6 reasons to get your website designer and copywriter working together
Looking to get a website launched? If you’re hiring a copywriter and a designer, getting them working collaboratively could make the world of difference for your budget, your timescales and your customers…
The best time to get a copywriter on board for your website project is when you’re hiring your web designer. Why? Because if you can get them collaborating from the start of the project, you’re going to end up with the best possible version of your website.
With a copywriter and website designer working together, your website will:
- Tell the best, most cohesive version of your brand story, with every element of design and copy working together to tell the same tale
- Provide a seamlessly integrated customer experience
- Have the best of all the creative things
- Be a quicker project, with everyone working to shared timescales and deadlines
- Cost you less, because wrinkles can be ironed out quickly, as and when they appear
- Become your very own work of art, which you can display proudly in the international gallery that is the worldwide web.
Let’s take a deeper look at how a web designer/copywriter collaboration can be the best way of getting the website you’re dreaming of.
So, you’re in the market for a website…
Congrats! You’re putting your money where your vision is and taking what could be a transformative step for your business. Exciting times indeed!
But how deeply have you thought about the content of your site? Where are you at in terms of the images? The words on the page? All the stuff that’s going to mean the difference between a potential lead staying on your website to have a look around and them clicking straight back to the search results?
If you haven’t started thinking about your content yet, now’s the time to do it. Because unless you’re writing the copy yourself, the best time to get a copywriter on board for your website project is when you hire your developer or designer.
These are sooo many reasons it’s a good idea to have your copywriter and website designer working collaboratively on your project.
These are just 6 of them.
- It will tell the best, most cohesive version of your brand story
- It will lead your readers on a seamless customer journey
- It will get you the best version of everything you need
- It will save you time
- It will save you money
- You might well end up owning a work of art, not just a website
1 It will tell the best, most cohesive version of your brand story
A website isn’t just there to look pretty. And it’s not just there to provide information about your product or service, either. While every good website needs to do both those things, what’s really going to elevate your website from functional to fantastic is the story it tells.
Your website is there to act as a window into the very soul of your business. It should transport readers into your world and leave them in no doubt as to who you are and what you stand for. So whether you’re selling a product, a service, or brand ‘you’, every element of your website needs to speak the same truth and tell the same story.
Having your website designer and copywriter working collaboratively at every stage of the project from conception to completion will ensure every design element and every piece of copy works in harmony to connect with your readers and communicate the story of your business.
Having your website designer and copywriter working collaboratively at every stage of the project from conception to completion will ensure every design element and every piece of copy works in harmony to connect with your readers and communicate the story of your business.
2 It will lead your readers on a seamless customer journey
The primary function of any website is to create awareness and help you sell your stuff. These days, that means creating a seamless customer journey. People are too busy to have to dig for the information they want, or figure out what step they need to take next. They simply want to buy something. Quickly. In as few steps as possible. So they can get back to watching the latest Scandinavian killy drama on Netflix.
As many as 49% of buyers will make an impulse purchase decision based on customer experience alone, and 86% of buyers will pay more for a good experience. Perhaps more tellingly, in a survey by Microsoft, 61% of people said they had previously switched to a different brand because of a bad customer experience.
Customer experience really has become a battleground for businesses, and it’s something you need to deliver if you’re to stand any chance of making it out alive.
People are too busy to have to dig for the information they need or figure out what step they need to take next. They simply want to buy something. Quickly. In as few steps as possible
So whatever it is you’re selling, you need to make it as easy as possible for your customers to buy. And this means leading them on a seamless journey towards the action you want them to take.
A seamless customer journey
‘Seamless’ is the key word here, because if it’s not easy for your prospects to find what they’re looking for, they’ll simply go elsewhere. For that reason, it’s no good thinking about design, functionality and content as independent elements, because in terms of customer experience, they are very much interconnected. You can’t, for example, have the copy on the page talking about how responsive and friendly you are, but then have no easy way for people to get in touch with you.
Seamless means cohesion. No sticking points. Nothing that jars or conflicts. And this is what you can be sure of when you have your web designer and copywriter working collaboratively. Together, they will be able to make sure every element of your website is working together, and towards the same goal. The images will talk to the words, the words will talk to the layout, and everything will be talking to the reader. In essence, they will be able to focus their collective efforts on making the customer journey as easy and as appealing as possible.
3 It will get you the best version of everything you need
Website designers and copywriters are two sides of the same creative coin. They will both generally live, breathe and dream every project into existence, leaving a piece of their soul woven through the fabric of each commission. So when there’s even the smallest mismatch between what they create and what makes it out into the world, it generally suggests there’s been some sort of compromise.
As copywriters, we know it’s much harder – emotionally, as well as practically – to edit a piece of writing down from 1,000 words to 200 than it is to write a 200-word piece in the first place. Even with our editor’s hat on, we’ll agonise over which bits to cut and which bits to keep. And we’ll be devastated if we have to bring the axe down on a particular nugget of copywriting gold because it simply won’t fit on the page.
