The chicken and egg paradox is as old as time…probably. When working in marketing and content creation, we’re often met with a similar paradox. What should come first, copy or design?
The absolute truth
Depending on how experienced your copywriter is, it really won’t matter too much which comes first. Anyone who is considered a wordsmith can manage to fit the key details, in a catchy way, within guidelines set by the designers.
If you have a less experienced copywriter, having the designs could also help to guide them.
Needless to say, there is no one right way to do anything. But there are better, more efficient ways to do things.
The better way
Some might disagree, but we believe the best way to go about creating a landing page or website is to start with the copywriter.
An experienced copywriter will already have experience working with designers (some might have even been designers or taken design courses). This means that they can lay out a google doc in such a way that it informs the designer how they imagine the page should be laid out – using the best practices they’ve learned from past tasks.
It’s also helpful when the copywriter leaves notes for the designer, this can be in the form of a comment in the doc. Designers, of course, have the final say in the layout, but it doesn’t hurt to be guided a little bit by the copywriter so that you can be certain the right information is going in the right order.
Why write copy first?
The point of your landing page, or website, is to inform potential customers about what you do. So naturally, the copy is what will educate them – highlighting your unique selling points and demonstrating the benefits of your product or service.
Rather than constraining what copy should be included on the page, it’s usually more beneficial to constrain the design (not that the design is really constrained by the copywriter though).
When copy is written well, and by someone who is experienced with creating texts for content like webpages, infographics or anything else that requires heavy design, you will gain the benefits of their understanding of design and how to improve readability.
Copy challenges
When those of us who aren’t writers think about copy, we just figure writers can throw a few words together and there you go.
Or sometimes we’re even told the copy on the page doesn’t really matter…but we know that is never the case!
When writing copy for content like a website, or infographic, we not only need to include all the important information. We also need to:
- Make sure that all copy sections (like in a row of 3, for example) are the same length
- Include buzz words or SEO keywords
- Fit character limits for sections
- Make headings catchy
- Keep to the tone of voice of the brand we’re writing for
- Ensure the flow of the copy makes sense and guides the reader
- Consider where and when to include CTA (calls to action)
For projects that require multiple pages, we can also be involved in the architectural decisions (what goes where and what is the best order).
Waterfall or Agile?
When working with a copywriter and designer we always recommend taking an iterative approach. Again, the more experienced writers and designers you work with, the fewer iterations you’ll need to get the job done.
Step 1:
First comes the copy, with some design guides in the doc.
Step 2:
Then the designer takes that copy and the comments and creates their design.
Step 3:
From there, depending on your agreement, one of the 2 will implement the copy into the design.
Step 4 & 5:
The copywriter and designer should have direct communication. This way they can determine if some of the copy needs to be modified, or if the design can be modified to optimize the readability.
This final step shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours if both people can set aside the same time and just go through the final draft.
The well-versed will say “copy-first”
There are so many different ways you can go about completing projects like websites, landing pages, feature sheets or infographics. Any design-heavy project, really.
From our vast experience, we find that copy-first is the best route. It ensures that all the most important information is displayed and then through design, highlighted. The ultimate key in all this is to ensure your copywriter and designer have direct access to one another on a messaging tool like Slack. This will speed up the process if time is of the essence (it usually is).