Content Crib Sharper words for sharper brands.

Content Crib

Sharper words for sharper brands.

Latest Articles

The Calm-Draft Folder: Crisis Copy to Write Before the Proverbial Hits the Fan
Brand Strategy

The Calm-Draft Folder: Crisis Copy to Write Before the Proverbial Hits the Fan

When a checkout fails or a delivery slips, most UK brands start writing from scratch—and it shows. A calm-draft folder gives you holding statements, a status-page template and an email skeleton ready to fill, so your tone survives the panic. Here is what to draft now, what to leave blank, and how to sound human without going off-script.
Proof Doesn't Age Well: A Refresh Routine for Case Studies
Brand Strategy

Proof Doesn't Age Well: A Refresh Routine for Case Studies

Somewhere on your site is a case study that was accurate in 2022 and is only technically accurate now. Here's a practical routine for date-stamping results, adding a 'what happened next' line and retiring proof that no longer says what you need it to say — so your best evidence keeps earning its keep.
After the Click: Give Your Confirmation Screen Something to Say
Copywriting

After the Click: Give Your Confirmation Screen Something to Say

Order confirmations and thank-you pages are usually treated as receipts, knocked together by whoever built the form. But this is the one moment a reader has actually committed — which makes it some of the most valuable copy on your site. Here's how to write it properly.
The First-Round Handshake: What Your About Page Owes a Stranger
Copywriting

The First-Round Handshake: What Your About Page Owes a Stranger

Most UK About pages read like a CV: founding year, headcount and a mission statement nobody can repeat. This is a case for treating the page as a handshake instead—a short, human signal that you understand the visitor’s problem and can be trusted with it.
The Quiet Buyer's Pricing Page: Copy for People Who Won't Ask
Copywriting

The Quiet Buyer's Pricing Page: Copy for People Who Won't Ask

Most UK buyers won't email to ask what 'POA' means or whether VAT is included—they'll just leave. This is a practical guide to writing a pricing page that handles the objections quietly, from tier names to the small print people actually read.
The Monday-Morning Read: What a New Starter Notices About Your Website Copy
Copywriting

The Monday-Morning Read: What a New Starter Notices About Your Website Copy

Most copy reviews happen with people who already know the business, so everyone fills in the gaps without noticing. A new starter, a timer and four simple questions can expose the insider context hiding in your homepage and service pages. Here is how to run the test and fix what it uncovers.
The Inbox Is the Brief: How Support Tickets Can Sharpen Your Website Copy
Copywriting

The Inbox Is the Brief: How Support Tickets Can Sharpen Your Website Copy

Your customer service inbox is already telling you what your website fails to explain. This piece shows how to turn real UK support questions into sharper FAQs, clearer product pages and headlines that answer before someone has to ask.
The Jargon Blind Spot: Why Your Website Makes Sense to Everyone Except Newcomers
Copywriting

The Jargon Blind Spot: Why Your Website Makes Sense to Everyone Except Newcomers

Your team can decode your website in seconds. A new starter cannot. Here is a simple 20-minute induction test for spotting internal shorthand, unexplained acronyms and assumed context before they cost you a customer.
The Most-Read Paragraph on Your Website Is a Cookie Banner You Wrote in a Hurry
Copywriting

The Most-Read Paragraph on Your Website Is a Cookie Banner You Wrote in a Hurry

Every visitor reads your consent banner and almost nobody on your team has edited it since 2021. Here's why "we value your privacy" quietly costs you trust, the phrases worth binning, and how to rewrite the whole flow so it reads like a human being rather than a legal hedge.
A Broken Link Is Still a Brand Touchpoint: Rethinking the Humble 404
Copywriting

A Broken Link Is Still a Brand Touchpoint: Rethinking the Humble 404

Most UK websites still greet a wrong turn with a grey slab of nothing. But the 404 page is a high-intent moment — a chance to be helpful, human and unmistakably yours. Here’s how to write error-page microcopy that turns a dead end into a sharper brand moment.
The Triage Test: When Your Web Page Needs Sharper Copy—and When It Needs a Rescue
Copywriting

The Triage Test: When Your Web Page Needs Sharper Copy—and When It Needs a Rescue

Endless rounds of headline tweaking can feel like progress while the real problem sits in the page structure. This triage test helps UK brands decide whether to sharpen the copy or rebuild the page from the foundations up.
Pack the Context, Not Just the Brand PDF
Brand Strategy

Pack the Context, Not Just the Brand PDF

When a writer leaves, the brand voice doc rarely saves the day. What saves the day is a lean handover kit: live campaigns, page notes, approval quirks and the next three priorities. Here's how to build one before the desk is empty.
Your Homepage Has Three Seconds to Stop Being a Mystery
Copywriting

Your Homepage Has Three Seconds to Stop Being a Mystery

A first-screen audit for UK sites that treats the homepage as a conversation, not a brochure. Here's how to answer the silent questions a cold visitor brings — in plain English, in the right order.
Borrow the Blueprint, Not the Bricks: A Competitor Copy Reality Check
Copywriting

Borrow the Blueprint, Not the Bricks: A Competitor Copy Reality Check

There's a difference between learning from a rival's page structure and quietly rewriting their sentences. UK content teams blur that line more often than they'd admit. Here's a practical way to tell the difference before you publish.
One Page, No Excuses: The Brand Voice Cheat Sheet That Beats the 40-Page PDF
Brand Strategy

One Page, No Excuses: The Brand Voice Cheat Sheet That Beats the 40-Page PDF

Most UK brands have a tone-of-voice PDF nobody opens and a Slack channel where the real rules live. This is the case for a one-page crib sheet that freelancers, agencies and in-house teams can actually use.
Rot Beneath the Surface: Auditing the Pages You Forgot You Published
Brand Strategy

Rot Beneath the Surface: Auditing the Pages You Forgot You Published

Nobody spilled anything on your website — it just aged. A 2022 statistic here, a dead link there, a service page written by someone who left two rebrands ago. Here's a practical framework for finding that decay and deciding what to fix, rewrite or quietly retire.
Stop Apologising for Your Own Sales Page: A Case for Blunter British Copy
Copywriting

Stop Apologising for Your Own Sales Page: A Case for Blunter British Copy

We hedge, we defer, we stick a 'just' in front of everything like a small cushion between us and the reader. It reads as charm in a WhatsApp group and as weakness on a pricing page. Here's where British politeness earns its keep — and where it quietly kneecaps your brand voice.
Feed the Feed: How One Piece of Long-Form Thinking Fuels a Week of Sharp Posts
Copywriting

Feed the Feed: How One Piece of Long-Form Thinking Fuels a Week of Sharp Posts

Most weak social posts aren't a writing failure, they're a supply failure. Here's how to put one substantial piece of thinking upstream of your feed so a week of short-form assets writes itself, without repeating the same line in different fonts.
The Calendar Isn't the Campaign: Planning UK Seasonal Content for 2026
Brand Strategy

The Calendar Isn't the Campaign: Planning UK Seasonal Content for 2026

Most seasonal content is chosen because the slot existed, not because the brand had any right to fill it. A practical 2026 plan for picking four or five UK moments that genuinely fit, briefing them without the forced joke, and keeping evergreen work earning between the peaks.
The Last Read Before Publish: 15 Checks for Sharper UK Web Copy
Copywriting

The Last Read Before Publish: 15 Checks for Sharper UK Web Copy

Most web copy problems aren't typos. They're small trust leaks: mixed spellings, vague green claims, link text that says 'click here' and headlines the body never honours. This is the pre-publish checklist we'd pin above the desk.