5 Tips for Ultimate Web Designer-Copywriter Collaboration

Rafid Haque -

Whether you operate an e-commerce business or the local museum’s official PR webpage, your site cannot expect to get anywhere without designer-copywriter existing on the same page.

This article highlights 5 essential ways to optimize this partnership.

Remember, you have both in-house and outsourced elements at play here. Designer and copywriter come from different background. How well they gel is the ultimate tell.

1. A strong cohesive unit

Sites which incorporate images and videos get 94% more views than those without them.

Nobody knows anything – William Goldman, novelist, playwright and screenwriter.

UCreative posed the following questions:

  1. Who is the client’s audience and what is the message the client is trying to convey to them?
  2. Is the entire website going to be torn down and built from scratch, or is the client just looking to update the existing content?
  3. Is the client’s main goal a bigger visual punch or more effective content marketing?

Here are three corresponding thoughts on the matter:

  1. Perhaps the copywriter, designer, and client may present different answers to these questions.
  2. No one can fully predict what is going to be the perfect list of optimizing techniques.
  3. Nobody knows anything unless all three reach a collective conceptual foundation which must sustain itself from initial stages to the final delivery.

Consider this world of hurt:

  • Your software business based in Perth outsources design tasks and it has worked brilliantly so far.
  • Copywriter Milton Brooke, at the Perth office, has been going at it, trying to finish the copy for the landing page for the latest antivirus on time
  • Unfortunately, Sriram Gurung, in scenic Thimpu, Bhutan, designed it as such that all texts on the right are getting cut off 3 inches from the edge.

It is only a mock-up phase, but this miscommunication and lack of team building groundwork led to this debacle. Don’t forget, a lot of time, effort and money went into it.

Solution:

  • You must be honest with one another
  • The distinction between help and advice must be understood and should be offered appropriately
  • Individual must recognize when their specialization needs to take the back seat and give way to their partner to take the lead, depending on the situation, of course.
  • Go for simple, terse copy
  • Accordingly, allow the designer to present neat, clean-cut design
  • This new real estate helps incorporate images, different fonts, infographics, video and the like
  • It helps the skimmers among the visitors to extract the information as rapidly as possible

2. SEO friendly text-visual aid combination

  • The 94% viewer base mentioned are still here because of the text-image proportions seen thus far.
  • 65% retain information from sites which had visual content.
  • A higher 120-180% demographic would stay if infographics are used.
  • Now, these are facts based on tangible findings with the conclusion that we process & retain visual information 60,000 times faster than text.

A rich content with visuals added to the text gives meaning to expressions such as “a picture speaks a thousand words.” Nobody is expecting your website to give the experience similar to watching Avatar. Nonetheless, how you use the tools available to you with the proportional text-image-video base separates you from the rest trying to stand out for the search engine index.

Beware of certain red flags and tread carefully. Succinctly worded and visual website design for customer engagement is all the rage when it comes to skyrocketing towards the top of the search index. SEO loves the interplay between words and visuals and the results speak for themselves. Always. The all-encompassing natured content is ideal for SEO and ROI positive returns. Here is some visual aid for a better, more enhanced recap:

3. Smoothened workload

In order for there to be efficiency, the two parties must do some homework of each other’s many tasks. This knowledge builds trust and empathy.

With that in place, the initial planning stage should be smooth sailing, right?

Yes, here is why:

  1. They know of each other’s work closely
  2. Stressed they work parallel from initial stages and followed through to the final delivery of the project
  3. Carried out updates and maintenance work as a team
  4. Took advantage of the fact that working side by side as one-unit speeds things up
  5. They respect the process and are against wasting time – their own and the client’s

The problem of working in a chase instead of concurrently looks a little like this:

  • You find a new partner for every project and that takes time each time around
  • You have to wait for your partner to make changes as per your copy or design input
  • Change in taste and principle arise and takes too much time to reach an equilibrium
  • You then run after one another, wait for their input, incorporate and then see the same process on their side on repeat

The solution:

  1. Designer and copywriter should have regular phone calls
  2. Texts every so often
  3. Regular email updates
  4. In-person meeting for comprehensive updates and support
  5. Maintain the routine strictly

4. Save pitching time and enrich your portfolio

It is a no-brainer, really. The quality of the individual’s work depends on themselves and the overall impression courtesy of their partner. Good work lands in the portfolio and helps in getting future gigs.

If you are a designer:

  1. Strong copy coupled with your design builds faith in your client
  2. You are included in the marketing strategies
  3. Your design briefs are topnotch
  4. Enriches your portfolio
  5. Helps make a stronger case for the credibility of your design company
  6. Clients who are just window shopping convert to paying clients, instead of you having to look for work
  7. Your quotes see an uptick

If you are a copywriter:

  1. Strong design going along your copy makes for a better visual experience
  2. The client is drawn to your narrative skills
  3. Your portfolio adds another entry to a list of solid work
  4. Prospective client notices the efficient wordsmith that you have become and shows interest in future collaboration
  5. These clients are easily convinced and sign the dotted line as your new collaborators. You no longer need to wonder when the next job will come
  6. You begin to earn a lot more than before

This self-branding and name recognition that you are organically allowing to blossom mean: You do not have to enter those ruthless pitching sessions to prove yourself. Now, you dictate the clients you let in through the doors.

5. Save marketing time

With all things considered, you and your partner have proven to be more productive and valuable than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – for sure.

You are marketing vehicles for one another. The individual’s work is always at its best when working with their dance partner. Clients out there will be aware of your collaborative nature and the output’s lasting merit. Word will spread and even if the pair stops working together, there will be enough buzz out there to catapult both careers towards great success.

Concluding remarks: nurture the creative partnership

This is a straightforward and a self-evident statement which we tend to forget once in a while. What you are looking for here is a miracle.

You know it is there you visit certain websites and everything just looks to be in the right size, shape, place and fits in gracefully and naturally.

The work grows exponentially when:

#1. Good design formats the copy just perfectly

#2. Good copy gives meaning to the design elements.

Creativity cannot sustain itself if your partner is not rooting for you. Establish and contain that atmosphere for as long as the project lasts, at least. You grow from your experiences and these values only present themselves out of good, meaningful and collaborative work. Those are teachable moments; you need to live it to extract it. Walk your way out looking to learn, live, grow (and love)– and you will be just fine.

Your work is special. If it was not, then these:

  • Digital Agencies
  • Advertising firms
  • PR Agencies
  • Marketing organizations
  • Various private and governmental organizations

-would not be out looking for you too. Trust in that knowledge and reinforce your self-image.

Add to that the confidence shown towards you by your partner, your greatest cheerleader. Collaborate, prosper and enjoy the good life.