Project Description
Client: Bluestone360
Project: Education copywriting for college
When: December/January 2017
Website: www.cityplym.ac.uk
“Graeme worked with us to help with a large web project for an education provider. 100 pages needed to be rewritten in just over a month and we were really impressed with Graeme’s work. He delivered just what we were looking for and was efficient and friendly throughout. We’ll definitely consider Graeme and DropCapCopy for future projects.”
Heather Pilkington | Digital Account Manager ~ Bluestone360
Getting involved in a creative project that reaches far and wide is a fulfilling experience in itself. And to know that some of the words you write could change the course of someone’s life is a pretty amazing feeling. My recent collaboration with another copywriter, together with Plymouth digital agency, Bluestone360, was my opportunity to achieve both these things for a large education provider.
As part of City College Plymouth‘s decision to revamp their highly successful education website, they drafted Bluestone360 to redesign and simplify it, bringing it up to date in look, feel, and usability. The goal for the College was to create an easier and more visually appealing way to access key information. And part of the process was to have 100 pages of new education copywriting to give the site a fresh tone and style for the site’s launch in April ’17.
The brief
A quick flurry of emails in early December ’16 was all it took for me to jump on board this project. My copywriting colleague, Kate, had won her pitch to complete the pages for a deadline of mid-January. And, rather than risk missing that deadline, she decided to contact me to share the load. Of course, I was only too happy to oblige! Copywriting for an education provider was new ground for me and I was keen to get into it.
A visit to see Bluestone360 at their Royal William Yard offices followed. After an initial meeting with their Digital Account Manager, our next stop was City College Plymouth to meet their Head of Marketing and discuss their requirements in more detail.
Turns out, of the 100 pages required, nothing was off-limits. None of the current content had to stay and we could write fresh or rewrite and repurpose as we saw fit. The main objective was to keep it simple, easy to read, and informational. So, armed with the College’s brand guidelines and copious notes, we set to work on writing an initial 20 pages before Christmas.
The project
With the initial pages all approved, Kate and I divided the remaining 80 pages between us. Among a few other pages, my main batch included the ‘Help and Advice‘ section. More than an FAQ section, it gives useful information for both students and parents.
There are details on education at the College – such as course levels and qualifications, as well as details on fees, finance and funding support. The section also covers more sensitive topics that students may need during their time studying. These include tutor support and counselling, together with help for students with disabilities.
After completing each page, I copied the text into a template document, then added a meta description and SEO keyword for that particular page. Kate then became a second pair of eyes to review each one before it went over to the College for final approval.
Education copywriting goes live…
It took a while to see the website launch in all its glory. After finishing the copy requirements by mid to late January, it was to be another three months before the site was ready to go live. Anyone involved in large scale site builds like this knows there’s a lot involved. New code, ‘backend’ work, and testing all need completing before anything can go live. But now that Bluestone360 had the copy, they were able to place the text whenever they were ready for it.
And so it was in April this year that the new site did go live. Our 100 pages were there in all their glory, giving a more readable and clear message for students and parents alike. It was a great project to be a part of. And it gave me a more thorough understanding of the empathy, understanding, energy and passion that writing for an education provider needs.
Are you an education provider? Could your website benefit from some fresh and reinvigorating copywriting? Get in touch today to see what we can do together. And look at some other recent projects for web copywriting too.
