Beginner’s guide to UX copywriting

The easiest way to explain UX copywriting would be to break down the term; UX stands for the overall experience a user gains from using a product. Copywriting means the act of writing copy, but in reality, this concept is much more complex. Rest assured, in this guide, I will provide you with all you need to know about UX copywriting and how you can effectively adapt this concept to your website or mobile application.

What’s UX copywriting

Before we delve into the subject, you may be asking yourself: “Why should I be interested in such a subject?” Well, the answer is simple: If you care enough about the user experience and spend time designing efficient interfaces, your effort will go to waste if you use the wrong words in each section. You need to pay attention to the wording you use to help customers use your product, and this is called UX copywriting.

UX copywriting involves writing copy to help end users navigate your digital channels. It represents the wording you use in your website or app’s sections and guides users toward purposeful actions. This is why UX copy matters in the process of creating easy-to-understand products. Here are some examples in which UX copywriting is applied:

• Website’s sections
• Onboarding sequences
• Error messages
• Placeholder writing
• Loading screen messages
• Buttons
• Notifications
• Instructions
• Chatbots
• Empty states
• Tooltips

The difference between UX writing and copywriting

As established before, UX copywriting focuses on the words used to interact with while using the interface of the product. It is mainly written to give instruction, guide toward action, and make the experience of understanding the digital interface easy, while copywriting focuses on multiple goals centered on selling your products, for example; landing page content, blogs, help center, and social media posts.

The difference between the two concepts remains in their goals; UX copywriters come up with easy words to describe the action that the user needs to take, and a copywriter focuses on writing copies to sell the product and make the customers understand how the product is going to help them.

Being aware of the difference between these two terms and the difference in their goals will help to create a powerful and well-crafted user experience.

Best practices of UX copywriting

The goal of UX copywriting is to facilitate the use of the digital product. That is why I crafted a list of best practices to follow for great UX copy.

Before the writing process:

• Know your product’s industry: Spend time searching for competitors and meticulously reading all their digital products. This will help you gain insight into how well they are doing and how much better you can be.
• Collaborate with the UX team: This will help you understand what they are trying to convey. They are the best source to grasp the process they are implementing through designing the interface.
• Do tests and put yourself in the user’s shoes.
• Know the target audience
• Grasp the objectives of the product and the company

Best practices of UX copywriting

This section will be divided into two parts: the first one focuses on how the wording should be in a general way, and the second one puts the emphasis on using effective words during a specific process.

1. Practical tips for good UX copy:

• Be clear to lower the potential for confusion.
• Keep it simple by creating consistent terminology.
• Remain user-focused and ensure that every word serves the needs of the user.
• Use action-driven words to entice the user to engage in actionable behavior.
• Use specific words and avoid generic words.
• Keep the UX copy short; you do not need to use long phrases to describe an action, instead use verbs.
• Do not overpromise the user; just guide them through the navigation.
• Stay positive; for example, instead of saying “buy a subscription,” say “upgrade to pro.”
• Make your copy more human and avoid sounding like a robot.
• In some cases, using humor can be helpful

2. Practical tips for guiding users during a process

• Provide users with clear, step-by-step instructions through words. As a professional, some steps might seem unnecessary, but you need to think of the process from the user’s perspective.
• Between steps, remind the user of their goals to heighten their motivation.
• Clearly state that the next step involves an upload, informing the user about the task they need to perform upon reaching the page, reducing any potential difficulties.
• Inform the user of the immediate benefit they will receive, as they are about to complete the process.

Example of effective UX copywriting

Google: A study by Google checked how people use their hotel search. They saw that the words “Book a room” made users feel like they were making a big commitment. So, they changed it to “Check availability,” and more people started using it — 17% more. This shows how using the right words (good UX writing) can make a big difference.

Headspace’s error message

Slack

Flixbus

Oslo City Bikes

Bored Panda

Dropbox

Databox

In conclusion, the UX process does not only involve the designing part; different components should be gathered and added to come up with the smoothest user experience. The words you use matter, so make the best out of it and consider UX copywriting in the early stage of interface design.