Case study: content writing for the CIPD’s E-Shop website relaunch

The CIPD (Chartered Institute for Professional Development) is a professional body for HR and people development. They provide training, resources and certifications to those working as HR professionals or in leadership roles. 

As part of a broader website project, their content team was updating their E-Shop to improve its SEO performance and fit an updated structure. This meant they needed to rewrite all the listings for their training catalogue. One of their team members had worked with me in the past while at a previous employer and recommended my services.

Website relaunch content writing for the CIPD

This was a highly involved website relaunch content writing project with several factors at play. Here’s a rundown of what that looked like:

A high volume of work

This was a BIG project. There were over 80 course descriptions to rewrite. Some of these were on the shorter side (around 400 words), while others were more involved and over 1000 words long. 

Compact timeframe

There was very little flexibility in this project’s timeframe. The content marketing team were very organised and had a strict project plan. They shared this with me at the outset so I had full visibility of their needs. They briefed me in good time, which meant I could organise my working plan and retainer clients around this project. As if to make things more challenging, the Christmas and New Year break fell partway through the project, reducing the available time. 

To deal with this, I created my own timing plan. I also gave the content team visibility into when they could expect work from me. I then worked through the files in an organised manner and kept the team regularly updated.

Multiple stakeholders

The CIPD is a large organisation, and several people were involved in my work’s sign-off. In addition to the digital marketing manager, I dealt with the SEO manager, the in-house head of copy, L&D experts, and the marketing lead. We held weekly status calls to share feedback, review progress and agree on the next steps.

Website relaunch content writing requirements

With all these project management aspects, it’s easy to forget the work itself! My brief involved:

• Providing content on a set template
• Writing content in line with the refreshed house tone of voice
• Incorporating pre-agreed keyword phrases for SEO purposes
• Reworking existing course descriptions to make them clearer
• Providing teaser copy to use on the E-Shop course listings

I carried out all work on the CIPD’s Teams platform and had full access to their project timeline with full visibility of key milestones.

Results

I delivered all work ahead of time and helped out when additional course descriptions were needed at the last minute. The relaunched E-shop is now available online, providing leaders and HR professionals with a selection of bitesize courses, training and more involved qualifications. 

You can see the E-shop here.

Here’s what my key contact at the CIPD, Hannah Barragry, had to say about working together:

“From the offset, Laura was friendly, proactive and flexible. Despite the project having many time constraints and often involving shifting priorities (and last minute additions) Laura was professional, agile and organised at all times. Laura also worked very closely with other members of my team such as the Copywriting and TOV Lead and Marketing Manager. She was brilliant at both demonstrating her expertise whilst also ensuring the team felt heard and that their comments were incorporated into any changes.

Since the website has relaunched with the new copy we have seen in reduction in abandon basket rates and an increase in direct sales.

On a personal note, Laura was a lovely and fun person to work with. Thank you for all your support, time and expertise working on this project with us. Looking forward to working together again in the future.”

Need help with website relaunch content writing? I could be exactly who you’re looking for. Book a call to find out more about me and how I work.

Case study: content writing retainer for SaaS

Breathe is an HR software company, providing HR SaaS to SMEs across the UK. Their target markets are SME business leaders and people responsible for HR management and administration.

With a gap in their content team and the need to continue creating and updating content to fit their busy content schedule, I worked on a content writing retainer with them for two years. A year later, I worked on a further retainer of 11 months with them.

As a freelance content writer, I was able to provide several services to support the team. Here are a few highlights:

Blog repurposing

Great content deserves to be seen but needs regular spring cleaning to keep it working hard from an SEO perspective. The team at Breathe gave me a list of blogs to repurpose as part of my content writing retainer. With access to their Monday.com board, I delivered blogs in line with their updated keyword targets and any other changes, while running due diligence checks on stats and legislative information to ensure all content was correct. Naturally, I ensured keywords were incorporated naturally and effectively for SEO dynamite.  I also provided page titles and SEO descriptions. Some of this work involved merging multiple posts into single blogs. Every post was delivered to schedule.

Blog writing

Refreshing existing content is an easy win, but writing new blogs is a surefire way to show your audience you’re on top of current topics. Again, working from the team Monday.com board, I delivered a series of blogs in line with keyword and title requirements. Some blogs had very specific briefs, others were left open for me to write as I felt fit. Again, every blog was written to a tight schedule, and I turned edits around in a flash.

“Her work is well-researched and very well-written. I would highly recommend Laura’s services” – Carl Sadecki

Gated content for SAAS

Information-rich gated content is lead-generating gold. However, it needs to be up to date. The Breathe team briefed me to update a selection of their guides – all of which related to employment law, leadership and team management. I researched the topics, sense-checked the data and ensured links and statistics were still relevant. If there were stronger links or better statistics, I updated these. In some cases, social attitudes were shifting – especially if the content was written pre-covid. In this case, I edited things and alerted the team, so they were aware of my changes.