Equally, a web designer is going to be pretty miffed if a client insists that 1,000 words are shoehorned into a space that was lovingly and painstakingly designed for 200. It’s going to ruin the design. And it’s not going to show the words in their best light, either. That’s not even to mention the effect it will have on the reader.
Shared vision, shared goals
Having your copywriter and website designer working together from the get-go will mean they can both set about creating with a clear, shared and targeted vision, and they will both be able to create something that will shine as part of a bigger whole.
By allowing them equal input to shaping the direction of the project, they will have a greater understanding of each other’s visions and objectives from the outset. The designer will know how much copy there will be, and the copywriter will know exactly how many words they need to write for each page, as well as the design elements those words need to speak to.
Everyone will be shooting sharp, and you’re going to get the best version of everything your project requires.
4 It will save you time
Another benefit of having your website designer and copywriter working collaboratively is that you’ll save oodles of time. Not just for yourself and your project, but for the designer and copywriter, too.
On a project where the designer and copywriter are working independently of each other, sequestered away in their own creative bunkers, guess whose responsibility it is to keep everyone in the loop about changes, tweaks and updates? That’s right: Yours. Every small addition to the design or layout, every amendment to a headline or trying-out of a dropdown – all those tweaks need to be communicated to everyone else on the project. And when you’re working with a copywriter and designer separately, that will be your responsibility.
And let’s not forget either that, if you sign off your web designer’s work before you get a copywriter on board, the chances are they will have moved on to a different project by the time your copywriter gets started. So if there are design changes you want made after you’ve got the copy back, what should have been a quick amendment actually becomes a massive diary-juggling headache that could throw a spanner in the works of your project deadline and push back your go-live date by weeks. That’s potentially hundreds of sales you’ve missed out on.
Quick and easy changes
If you can get your copywriter and designer working together from the initial planning meeting, they’ll not only have the exact same brief to work to, they’ll also have the same timelines pencilled into their diaries. They’ll be working to the same deadline and will be able to iron out any small design and copy changes and inconsistencies between themselves, as and when they crop up. They’ll keep you in the loop, of course, but it will take the onus off you, save you loads of times, allow them to get on with doing what they do best, and ensure your project meets its deadline so that you can start selling through your swanky new website.
5 It will save you money
The saying goes that ‘time is money’, and that’s as true for your website build as it is for everything else. Unless you’ve got your copywriter and website developer working collaboratively on your project, there’s bound to be at least something that requires a change at some point along the way.
Most copywriters will offer at least one round of revisions in their quote price, giving you recourse to request changes to be made without having to pay anything extra. Here at Comma Chameleon, we throw three rounds of amends into our quote prices (though we are rarely asked to make more than one lot of minor tweaks) to give you complete peace of mind that the price we quote is the price you’ll pay. But when working with most copywriters, anything over and above the number of revisions included in the quote will generally be charged at their normal hourly rate. That means that even minor amendments, which could have been quickly dealt with during a copywriter-designer collaboration, could end up costing you.
Collaboration pays
Let’s say your copywriter was the first person you brought in for your project. In the design stage, you and your designer decide you want to add a fact box to one of the pages to jazz it up a bit. If that wasn’t in your copywriter’s initial brief and their work has been signed off, that ‘little fact box’ is likely to become an extra charge.
Similarly, if your copywriter follows the brief to the letter and it doesn’t necessarily fit with the completed and signed-off design, that could necessitate a redesign or a rewrite, both of which could cost you more.
Having the designer and copywriter collaborating from the very beginning of your project will not only mean they are working towards the same vision throughout, it will mean they can communicate directly and continually with each other to keep you on time and on budget.
6 You might well end up owning a work of art, not just a website
Copywriters and website designers are kindred creative spirits. They live to create, and they pour passion and soul into every piece of work. So it’s a bit of a waste to have them working independently of each other when the results of collaboration could turn your project into something really quite special.
Turning your designer and copywriter loose, together, will amplify their creative abilities to the benefit of your website. They’ll bounce ideas off each other, really get to the heart of what you and your business are about, and then they will let their inspirations fly. In the end, you’ll not only have a fully functioning website that says everything it needs to say and delivers a seamless customer experience, you’ll quite possibly have a work of art to call your own.
Copywriters and website designers are kindred creative spirits. They live to create, and they pour passion and soul into every piece of work. So it’s a bit of a waste to have them working independently of each other when the results of collaboration could turn your project into something really quite special
Ready to start your project?
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of having your website designer and copywriter working collaboratively. With the right team behind your project, your customers will get the best possible experience and your business will reap the rewards through increased awareness, solid engagement and burgeoning sales.
If you’ve found a designer and you’re ready to get a copywriter on board for your website project, drop us an email – we’re always up for a creative collaboration! Equally, if you’re just starting your search, drop us a message – we know some fantastic designers and developers and we’d be happy to point you in the right direction.
If you’re looking to update the copy on your existing website – maybe it’s not converting well enough for you, or the copy no longer captures what you do – we can do that too. Just ping us an email and we’ll hash out a plan.
Cheers!
Comma Chameleon