Whether you’re developing an online storefront, a SaaS website, or a B2B presentation landing page, both UX and UI play an important role in successful web design. However, UX and UI writing is often not only mixed up but mishandled by project managers and web designers who aren’t professional writers.
While a great WordPress theme and load times will get you far with cold leads, they won’t convince anyone of purchasing or subscribing on their own merit. Here are some practical tips which will help improve your UX and UI writing regardless of the scale of the project you’re tackling in your web development company.
Differentiating UX from UI Writing
User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) writing are very different when it comes to the approach they require. Yet, they are very much intertwined and one cannot function without the other. UI writing is focused on the actual interface that any user will use on your website or app.
UX writing on the other hand refers to “how” a person interacts with your website or app from a psychological perspective. UX writing has to be applied to UI writing for it to be engaging and actionable, which is why both terms are valid when used in web design. These terms don’t relate to product descriptions, articles, case studies, or other types of digital writing, however.
If you are a UX or UI writer or work as a web designer, you can get help from the best essay writer online and have them write content for your project. This will allow you to focus on UI and UX design rather than worry about writing blog posts or other types of writing intended for SEO or user engagement. Let’s tackle several useful tips for improving your UI and UX writing going forward.
- Adopt the KISS Methodology
While it may not have the most glamourous title, the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) methodology is very useful in UI and UX writing. What it boils down to is the fact that you should say more with fewer words whenever you write a website copy.
This is especially important for UI writing and in case your website supports multiple languages. Different languages feature different character sets and they vary in length or pixel size. This is another element worth thinking about when you choose the font to use on your next web-based project. The fewer characters you can use in each element of your site’s UI, the easier it will be for users to interact with it.
- Break Up Long-Form Text
Whenever you do need to feature long-form text on your landing pages, make sure to break it up as much as possible. Use visuals to break up long text into shorter paragraphs and use bolds and italics to annunciate certain phrases.
You can also turn long-form text into videos or animated graphics which will engage the user more than plain text would. Work with your client to shorten long-form text as much as possible without it losing its original message. In case that’s impossible, vector icons, animated elements, and photographs can make your pages more dynamic and digestible for end-users.
- Focus on Keyword-Centric Writing
When it comes to user experience, people tend to look for certain words and phrases on the websites they visit. For example, if someone wants to visit your blog, they’ll search your header for the word “Blog” in it, instinctively ignoring words like “News” or “Resources”.
You need to play to your audience’s expectations when writing UI content so that your site’s usability is higher overall. You can use SEO logic when choosing which words and phrases to use, just like with keyword optimization. Rethink your approach and try to be less creative and more apparent in your UI writing and users will appreciate it.
- Use Active Instead of Passive Voice
Adopting an active voice in your UX writing will make your site far more engaging and interactive for users, especially when working with eCommerce websites. Passive voice in web design is unappealing and rarely attractive enough for people to be persuaded by it.
For example, don’t write “Great Deals Available” when writing a call to action for your landing page. Instead, write “Check Out Our Great Deals Now” to capture your visitor’s attention and direct them toward the conversion funnel. Apply the same logic throughout your UX writing and the client you’re working for will be satisfied with the work you’ve done for them.
- Stay Consistent in All Website Pages
Since most of your projects will involve multi-page websites, you should aim for consistency in all pages belonging to the same domain name. This will provide visitors with a unified user experience that will feel organic and professional. You can stay consistent by applying the same UI and UX writing rules you’ve adopted in your home and landing pages.
Use the same terminology, keywords, and navigation elements throughout. The same applies to your visuals, fonts, colors, and any branding elements you were provided with. Consistency will not only convince more people to convert into buyers or subscribers but also work in favor of your site’s SEO ranking. Every website you work on has to look like a unified whole and not a collection of individual, barely-interconnected pages.
Improving your UX and UI Writing
Pairing great visuals and an eye-catching layout with good UI and UX copy will ensure that your websites succeed in generating traffic and leads. Use these tips the next time you work on a website to improve on the visual foundations you’ve built.
It’s a good idea to keep your eyes on website analytics in the first weeks of implementing new copy and launching the website. Think about how you can improve your UI and UX writing even further based on user interaction data. Over time, you’ll learn to instinctively adjust your approach to writing website copy based on the type of website and demographic you’re targeting.