Content writing training for team members

I was asked to run a training session with a newer member of Breathe’s content team to help with their development. During the two-hour session, I shared my methodology around content creation, particularly focusing on research and helpful tools to help with blog writing. The feedback I received was that the session was very useful and shaped how the writer builds their content to this day.

Content writing retainer results

I worked with Breathe in two separate contracts. During my first content writing retainer, I wrote 82 articles for Breathe. These have been read by more than 870,000 people and generated more than 4,000 clicks through to other content, including requests for software trials and demonstrations.

“Laura has been a great asset to our content team over the past few years. She fully understands our brand voice & our goals, always creating insightful and interesting content that is enjoyable to read. Laura has re-invigorated some of our older blogs with her engaging writing style, as well as shared her valuable knowledge in updating some of our core website resources. Laura also kindly ran an incredibly useful training session with me when I was new to content writing, sharing some golden pieces of advice that I implemented & still use today. I can’t recommend Laura highly enough, nor thank her enough for all her hard work and help.”

Aimée Brougham-Chandler

You can see some of the work I completed for Breathe here.

Don’t know what to write? 6 ways to beat writer’s block

One of my lovely clients had a deadline. It was a deadline for me no less; she wanted to send me a draft page for me to work some magic on, in readiness for her new business launch.

Now, this lady is a talented photographer and knows all there is to know about her new business. She’s also been self-employed for a while and has launched websites before. It’s fair to say she knows what she’s doing.

But she had blank page syndrome. Writer’s block. Brain freeze. Don’t know what to do.

“I just don’t know where to start”, she told me. “Can you send me some pointers?”

So I whizzed her some thoughts back and then thought, that there must be hundreds, perhaps thousands of other folks out there with exactly the same problem as she has. So here’s a blog to help!

How to get started when you don’t know where to begin.

I can empathise. I know this pain completely. Which I why I thought I would give you my run-down of ways to lose blank page syndrome.

Shut down your computer. Honestly, staring at a blank screen is the worst way to get started. So go old school. The bigger the piece of paper the better. If A4 is all you have, then go with that – I like to use A3. Don’t even think of using a post-it note.

Now just start writing words. You could make a mind map, write lists, draw pictures. Anything. After a while you’ll start getting a feel for the shape of things you want to write. Trust me.

Pretend. Sometimes, one of the best ways to banish writer’s block is to pretend you are writing a letter or explaining something to someone who doesn’t understand what you do. Perhaps the old boy you met in a café. Or your maiden great aunt (if you don’t have one, imagine for a moment that you do). By writing as if you are explaining things (which in effect, you are), you will naturally write more clearly and simply. Which is exactly what you should be aiming for. It also means you pre-empt the questions your audience would naturally ask. Bingo!

Forget the beginning. We get so hung up on the way we start things. So, begin with the part you find easiest to write and then just shape everything around it. Or even better, get someone like me to help you whip it into shape for you.

Go rough. Bad writing is always, always, always better than no writing at all. You can’t edit a blank page after all. So just start typing away. You’ll probably hate what you’re writing, but that’s fine. Because after you’ve spent some time editing it, it will be just what you want.

A bit at a time. If you’re writing a webpage or blog, don’t pressure yourself into completing it in one sitting. That won’t work. Give yourself a series of 30-minute sessions to break the back of it and form a shape. That way you’ll stay fresh and give yourself time to reflect.

If it makes you feel better, then know that I have never, ever, ever written and edited a blog or webpage in one sitting.

Still struggling with writer’s block?

If you’re really struggling, then ask yourself:

1. Who this copy is aimed at?
2. What do I want my audience to do as a result of reading this?
3. What are the key messages I want to communicate?
4. Do I want to include keywords (and what are they)?

See, sometimes, we struggle because we’ve just not planned properly. I mean, imagine trying to go somewhere new without a map, satnav or roadsigns. You couldn’t. It’s the same with writing. Make a plan and use it.

With these questions answered, you can go back and then make a start.

Do you need professional help with your writing?

If, after all that, you’re still struggling, perhaps you need professional help. Give me a shout and we can chat through the ways in which I can help you. From a consultation call, to writing on your behalf, there are many ways I can help.

Get in touch and we can set up a call.

* The header image for this blog is by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

That most precious of things. Space.

Today, for the first time in months I am on my own.

I realise that others, on their own for months, might see this as no cause for celebration. The space and isolation can feel as oppressive as constant contact and noise.

Our need and preferences for space vary so much. Too much and we feel lost, alone. Too little and we feel cramped and irritable. And the ‘right’ amount can differ depending on our mood at the time.

I started this blog intending to write about the value of spacing out copy for better readability. I know, you can barely withhold your excitement right? I’ll get to it. But first please bear with me as I amble into a more philosophical terrain for a few paragraphs.

Space matters for all sorts of reasons

This is me. Lockdown chic at its best. I was trying to work at the time, and for a reason known only to themselves, my kids decided they would use the tablet in the same square metre as me. I know other parents (of kids and pets) can relate. Indeed, another friend sent me a very similar picture of her two kids pretty much sitting on top of her as she tried to relax for a few minutes.

