Why UX Writing Is Not the Same As Content Strategy

Many people web designers have the same question: what is the difference between UX writing and content strategy? In short, UX writing focuses on the words copy. It’s used to guide users within a product.

Content strategy focuses on content: blog posts, social media posts, newsletters, etc. It’s used to engage the target audience.

If you want to want to learn more on this topic, keep reading. In this article, you will find an in-depth explanation of what are the differences between UX writing and content strategy.

What exactly is a content strategy?

First of all, let’s figure out what content strategy is all about. Content strategy is a part of branding and marketing strategy of the company. It’s all about planning, curation, managing, creating, and publishing content that delivers a brand message.

Companies use content strategies to achieve the following goals:

• To earn links
• To rank on the SERPs
• To raise brand awareness
• To boost engagement
• To improve customer loyalty
• To educate a target audience

Now let’s take a glance at how content strategy looks like in a real life.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ Content Strategy

Let’s consider the strategy of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as an example.  

KLM has a corporate blog where it shares the following content:

• Behinds the scenes
• Travel tips and insights
• Destination inspiration
• Crew insights

Screenshot source: https://blog.klm.com/?page=2&lang=en 

Also, KLM actively promotes its brand on social media. KLM has a YouTube channel where it shares behind-the-scenes videos and travel videos with its subscribers.

Video content helps the company to convince its target audience that it’s safe to travel with KLM. Besides, interesting YouTube videos inspire people to travel more often and explore new destinations. This is how KLM use content strategy to sell more tickets and earn more money.

Screenshot source: https://www.youtube.com/user/KLMRoyalDutchAirline

KLM is also present on Instagram, where it has more than 1.2 million followers. The company uses this social media platform to share user-generated content and to interact with the target audience.

Screenshot source: https://www.instagram.com/klm/

On top of that, KLM distributes its content via Facebook and Twitter, and by email.

As you can see, KLM has a diverse content strategy. It produces different types of content (articles, newsletters, YouTube videos, Tweets, etc.) and publishes it on various platforms.

What exactly is UX writing?

UX writing is not the same thing as content strategy. However, UX writing utilizes a content strategy to create the following items:

• CTA buttons
• Menu labels
• Error messages
• Security notes
• Terms and conditions
• Instructions on product usage

Again, let’s move to the example.

How does KLM Royal Dutch Airlines use UX writing?

Take a glance at the home page. Here you will find a few great examples of UX copies. There are three CTA buttons:

• “View offers”. This phrase substitutes the standard phrase “Search flights”. In this way, KLM says to the users: “Hey! We have something to offer for you!”
• “View special offers”. Words combination “special offers” is a trigger. Customers want to feel valued and special, so this UX copy entices users to click the button.
• “I want to see all destinations”. This button helps to interact with the website’s visitors who haven’t decided yet where they want to travel. It invites users to review all available destinations and make a choice.

Screenshot source: https://www.klm.com/home/ua/en

Obviously, UX writing is not about the CTA buttons only. It’s about every word and every phrase that influence user experience.

Every microcopy must grab the attention and be understandable for users. The primary goal of UX writing is to make the website or app easy to navigate.

Let’s review the “Prepare for travel” page at KLM’s website. Here you can see plenty of well-written UX copies. Whether a user looks for baggage information or wants to adjust his booking, it will take him just a few seconds to find the necessary page.

Screenshot source: https://www.klm.com/travel/ua_en/prepare_for_travel/index.htm

The key differences between content strategy and UX writing

As you have already understood, content strategy and UX writing are two different things. They are used for different reasons, and they perform different functions. Now let’s discuss which steps you should take to build a content strategy and to create a microcopy.

How to create a winning content strategy?

• Think like a customer. Offer a product that will satisfy one of the customer’s needs.
• Create content that provides unique value to your customers.
• Analyze the preferences of your target audience.
• Use as many words as needed to express your ideas.
• Focus on writing.
• Collaborate with digital marketers, SEO specialists, and SMM strategists.
• Utilize editing and proofreading services like WoWGrade and BestEssayEducation to ensure the highest quality of content.

How to create a good UX copy?

• Think like a user. Be aware of the user’s goals and intentions.
• Create an easy-to-navigate interface.
• Analyze the behavior of your website’s visitors.
• Use fewer words. Pick a shorter word if possible.
• Focus on design.
• Collaborate with product designers, product managers, QA engineers.
• Utilize online paraphrasing tools similar to Thesaurus or GrabMyEssay to come up with unique microcopies.

Do UX writing and content strategy have something in common?

Many people cannot distinguish UX writing from content strategy, and for a good reason. Despite all the differences, UX writing has a few similarities to content strategy:

• They both use easy-to-understand words to convince people to try the product.
• They both focus on the benefits of the product
• Both content and UX copies maintain a unique brand voice of the company.
• They both attempt to simplify sophisticated words and phrases.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there is a vast difference between UX writing and content strategy. Take it into account, when working on the website design. It will help you to create a site that will work smoothly and be ranked high on Google.