Client: The Laura Centre
Getting To Know The Laura Centre
Founded in 1991, The Laura Centre is a dedicated bereavement charity based in Leicester. Working alongside skilled therapists to provide a range of free therapeutic support, The Laura Centre is focused on helping families rebuild their lives following the devastating loss of a parent or child.
The Laura Centre’s Vision
The Laura Centre faced several challenges in achieving their mission. Notably, their existing website didn’t effectively convey the heart of their philosophy, nor did it provide an optimal user experience. The Laura Centre had also hoped to attract businesses across Leicester, but to no avail.
At LS Media and Marketing, we felt that a complete website redesign would reflect The Laura Centre’s core values. It would provide a seamless online experience for all stakeholders, from bereaved individuals seeking support to businesses hoping to form corporate partnerships.
To meet desired timeframes, we felt that an existing theme – modified to align with The Laura Centre’s specific requirements – would best meet the charity’s needs. This allowed us to conduct SEO research, write content and deliver an exceptional website without the constraints of coding from scratch.
Phase 1; SEO Keyword Research & Content Writing
At first, we embarked on a comprehensive journey of SEO. We worked closely with The Laura Centre to identify key phrases, and used Semrush to further develop our research. The primary goal was to ensure that The Laura Centre’s website ranked prominently on search engines, making it easily discoverable by families seeking support. As they hadn’t previously implemented SEO, this stage was vital.
Using our findings paired with information from counsellors at The Laura Centre, we rewrote the charity’s existing website content in a supportive yet practically helpful tone.
Initial Phase 1 Activities Included;
Keyword research for local SEO opportunities, focused on helping families find bereavement support following the death of a parent or child. This research extended to general bereavement, charity and fundraising terms.
Content writing for The Laura Centre’s website in a delicate yet educational tone of voice. We wove our findings from the SEO research into this content, and wrote a range of bereavement resources for young people, adults and professionals – something which The Laura Centre had wanted to do for some time. We also created persuasive materials that showcased the potential for corporate collaboration.
Phase 2; Website Build
Next, we turned our attention to The Laura Centre’s website build. To bring the charity’s mission to life, we chose the Avada template as the foundation for this new design. Fonts and images were carefully selected to reflect the charity’s compassionate ethos, and create an inviting viewing experience. The colour scheme was taken from the organisation’s branding to ensure consistency, and page layouts were optimised to streamline information and navigation.
During this phase, we implemented a range of SEO techniques to ensure the website’s high performance on search engines. This went beyond basic on-page SEO elements and delved into structural and design optimisations.
Initial Phase 2 Activities Included;
The selection of a pre-agreed theme with The Laura Centre. This template was selected for its versatility and adaptability.
An initial focus on the homepage and ‘About Us’. This was shared with The Laura Centre for review. Once approved, we built the remaining 18 pages of the website.
The creation of a dedicated ‘Resources’ section. The Laura Centre had wanted to share resources for children and young people, parents and professionals for some time. However, their existing website didn’t allow for implementation.
The creation of an events page and an associated booking form. This was a pivotal step in facilitating participation in fundraising events including the London Marathon, the Big Half Marathon and the Leicester Half Marathon.
Phase 3; Clinical Forms Build
The final phase focused on the creation of a range of clinical practice forms. We developed these forms to facilitate client interactions and streamline the process of accessing clinical advice. For The Laura Centre, the efficient management of client interaction ensures that families receive the help they need in a timely manner.
Initial Phase 3 Activities Included;
The development of six clinical forms, alongside eight other administrative forms. These forms were built with the Everest Forms plugin.
Beyond clinical support, we equipped The Laura Centre’s website with user-friendly PayPal donation forms. These forms were designed to streamline the donation process.
The Laura Centre’s Results
We published The Laura Centre’s new website at the beginning of September 2023. In this short time, our work has resulted in;
- 1,521 website sessions in thirty days. The Laura Centre’s old website received 615 sessions in the same timeframe.
- 3,807 page views in thirty days. The Laura Centre’s old website received 1,927 page views in the same timeframe.
- 146 individual page visits to ‘Children & Young People’s Bereavement Resources’.
- 84 individual page visits to ‘Business Partnerships’. The process of onboarding corporate partners is vital for The Laura Centre.
- 40 enquiries via the clinical and contact forms. The Laura Centre has also experienced a 52% increase in their bookings for their ‘Walk For All’ fundraising event.
- Page one rankings for SEO terms including ‘Leicester child bereavement’, ‘bereavement counselling in Leicester’ and ‘bereavement charity in Leicester’. The Laura Centre’s old website didn’t appear on the first page of Google for any related search terms.
“The Laura Centre has had the pleasure of working with Lilly and Molly on the development of our website. They worked really closely with us to ensure that we got exactly what we needed for our new website. As our charity worked with a highly sensitive topic which is bereavement, Lilly and Molly understood the sensitivity of the subject area and were mindful of this when creating careful and considerate wording to reach members of the bereaved communities better. They were patient when explaining terms such as SEO and advised us on how we should proceed with the technicalities of a working website. I highly recommend them for a highly professional service in web development!”