Children love this lack of space and close contact. Indeed, it’s known that mammals need to be cuddled. It builds up our bodily systems, reduces stress and helps us sleep. I remember crowding my parents as a child – a mark of dependency we become keen to lose as we enter those teenage years. I try to remind myself that one day these moments of full-on physical affection will stop and to enjoy them – as much as that’s possible – while they’re still a feature.

This lack of space and the constant noise has felt wearing. But as I pad around my newly empty home, I feel alone. As if someone turned the volume down unexpectedly. It’s not the release I hoped it would be.

Space can absolutely feel like a bad thing. A new space at the table. An empty bedroom. An unslept-in side of the bed. It can be easy to forget – for a moment or two – that you’ve lost someone. Then the extra space reminds you. Perhaps for a fleeting instant, you hear or catch a glimpse of that precious person. But no… there’s nothing but space.

Space to think

We’ve been encouraged to think of the sudden presence of space in our towns and cities as a good thing. As a sign of our respect for one another and our love for one another. By staying home and staying safe we were helping one another and helping the country.

Quite what this means for the ones To Whom The Rules Do Not Apply as they drove to ageing parents and family members many miles away we can only speculate. Their insistence that rule-breaking was acceptable because it was done with integrity has been questioned enough.

Space can feel ridiculous. We step into the road to avoid walking to close to others. It feels like contemporary dance. As if we’re choreographing our public lives. “Yes of course I’ll stand against these nettles so you can walk past”. We Brits have embraced this distancing with surprising ease.

But now we also pull our children back as they cheerfully run near to others. It gets me every time. What are we doing to our kids? Will this constant talk of “don’t get close” backfire? How will they build relationships as teens and adults if leaving a gap between one another becomes habit? Perhaps it will become the teenage rebellion of future years. Flouting social norms by grouping together, standing near others, sitting on the lap of someone you don’t know.

The final frontier? No thank you

And then there’s Elon. I feel as if I am one of the few people who couldn’t give a monkey about his mission into space. There seem to be so many more Earthly matters to contend with. And honestly, I couldn’t think of anything worse than going into space. For one, I can’t get past the irony of the situation. People are paying to be blasted off our beautiful planet into an environment that’s so vast it’s called “space”. All the while, they’re shut into a room no larger than my office (and believe me, that’s small) with several other people.

 

Crikey, I’ve gone on a bit, haven’t I? Onto more writerly matters.

 

Space matters when you’re writing.

Clumping everything up into one big paragraph turns what could be inspiring, motivating or amusing into a verbal scrummage.

How can you get your message across when the reader doesn’t know where the important points are?

Listening to comedians emphasises this brilliantly. A good comedian always pauses to let the audience get the joke. It’s their paragraph break. Their white space. Listen to the audience’s reaction. Initially, they titter politely. And then, when they fully comprehend the joke, they roar with laughter.

This is a great excuse to get Phoebe Waller-Bridge into my post. Her silence – the space – whilst talking about genitals (yes, that’s what I meant to write) is all the more hilarious because of her silence. She lets her audience fill in the gaps and appreciate what she just said. It’s at around 4.30 minutes into the reel if you’re interested. (And I know you are.)

Another reason that space matters when you’re writing.

I’ll fully confess to having lost some of my mojo recently. Can you relate? The uncertainty, stress and claustrophobia took their toll. Creativity isn’t something you can just drum up. You need to nurture it. And for me, that means time alone.

A walk, a soak in a bath or shower, even plodding through the washing up. They all work for me and give me time to reflect and get lost. To make those creative connections and answer the voices in my head. Having space to myself again gives me the opportunity to create better writing with less work.

It’s a more efficient and joyful way of working.

Six ways you can use space to improve your writing:

On a page/screen:

• Use paragraphs. Stick to one idea per paragraph to help your reader distinguish between your ideas and messages more easily.
• Make your paragraphs shorter. If your paragraph is more than 4 or 5 sentences long, there’s a chance you’re getting carried away. Stick to the point and move on.
• Increase the space between your lines. You can choose how much space you have between your lines and paragraphs. Increasing the amount of space can make your text easier to read and digest. Cramming it together so it fits into a pre-determined space is offputting for your reader.

As a person:

• Find your happy place. Able to write in a cramped, noisy location with lots of people around you? Good stuff. Most writers need SILENCE, and that tends to mean their own space. So whether that’s an office of your own, a table in a library or even a seat in a bench, find the space you need to write.
• Finding it difficult to get enough silence? Try binaural beats. They stimulate your brainwaves to help fuel creativity and concentration. Whether they do it for you or not is another matter, but I have found them helpful in the past.
• Give yourself permission to enjoy nothing. Great things happen when your brain doesn’t engage in the “stuff” that surrounds us. Opt-out of your podcast on your next walk. Drive with the radio off. Put your phone away next time you’re waiting for someone. Instead, let your brain find the space it needs to create connections and ideas.

 

Helpful? Or a waste of space? Let me know what you think and tell me how you use space in your everyday life.