SO I’M A U.X. COPYWRITER - WHO KNEW?

Without wishing to sound like a crusty old dinosaur, I tend to think that words are words and if you can work with them in one context, you can turn your hand pretty adeptly to another.

Nevertheless, it is always reassuring to find that, even at my advanced old age, I can still take on board a new experience, learn from it and realise I have expanded my skill set and commercial appeal almost without knowing it.

You see, virtually all the copywriting I do is commercial. I tell everyone I meet that “I write great words that help people get more business”.

While that neat 10-word intro doesn’t come close to covering everything I do, it does neatly sum up the main raison d’etre of my copywriting consultancy.

However, there is a different type of copywriting out there, and it’s called UX copywriting.

UX stands for User Experience. What a UX copywriter does is to explain how you use a particular product.

UX copy is what you find when you open a new gadget or gizmo and need to work out how to get it up and running.

You might say the difference between the work I normally do and UX is like the contrast between an IKEA catalogue and the instructions leaflet you get in the packaging when you get your new piece of furniture home.

Well, I am now officially a UX copywriter too.

I was asked by one of my regular clients to produce a new User Experience guide for people and teams building pages for their website.

It was an interesting exercise. There is absolutely no showmanship about it, no sense that you are trying to persuade people. Instead, your job is to guide and enlighten them.

I really enjoyed the challenge of writing in a totally new way. UX is a stripped-back, streamlined form of communication. The most important consideration is clarity; someone should be able to pick up these words and know exactly what steps to follow to get their desired result.

Of course, the most important consideration in business is that your client is happy with your work. I was really pleased – and a little bit relieved – when my client came back and said that the words I had produced were just what they were looking for.

I know they meant it, because they have since deluged me with a whole lot more UX copywriting tasks.

One thing I forgot to mention is that, traditionally, UX copywriters earn a significant percentage more on average than bog-standard commercial operators like me.

So naturally this is going to get a mention on my LinkedIn profile and elsewhere.

Most of all, though, I like the feeling that at the age of fifty-plenty, I’ve expanded my skill set and my comfort zone and now have another string to my bow.  

And, naturally, if you have any UX copywriting needs, you know exactly where to find me!