What Is the Difference Between Article Writing and Copywriting?

Articles and sales copy are two important components of Internet marketing.  Some people are a bit confused about the difference, so I thought I’d provide this short article to clarify the distinctions between these two essential types of Internet content.

Articles:  The Bread and Butter of Internet Content

Simply put, articles are the backbone of Internet marketing.  They’re the “meat and potatoes” or “bread and butter" of the online world.  Every website that’s intended to generate income, no matter what niche it is serving, needs articles to provide informative content.   Articles can also be placed on a variety of article directories to help generate free backlinks to a specific website.

Articles for Internet websites should be thoroughly-researched, well-written and compact, focusing on a single, specific topic.  An attention-getting caption (title), engaging, informative discussion, and a conclusion that helps the reader solve a problem are some of the qualities that make for a great article to place on a website or article directory.

Every website requires content.  Articles provide it, and new articles should be added to a website on a regular basis to maintain the interest of the website’s visitors and capture the attention of search engines on an ongoing basis.

The typical length of an article written for the Internet is around 500 words.  Prices for articles vary widely.  Some people who are not native English-speakers may charge a dollar or two for a 500-word article, but these articles typically read as if they’ve been written by an amateur and have been translated from another language (and they probably have been).  They certainly don’t provide the type of fluent, cohesive, engaging content a website needs.  

Professional, native English-speaking writers, on the other hand, will charge more for the articles they create.   Prices for a 500-word article written by one of these writers may begin at about $7.50 and range up to $25 or more.  Yes, they’re more expensive than the articles you can get from someone in Southeast Asia.  They’re also much more effective.

Sales Copy:  Promotional Internet Content that Creates Conversions

Copywriting is one of the elite forms of writing for the Internet.  This type of writing uses words to promote a business, a product, a service, an idea or even a person.  Good sales copy incorporates marketing principles, but it also involves an understanding of consumer behavior and psychology.  Copywriting is intended to fulfill a single, very important purpose:  to motivate the readers of the copy to take action.  The action might be purchasing a product or service, registering for an account on a website, opting-in to a newsletter or sending an inquiry for additional information. 

Sales copy is the hardworking “salesperson” for the product, service or information a website offers.  Good copywriting is all about motivation and can be responsible for skyrocketing sales.  Conversion rates increase when good sales copy is placed on a website.  Providing this degree of motivation means that good copywriters are highly skilled and, understandably, highly paid professionals.  In fact, depending on the copywriter and the subject, an effective sales letter can cost $100, $250, $500 or even more.

I hope this short article helps clarify the difference between article writing and copywriting.  Please send me a message if you have any questions.