Copywriting vs. Content Writing: What's the Difference
When referring to writing for the web, these two terms are often used interchangeably. Originally copywriting referred primarily to writing ads, sales and promotional materials. But on the Net, consider it content writing kicked up a few notches.
Many of the same rules apply to both— relevance to the reader, sound writing practices, and value. But there are a few significant differences.
Content Writing Is More General
Creating straight content for the Internet includes writing articles, online journalism, op-ed pieces, RSS feeds, polls, surveys, and quizzes. The focus is to inform, educate and entertain the reader. Content writing doesn’t place as much emphasis on search engine optimization, persuasive language, or calls to action. The goal is to give good information the reader finds interesting, useful, or inspirational.
Content has to be first-rate to woo web users and search engines. Unfortunately, good content writing is in jeopardy. Some sources suggest that anyone can write content. They’re mistaken.
The old distinctions between a quality article and a bad one still hold. The former uses primary sources, visual language, coherent structure, and concise, powerful language. The latter is full of fluff, bloated with unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, contradictory information, non-sequiturs, and opinions stated as facts. It leaves your writers empty, and hurries them off to another site.
Copywriting Is Specialized
On the other hand, copywriting (or copy writing) has to deliver high-quality content while incorporating search engine optimization goals and tools.
Search engines crawl websites for info so they can deliver the most relevant results to their users. For your site to rank highly certain standards must be used when creating content. For instance, copywriters have to research keywords and optimize them in articles through proper density and placement.
Copywriting is also more concise than content writing. Web users are impatient and scan articles when reading online. Good copywriting strips sentences and paragraphs down to the essentials, and delivers the main message quickly. With content writing there’s more room for leisurely intros, long quotes from sources, and so on.
Another fundamental aspect of copywriting is formatting. Articles must be written in pithy sentences and paragraphs. They need visual cues to make it easier for web users to read on the screen. Also, good copywriters look for opportunities to link with other content on your site, because search engines include interlinking in how ranking your site.
Finally, copywriting can be promotional and persuasive. For example, if you have a sales or service-driven website, a copywriter has to deliver copy that persuades people to buy, or to call for your services. They must optimize keywords in product descriptions so web users searching for products you sell will find you before they find your competitor.
Basically copywriting is content writing taken to another level. It incorporates web writing and SEO principles, as well as some of its original marketing purposes.