Getting assigned to write microcopy is the last thing on anyone’s to-do list. Empty states, tooltips, confirmation dialogs, loading messages, or even that one line to describe where the user should click to upload a file. They all comprise the small text that people will interact with or read while using the product. Together, they totally outnumber the sales copy.
They’re especially annoying to write blindly. Content that can be easily expressed in five words on a form field is likely to run onto several lines in modals. A string that fits on a laptop has to be reflowed and even then, may not fit on a phone. Sample 1
Aim for consistency in your brand voice. When your tone doesn’t match across different parts of your brand (like your homepage and your error messaging), brand voice suffers. Think of brand voice as a set of rules you might struggle to bend, and be sure to maintain consistency across every user interaction. For example, if you name something in one spot, maintain that name in every place you use that name.
Microcopy is text generated for UI design with minimal creativity. It’s grammatically correct and matches the function of the element. However, it is 40% longer than it needs to be. Writing Delete or Remove to do an action that does the same in both cases is insulting to the user’s intelligence. An inconsistency like this is quickly learned and punished.
The writer needs to see the screen. Start writing strings based on what the user is doing or trying to do at the moment and what scares them, based on your designs or a staging build. An empty state prompts action, as does a destructive confirmation, but in different ways.
Microcopy, unlike most written work, can automatically be coded. When you type microcopy as a keyed string list instead of saving it as a document, it goes into your coding and design files. This saves time when other similar design situations pop up. The reason microcopy remains cohesive is because when new screens are built, the terminology list has been provided to name the elements.
One rate, whatever the format: $10 per 100 words. You are paying for the writer’s time and judgement, so the price scales with the words rather than with a package tier.
| Typical website microcopy | Words | Writing | Fee (1%) | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microcopy set, around 20 strings | 100 | $10 | $0.10 | $10.10 |
| Microcopy for one complete flow | 250 | $25 | $0.25 | $25.25 |
| Product-wide microcopy pass | 600 | $60 | $0.60 | $60.60 |
The writer receives 100% of the writing price. Our 1% fee is added on top of it, and 0.5% is donated to tree planting. Full pricing breakdown.
Yes. Send two or three pieces you like the sound of, or your style guide. Matching an established voice is ordinary work for a writer and close to impossible for a model that has never read your back catalogue.
Yes. Tell us the volume and cadence and we keep the same writer on the account so the voice stays consistent. The rate does not change with volume.
Leave the placeholder in and check if your sentence makes sense for singular, plural and zero. Please send me the variable names and any formatting instructions, and I’ll be sure to use them as your code defines.
That’s typically how it goes. Provide the writer with view access and name the flows to be covered. Designs will usually omit failure states, so it is reasonable to expect drafts to contain strings for screens that have not yet been drawn.
Completely. Copyright transfers to you on delivery, with no attribution requirement and no licence back to us. Nothing written for you is resold, repurposed or republished.
Reviews from completed, paid orders in this category.
They took the request to avoid the usual family and ping pong nonsense seriously and a brief paragraph I wrote on the on-call rotation certainly needed my editing efforts before publishing it. It was my fault for the brief and I prefer to approach it like that, at the beginning of all things, rather than all the other things coming first without it.
One factual error: the page lists our whitening treatment as a single appointment when it should be two. Thin brief on my side, but I would have expected a query rather than an assumption. It was corrected in less than a day after it was flagged, and the rest of the page needed nothing else.
The writing is warm without being cringe, exactly how I wanted it. It did take the three days to complete and I was hoping for two. This is my fault for not asking about the turnaround time. I have no complaints about the writing.
We do not ask you to take the no-AI promise on trust. Each draft is run through these platforms and the reports are attached to your delivery email.
Originality.aiAI detection + plagiarism
GPTZeroAI detection
TurnitinAI detection + similarity
CopyleaksAI detection + plagiarism
Winston AIAI detection
ZeroGPTAI detection
SaplingAI detection
Content at ScaleAI detection
Send the brief, get a human draft back within 3 days. No account, no subscription, no AI.
$10 per 100 words · all of it to the writer · 0.5% to trees