Whether you're looking to start a website or develop your writing skills in a specific way, writing for the internet, and for an internet audience is an altogether different endeavour than writing for a print publication.
Two distinct types of writing that are key to building a successful website that ranks in search engines and drives traffic are content writing and copywriting. Both terms, on the face of it, are self explanatory; content writing means exactly what it sounds like, writing content, with an emphasis on quality and producing copy(words on a [web]page) that enthrals the target audience, hooks them into the written piece and with engaging content makes them willingly continue reading what's on the page. Copywriting on the other hand, is a bit less interesting and a tad more technical, or at least formulaic.
A copywriter's job is to sell something. Whether it be a product, a service, or even just a drive to capture the reader's attention. How this differs from your run of the mill content writing is in it's style and tone.
The style and tone of copywriting is to remain persuasive. A copywriter doing their job properly will produce text that's tailored towards achieving a specific goal. Some examples include selling a product, driving a reader to change from one brand or service provider to another, convincing a reader to subscribe to a newsletter or even something as simple as kindly yet persuasively requesting that the interface user disables their adblocker or virtual private network (VPN) in order to engage with the content on the page.
The style and tone of content writing on the other hand, is where the interest drawer for a site is. An example of the contrasting style of each would be to state that a content writer would write a first person review of a delicious recipe, or provide some insight into the health benefits of the ingredients used, whilst a copywriter would write the actual bare bones of the recipe.
"Packed with chocolatey goodness, this cake is perfect for special occasions of all kinds, from birthdays to mother's day celebrations, our fudgy chocolate sponge-cake is truly a delight, and until today, the recipe has remained a family secret of mine. Today I've decided to share this great recipe with you, as it's simply too good to keep something so tasty in the hands of so few."
"It's important to use 70% cocoa dark chocolate for this chocolate cake's icing. This ensures that it sets correctly, and the addition of the melted butter used in the final stages prevents this from happening if the cocoa content is too low. You're by no means limited to 70%, as any content above that minimum will yield the desired result. As long as your chocolate meets the minimum cocoa content, your icing should come out perfect every time."
The two snippets above are written, quite evidently, as if they were taken from a published recipe for a chocolate cake. This shows that the two types of writing do mix, as one would find a mix of both on most recipe sites.
"Subscribe to our newsletter for healthy new recipes that taste great and don't break the bank. Sign up within the next hour and enjoy exclusive access to our paywall content free of charge for an entire month."
The above is clearly written to persuade a reader to do something very specific, immediately. That's not to say that a content writer never writes to persuade, but when doing so there's usually more literary flair, a bit more padding to add an element of storytelling to the manner in which the persuasive effort is made. The same sentiment written by a classic content writer might be expressed as such:
"We understand that everyday life can get busy. That's why our newsletter not only provides delicious recipes but also includes time-saving cooking tips and techniques. You'll learn how to prepare nutritious meals efficiently, making it easier to maintain a healthy eating routine, even on your busiest days."
As you can see, there's more of a human aspect to the second version.
The lines can at times get blurred, and a competent copywriter should by default of having mastered the specifics of their niche be able to branch out and write something that may be more up the alley of a content writer, but if you're looking to hire a professional to populate the text of your website or whatever writing you need done, you should ask yourself what the main body of the content you want written should have as it's ultimate goal.
Product descriptions are an example of pure informative copywriting, as they are formulaic and have only the goal of providing readers who are already interested in purchasing an item with the specifics. They tell the reader what the specifications are, what the price is, and other things like that. In the context of content writing, selling an item would use an approach with more storytelling as a general rule. When stylized content writing is used specifically to sell an idea (product, service, incentivize action etc.) this is called advertorial writing, or sponsored content when it is paid for to the publication by the entity wanting their piece published in a way that engages an audience in the way that normal article content is formatted. When ethically done, advertorial content is labelled as such, usually tagged as sponsored content so as to be transparent that the publication is separate from the entity pushing the piece on the reader.
There are huge amounts of different writing styles, all serving specific or broad goals and all of them having specific or broad rules or guidelines for how to properly write for the audience. Journalists are trained in many types of writing, from hard news which states facts in a concise manner to feature article writing, a very broad term for article writing styles that deviate from the hard news formula and traditionally cover things like opinion pieces, travel journalism - as well as blog content as we know it today. The internet has blurred the lines, and many writers bill their services as a jack-of-all-trades grouping as a result due to the highly diverse amounts and types of writing that are in demand in today's age.
Whilst this piece may not be the most in depth explanation, as I aim to speak to the layperson, I hope that any readers looking to hire a writer for a specific task may have gained some insight into the difference between these two skills that are often listed side by side and rarely understood entirely by service seekers. If you're looking for mostly blog content, hire a content writer, and if you're looking to populate commercial aspects of your site with persuasive and directly concise text, the services of a copywriter may be more in line with what you need.
To my surprise, many writer's I've spoken to don't even know the difference between the two types of writing services that they offer, and on the one hand, who can blame them - as a writer myself, I offer both services, and do so side by side, making use of both styles and philosophies when I need to. Employers and those handing out contracts to freelancers often want to work with one person and a competent writer can offer both services and do a genuinely good job of both, but understanding the difference will hopefully help those on both sides of the fence, meaning that those looking to hire will be better informed when making hiring choices, whilst writers that lack formal training can use this info to better market their skills, and focus on aligning the way they market their services more directly with what they're good at and what they're focusing on at a specific point in their career journey and skill development goals.
