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Copy Vs. Content

by erinwrites
9 replies
Okay my copywriting geniuses, I have a question: am I wrong to think of the text on a business's website that is used to sell the business's service as copy instead of content?

More and more often I'm having clients try to hire me at my content writing rates whose "articles" and "blogs" turn out to not really be articles or blog posts at all but text on how to sell their products and services. The "articles" turn into "an article about why my company should be hired that I can use as my landing page" and "simple website content" turns into "biographies of my staff that will entice the causal viewer to contact each of these people directly."

To me? That's copy. Am I wrong? Have I been keeping my head down and focused on work for too long and missed a shift in the definition?

I can understand how it could be confusing. The text of a website is, technically, the content of that website. When it's used to sell or promote isn't it copy?

Thoughts?
#content #copy
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
    Most people are going to be unfamiliar with the definitions of "copy" and "content" as we use them, and what the differences are. I would think any text that goes on a company's website should be considered "copy," no matter what they call it, since if it's not pushing the company forward in some way it shouldn't be there.

    "Content" is a horrible word for writing anyway -- it implicitly devalues the text on a page to another commodity that needs to be purchased, which is perhaps one reason prices are so low -- most people just want you to churn out some words to fill the space.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin-VirtualProfitCenter
    ALL life is copy, seducing us into its illusion of reality.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I once wrote an article titled, All Writing Is Sales Copy. The premise was that if the reader came away understanding your intent, you've made the sale. For example, if a technical manual allows someone to be able to easily use the gadget, sale made. If a greeting card evokes the desired emotion, sale made. If an article on Mississippi bass fishing puts the reader in the 'Huck Finn' state of mind, well, you get it.

    But in the real world there are times you have to make certain distinctions. Say you're trying to build an authority site that publishes information on Internet Marketing. It's true that everything on the site should be nudging the reader toward whatever product you're promoting. But that doesn't mean it's all sales copy.

    Some of that material is likely to be informative, describing what marketers do. Some of it might actually be 'content' describing what sales copy is. Would that be considered copywriting? I don't see it that way. I've grown to understand copywriting as persuasive writing with a well-defined call to action within the page and either a buy now button or an opt-in box somewhere on the page. To me, almost everything else would be sales-oriented content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Hancox
    This is why I find myself not quite agreeing with one of the stickies in this section... about article writing versus copywriting.

    A lot of articles are written with the same copywriting principles in mind - get their attention with a good headline, hold their interest enought that they reach the end of the article, build their desire to take action by clicking on the signature link.

    Sounds suspiciously like copy to me

    Anyway, if something doesn't quite fit into one category, create a new category.

    You have CONTENT.

    You have COPY.

    Then you have a new category of CONTENT THAT SELLS.

    Offer your service from this new frame of reference.

    Bottom line, it's all words... but it's how you MARKET it that matters.
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    PresellContent.com - How to sell without "selling"
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  • Profile picture of the author erinwrites
    Thanks for all of the thoughts and input you guys!
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    I put words on the Internet.
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