of font and a twist in the color palette. I loved it so much that I got two logos!






I wanted my new blog design to be lighter and brighter, more pleasing to the eye, and more welcoming. I think we nailed it! Thank you, Debbie! 


Before on the Left, and our new design on the Right. 

Before tackling a new tagline I did a blog audit. I was surprised to learn that 60% of my highest performing posts of all time were about advocacy and health/wellness (which included some reviews.) I also learned that a good portion of my traffic comes from organic Google searches. Now that was surprising! It tells me I need to write more evergreen content that is helpful to cat parents. 

I wanted my new tagline to represent the new direction my blog has taken. When I was thinking of words that describe my blog, or what I want my message to my readers to be, three words were prominent: advocacy, education, and entertainment. Advocacy for animal welfare will always be important to me and a large part of my blog; I want to continue to educate my readers on how to help their cats have better lives; and personally, I think my girls are very entertaining! Without them I would not be doing this, and they will always be the biggest part of my blog. (Lexy writes a much better review than I do, anyway.) 
When I saw samples of my new business cards...




...I knew that was the right tagline.  

I’m still fine-tuning the graphics piece, but it’s definitely coming along. 




Every single person that visits my blog, and every single comment that people take the time to leave, has given me inspiration and motivation.  Thank you for being a part of my journey, for loving Lola and Lexy, and for being our friends. 

Lola: Mommy, I’d like to say something. 

Dawn: Ok, go ahead, Poopsie. 

Lola: Mommy! Please don’t embarrass me in front of our friends. 

Dawn: Oh, sorry, Schmoopie. 

Lola: *horrified* MOMMY! Geesh! Anyhoo, I’d like to say that even though the title of this blog is Lola The Rescued Cat, it represents my whole family, even humans. And even Will’s boy cats, who’ll you’ll read about someday soon. Even though girls rule. 

Lexy: We hope you like our re-branding and new look. Now, let’s break out that nip and celebrate!
Dawn, Lola and Lexy

Would you like to comment?

  1. Wow, the new layout is AMAZING! I love it - your human and Glogirly did awesomely. Paws up!

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  2. it looks GREAT!! Miss Debbie is a rockstar. We love the new tagline.

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  3. L & L.....we due knot noe much bout tag eggs cept when ya hit sum one N say yur it.... N seo round theeze partz iz salmon eel & orange ruffy....

    but yur new look iz soooper grate....

    grate job by both momz....we give em 984 pawz up N hope ya get sew much traffix now itz lined up two de verrazano narrows !! :) ♥♥

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    1. That will be a LONG line for sure! We like your SEO much better.

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  4. This is so awesome!! It looks great - congrats!! Let's catch up soon. xo

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  5. Concats on your new look and tag line. We switched to white awhile back cos it's so much cleaner.

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  6. Love your new look. Debbie did a very pleasant job with the graphic.

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  7. Yes, Yes, Yes! What an amazing new look. I love the colors and the fonts and how professional everything looks. During our session I could see that you were giving everything we shared a lot of thought. The light-bulbs were going off you were inspired.

    I cannot wait to see where you take your Blog over the next year and how you incorporate your branding into everything that you do!

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  8. Oh it looks fabulous! Glogirly did a great job. This is something I need to do as well.

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  9. Gorgeous! So bright and inviting. I LOVE.

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  10. Absolutely love the new look! Congrats on your rebranding and it was wonderful meeting you at BlogPaws💖

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  11. Y'all look terrific and we love it, ya done good!

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  12. Concatulations on your rebranding ! We love your new look, it's more bright and inviting ! Purrs

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  13. It looks fantastic!!! Congrats on the new look and feel. I sense great things are in the works. Your blog was already wonderful, and this just made it that much better! Love it!

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  14. Darn! Wish I could have attended that seminar! The branding and look is fantastic! So happy to see how you've evolved over the years! Purrs from Deb and the Zee/Zoey gang

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  15. Absolutely fabulous. So clean and clear. Love it

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  16. What a fantastic look! It's so airy and easy to read. We especially love your new tagline. High paw!

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  17. This looks great! I need to work on using the same color scheme for my photos and graphics. I realize I've tried to match the borders with items in the photos and not with the design of the blog.

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  18. I love it! Everything looks great.

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  19. Loving the new look, so crisp & clear & your graphics really pop. Concatulations!!

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  20. Love the new look ! Color scheme is relaxing and work very well with content.

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  21. I love love LOVE the revamp! It was already paw-some, but you really nailed the color scheme and tagline and the new logo is da BOMB. Con-cats! Oh, and Karma-Kat looks forward to learning more about the boy-cats, since he thinks Man-Cats rule. (shh, don't tell Seren-Kitty).

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  22. I absolutely LOVE your logo. It is simple, yet ridiculously perfect and you know INSTANTLY what this site is about. Great job!

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  23. I LOVE the new design. Then again, I loved the old one too. My favorite part of the redesign is both "Lola" "The rescued cat" graphics. I like how the new style highlights the "rescued" part. I also think the tagline is perfect.

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  24. Your new blog look is amazing! Wow! I enjoyed reading this and learning how you decided on what you want to do with your blog.

    Your tagline is great.

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  25. I love the new look and it's making me think about mine. I think it could definitely stand to be more cohesive.

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  26. It looks great!! Good for you making the change!! :D

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  27. I like the lighter and brighter look. It makes it easier to read! Super logo!

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  28. Oh WOW! We're loving the new look. SO inviting and well, purrfect!

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  29. And the new look rocks! I really love your colors and business card. So to the point and crisp.

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  30. Congratulations on a beautiful new logo! I also really like your tagline and think it fits you all PAWfectly!

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  31. Your new look is great! Congratulations! All of the BlogPaws conferences I've attended have been good, but something about this one in particular seems to have sparked so much in so many people. It's really cool, can't wait for everyone to come here to KC next year!

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  32. I absolutely love the new look! It looks great! Congrats and I wish you much more success with your blog!

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  33. It's wonderful that you've taken the information learned at BlogPaws and put so much of it into action! My analytics tend to surprise me as well. Your new design looks lovely! Good luck with your re-branding efforts!
    Love & Biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

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  34. I love the new design! I thought that their presentation was awesome. I have a new blog design in the works too.

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