Let's talk about the difference between content and copy, and why it's critical that they work together on the web.
But first, let's take a short walk back in time.
Generally speaking, the writers of content came to the Web in advance of copywriters. Content managers and their writers helped move text from offline sources onto the Web.
Content was reformatted and presented in a way that better suited the online reading environment. And following the advice and sentiments of early experts in the field of online content, most of this text was written in a very objective, formal way. Many content managers squirmed at the very notion of allowing some marketing copywriter loose on their sites.
By and large, and with one or two notable exceptions (such as AOL), organizations online were slow to embrace the persuasive and relationship-building skills of the marketing copywriter. When copywriters were hired, content managers would fiercely defend the objectivity of their sites' core content.
Some of this resistance remains in place today, with an unnatural division occurring between copy and content. This division may work for the creators of copy and content. But it sure makes life harder for the only group that should really matter - your site visitors.
Let's pause a moment. If you were to ask for a black and white (and incomplete!) definition of content and copy, this is what we would suggest:
Copy is that text on a site or newsletter that is intended to drive visitor actions. It may be the product or service description next to that thumbnail image, written to persuade the visitor to click through to a more detailed sales message. It may be the copy that says 'Buy now', 'Proceed to Step 2', 'Subscribe today', or 'Confirm purchase'.
The headings on your homepage are copy. All calls-to-action are copy. Reassuring messages about privacy, shipping and your warranty are copy.
Copywriters not only write - or should write - the text that drives user actions. Copywriters should also work on the copy that helps visitors achieve their intended goals.
Copy should show the way, highlight simple pathways through the site and enhance the usability and navigation of the site. Yes, carefully crafted copy is a significant part of the usability equation.
So what is content?
Content comprises those longer bodies of text that you wish or need your readers to read. Articles are content. Your customer service terms and conditions are content. The description of the various courses available on a college site is content. The white paper on a business service is content. The description of the history of the Mona Lisa on an art site is content.
On the face of it, copy and content do sound different. The first is ultimately persuasive, and the second is primarily informative.
However, these divisions begin to dissolve and look a little foolish when you look at your site from the user perspective.
To your users, all text on your site is content. They will look to the copy to help them find the content they are looking for. And they will expect the content to help move them forward to achieving their desired goal.
When you look at text online from this user point of view, you'll appreciate the need to break down the barriers between the creators of copy and content.
The copy cannot simply be pushing and shoving the user forward, with no regard to the pace and style of the content.
And content cannot be so dull and stagnant that it undermines the chances of anyone reading that page and continuing through into the site.
Here's the thing: Just as all copy is also content in the eyes of the user, so too is all content copy.
Let's say someone wishes to apply for a grant through a prominent charitable foundation.
That person's purpose on the site is to apply for a grant and get that money to support their cause.
First, he or she will look to the short text, the copy on the homepage, in order to find answers to a couple of key questions in her mind. "Am I in the right place, can they help me?" "And if so, what do I do now?"
It's the job of the homepage copy to answer these questions, or at least to provide an answer that will compel the visitor to dig a little deeper. And the tone of that copy needs to reflect the broader mission and character of the site.
Once our user decides that this probably is a place through which she can apply for that money, she then starts reading a long page that outlines the conditions of eligibility. This is text that has to be read by each applicant.
If the purpose of the site is to help and facilitate applicants, then the content on that page had better be both informative AND engaging. After all, you want the reader to finish reading this page and move on to the next step in the application process.
In this way, core content takes on some of the characteristics of copy. Content cannot simply be there to passively impart information. Like copy, content also has to be written with a view to the user experience and the usability and performance of the site.
There is little point in a copywriter successfully writing engaging and persuasive text, if the content drags the reader down. And it would be wasteful if the content were magical, only to be undermined by poor copy that was inappropriate in tone and vague in meaning and purpose. Or worse: Both.
So there you have it.
There are clearly still organizational and historical divisions between the creation of copy and content on many sites today. But it's time to break down those barriers.
Those divisions simply reflect the flaws within your own processes, and diminish the quality of the user experience and the ultimate success of your site.
