What is Copywriting?
The first thought many have when they hear about copywriting is, “It’s just writing, right?” While it is writing in the general sense, it is more than that. This form of writing helps businesses create brand awareness and tell their story to both internal and external audiences.
Copywriting is a vast sector of the marketing industry. Copywriters create short phrases meant to be brief and memorable on a billboard. They tell the story behind your company’s entire brand. They can even piece together thousands of your words and stories into a large book. However, when it comes to writing a website or an app, a different form of copy defines the user journey.
What is UX Writing?
UX writing is writing copy for the user interface (UI) that improves the overall user experience through brevity and simplicity. UX Copywriters write microcopy within websites, apps, chatbots and other digital platforms — working directly with designers and developers to create a succinct user journey. Writing for a website’s user experience is a joint effort between copywriters and designers. UX is short for user experience, where everything created benefits the overall user journey on a website.
The UX copy consists of words you see frequently on a website. Some common microcopy phrases are located within:
- Buttons
- Calls to Action
- Navigation and Wayfinding
- Pop-ups
- Notifications
- Instructions
- Form Fields and Form Progression
- Chatbot Messages
- Product and Service Descriptions
These areas on a website are designed to dictate the flow of a user’s journey to a specific CTA. For example, imagine your main goal is getting homepage visitors to go to your store. To do that, your page header could include a button in or below it to funnel traffic to your store.
A Difference Driven by Conversions
While the names and roles of “copywriter” and “UX writer” may seem the same, the true outlier lies in the thought process. A copywriter creates words to resonate with the audience and persuade them to understand why a product, service or group may help them with their needs or wants. By drawing on emotions, perspectives and fears, copywriters build an authentic connection with their audience through language that builds into a consistent brand message.
The thought process of a UX writer is more collaborative and centered on conversions. No copywriter writes without proper research, audience considerations and client communication. But a UX writer goes a step further by analyzing a digital interface’s user journey with their project designer and developer. They work in tandem to ensure your user’s journey is simple — guiding each person to one specific goal. For example, in a mobile app, UX copy is strategically placed to help guide the user to one specific goa, such as finding a location or feature within the application.
Building a Balanced Copywriting Strategy
Having a holistic content strategy will not only showcase your brand’s story across platforms, but also guide each person through their user journey. Interweaving elements of copywriting and UX writing will strengthen your brand’s communication across platforms.
Paradigm utilizes both forms of writing to elevate your brand awareness and help you achieve your business goals. Contact our team to begin developing your balanced copywriting strategy.
