Copywriting vs. Content Writing – What is the Difference?

Written by

Natascia Vervena on August 3, 2023

updated on: September 19, 2023

There is often a misconception that copywriting and content writing are the same. Though they do have similarities, they have different purposes. You want to incorporate digital marketing services to increase sales and grow brand awareness for your business. Understanding the value and benefits will help you decide whether you need to increase your organic traffic or target your clients with paid advertising.  

Copywriting

Copywriting is a marketing tactic that encourages action. You want your customers to buy your products or services. One way to generate sales is to persuade them to do so through the written copy in an online ad. Getting people to call you requires engaging copy on your service pages. It is important to have a call-to-action button like “Contact Us” or “Buy Now”.  Your potential customer will be taken to a page requesting their contact information allowing you to communicate with them. This is the initial stage of acquiring a new client.

Common Types of Copywriting:

  • Ads
  • Brochures
  • E-mail campaigns

Content Writing

Content writing is about educating and entertaining your readers. You can create blogs to inform them of things relating to your business. Stories and social media posts also fall under this digital marketing category. Website content is another form of content writing that provides details to your readers. Your website should be engaging and tell them about your services, products, and information about your company.  

Common Types of Content Writing:

  • Articles
  • Blogs
  • Web content
  • Social media posts
  • E-mail newsletters
  • Case studies

*All copy is content but not all content is copy.

Elements of Great Content

There are three main things your content should do:

  1. Keep the reader interested in what you are writing about
  1. Solve one or several pain points for your reader
  1. Make search engines like Google target your content.

Each of these points is explained a bit more below.

Keep your readers interested in your content by making it exciting sounds easy, but how can you accomplish this?

A piece of paper with something written on it

Exciting It is crucial to know your target audience so you can appeal to their queries through the content you write. Exciting content is often filled with emotion and real-life examples. This allows the reader to connect to what you have to say and become more interested in it. A conversational, friendly tone draws your readers in through content they can relate to.  This type of marketing is commonly referred to as inbound marketing whereby your potential clients come to you rather than being targeted with more aggressive advertising.

Dig deep into your target audience’s problems to find out what they are struggling with then…

Solve At Least One Pain Point – Provide detail of how your services or products solve your reader’s pain point. You are showing them why they should connect with you and how your offerings can provide them the most benefit.  

How do you make content that search engines enjoy? In other words, how do you make content SEO friendly? First, what is SEO?

The Meaning of SEO Digital marketing services for SEO or search engine optimization, is the process of making your site found online. You want people to find you in a digital landscape. An online presence is important because everyone finds business by searching the web. The quality and quantity of your content are key to getting ranked high on search engines and ending up on the first few pages of the results.

How to Make Content SEO Friendly

Many aspects go into writing for SEO however some of the main ones are as follows.

  • Keyword Usage – Think about the type of words and phrases that people might search for to find you. These are called keywords. Use these in your content but be careful not to “keyword stuff”. When you fill your writing with too many keywords search engines will flag your content and hence your business as spam.
  • Backlinks – When you have quality content it can get backlinked from another site that relates to your business. This can help you gain authority especially if your website is linked from another well-known and trusted business like Forbes. Backlinking also aids by increasing traffic to your website. Google will see that you are a trusted source and like your business more.
  • Metadata – It is important to incorporate metadata into your writing as it helps search engines and users know what your content and images are about. It is the description of the data you are providing.

In Conclusion

Copywriting and content writing are important digital marketing services that can help you gain website traffic and improve your sales. Now that you know how to use each and what the difference is between the two, you can incorporate them into your business. For further help with your copy and content, contact us here at Digital Monk. We are happy to assist you.