Companies all over the world have discovered that user experience (UX) design is increasingly important. The copy on products, websites, and apps can make a big difference in whether they provide a seamless user experience or leave them confused.

If you want to build a website with great UX design and writing, a website builder is the best choice.

What’s UX writing?

User experience copy is content that makes websites more user-friendly and easy to use.

What’s the difference between UX writing? Let’s take, for instance: 

• Copywriters create landing pages and website copy to draw leads and convert them into customers.

• Content writers create blog posts, articles, and other informative content for marketing and thought leadership.

• UX designers create website copy that is easier to understand and more fun to use. This improves the user’s satisfaction and confidence in their experience.

These three elements can and should be combined seamlessly. To ensure that the best content is created, thorough research and testing must be done.

To help you better understand UX writing, we’ve listed the elements.

1. Research

All elements in UX Design require user research. UX designers play an important part in the research and discovery phases of UX design.

It is important to do extensive research about the industry and target audience. They can also listen to their users’ voices and get a better understanding of their language.

2. Strategy

UX writers can communicate well, even though they might not be proficient in web design. They can understand the impact of language and formatting on a person’s understanding and ability to relate.

UX writers are often involved in the creation of the content strategy for the blog.

3. Style guide development

Optimizing website content and copy for user experience is not something you can do. UX designers create content style guides.

This document highlights several points.

• The brand’s values, principles, and leadership
• Brand voice and personality
• These guidelines
• Grammar, spelling, formatting
• Brand jargon approved

This style manual ensures that website copywriters adhere to brand guidelines. This step is crucial in creating websites/apps with strong UX writing.

4. UX writing

Writing is the most important step. Consider

• Text in
• Menu labels
• Push notifications
• Success messages
• Error messages
• Instructions to complete the form
• Disclaimer
• 404 messages

UX designers need to pay attention to microcopy, but they can’t ignore the rest.

5. Test

UX designers take into account the input and data when creating their words. 

UX designers always test various versions of their copy through A/B testing. Making small changes to the form instructions or menu label can make it more user-friendly.

Why UX writing matters

Writing copy for websites is difficult. While you might be familiar with your brand and how it can be explained, you need to consider how your visitors will react to your copy. 

Users must understand how your website works and the destination they are going to. It is important to take the time to check the content placement and copy on every page of your website. 

UX writing involves you examining who your brand serves, what their pain points are, and what their needs are. This will help you write more appealing copy that they will love. This will increase your chances of them buying from you.

These are reasons thoughtful UX writing can be a good idea for your website:

• UX copy is a combination of user psychology, empathy, and research. Writing with a user-first mindset can lead to more memorable and positive experiences.

• Visitors will be able to hear your brand’s voice through your writing, which will help strengthen your brand identity.

• Conversational interfaces remove the robotic feel from websites and make them more human-like.

• A clear and concise UX copy will help to remove any roadblocks that may exist in website design or interaction.

Tips for UX writers

Let’s take a look at some UX tips to help you create easy-to-implement websites, apps, and products.

1. Collaborate closely with the UX Design Team

The designer will use all user research, interviews, and tests to create a visual style for their site. 

Creating a website that is cohesive and has copy and design that complement each other will make it better 

2. Listen to your customers

Communicate with customers at their level. Business owners, marketers, and other salespeople shouldn’t use technical terms or jargon.

UX research can help you understand your customers and determine what is too hard for them. This will allow your customers to feel at ease with your content.

Chatbots are one way to do so. This could mean you speak casually and friendly to make customers feel at ease.

3. You should change all placeholder content

High-quality website templates can be a great way of saving time and making your website more user-friendly. It is also important to make sure that your brand and messaging are consistent throughout your template.

Replace the placeholder content in that template with your text and tailor the message to your audience 

4. Do not stress over the length

Minimalism is the key principle in design and writing. Consider whether your UX copy achieves the goals you set.

While it might not seem like much, writing more detail can help reduce frustration, confusion, and customer churn.

These calls to action are more clear and can reduce customer frustrations. They also improve the user experience.

5. The power words can be used to enhance the emotional response 

What are your primary reactions to the website’s content?

Do you think they’ll be able to laugh at the brand’s cheekiness?

Would you like them to feel heard?

Have they completed the form and are happy to have your company take over?

Power words are used to elicit an emotional response in readers. OptinMonster has a list of over 700 keywords that can increase conversions. These keywords can be used while you write your UX copy.

UX writing should enhance visitors’ experience. You shouldn’t make visitors feel guilty or anxious for not acting.

6. Passive should be replaced by active voice.

Visitors will feel in control. They won’t need to do mental backflips trying to understand what you’re saying because the active voice is clearer.

7. Use action instead of linking verbs

Your visitors can quickly understand what you have to offer. 

But linking verbs may be less powerful or strident. 

8. Instead of using past tense, use present

Customers and clients are more likely to be successful when they can innovate and make things happen. 

This is a stronger and more confident-building approach to building trust than the one that excludes clients in the present tense.

9. Positive phrasing is better than negative

Your website should make people feel good about themselves and your brand. 

Websites shouldn’t be intimidating or discouraging. Use positive phrases to create a supportive environment.

10. It’s OK if your UX copy doesn’t make sense

UX copy can be misunderstood. Here’s an example from Pixar’s page:

This message is perfect and the message is amazing. However, it is not a good idea for any brand to use cheeky copy or impersonality.

Let’s say you’re building a website for your accounting firm. A poorly-timed joke could lead to them abandoning your services.

11. Help visitors focus

Not only is the designer responsible for creating great copy, but so are others. Use visual indicators such as headings and bold fonts to make your copy stand out.

Hierarchy can be another organizational strategy to remember. Use different font sizes and formats to communicate the most important information.

The most essential details should be in larger fonts (i.e. First line. Secondary information should still be in smaller fonts.

12. You should have easy access

Accessibility can be described as selecting the right colors and captions for videos. 

What is the call to action? It tells us that only smartphone and tablet users can use Tap Here. 

UX writing can help to think about how inclusive your language is.