{"id":1487,"date":"2019-09-23T22:20:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T22:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uxwritinghub.com\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2021-07-07T11:44:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T11:44:32","slug":"ux-writing-vs-copywriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uxwritinghub.com\/ux-writing-vs-copywriting\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Switched From Copywriting To UX Writing (And Why You Should Too)"},"content":{"rendered":"

All my life I\u2019ve been a writer.<\/span><\/p>\n

From teenage poetry and screenplays, to writing marketing content for SaaS startups \u2014 I\u2019ve done it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you look back at my writing history, it\u2019s easy to see how I got to where I am today.<\/span><\/p>\n

I started off wanting to write movies and TV shows. I realized that didn\u2019t pay the bills, and so I started writing content for a SaaS startup.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, I started writing the copy for that startup\u2019s product. And it turned out I quite enjoyed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m now hoping to slowly but surely transition away from copywriting and towards UX writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we explore that idea further, let\u2019s have a look at the difference between copywriting and UX writing…<\/span><\/p>\n

Copywriting vs UX writing<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"ux
[Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash]<\/figcaption><\/figure>In a nutshell, a copywriter\u2019s job is to use words to help sell a product.<\/span><\/p>\n

This can be broken down into different types and methods. You have landing pages, for example, which are a bit of a hard sell. On the flipside, you have blog posts, which don\u2019t often sell much at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, copywriting is there to drive sales, either directly or indirectly.<\/span><\/p>\n

UX writing is completely different, in that it\u2019s generally aimed at existing customers or users of products.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aim of UX writing is to support the overall UX design by providing the right words.<\/span><\/p>\n

This includes copy on buttons, error messages, tooltips, and basically any copy that the user sees as they interact with the product.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the easiest way of comparing copywriting and UX writing is this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Copywriting helps the business. UX writing helps the customers.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

To show you just how different these roles are, I thought I\u2019d share an average day in the life of each one…<\/span><\/p>\n

An average day in the life of a copywriter<\/span><\/h2>\n

My focus has always been on content writing, so that\u2019s what we\u2019ll use as this example.<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally, my day could be split into two parts: research, and writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The research consists of analyzing keywords to figure out which ones I should be targeting, as well as researching relevant details to include in the article itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The writing consists of, well, of the writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I\u2019ll sit down and take some time to research the topic I\u2019m writing about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once I\u2019ve done enough reading, I\u2019ll start writing the first draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I edit that draft and send it to the client. If they want any changes making, I do those, and then it\u2019s good to go. Ready to be published.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tools you need are:<\/span><\/p>\n