WebsiteDesignOutsource.com blog
Hand Off Website Copy to an Outsourced Designer
A copy handoff helps a website designer protect message, hierarchy, links, and required content during layout work.
Copy and design meet in the layout. A clean handoff tells the outsourced designer what is approved, what may change, and which words carry a business or audience requirement.
Label the copy state
Mark headings, body text, labels, metadata, and calls to action as approved, draft, or reference. Include the owner for each open wording decision.
Show the page structure
Provide the intended order, links, image relationships, and content that must appear together. A document full of paragraphs does not show which text belongs to which page block.
Include realistic length
Keep long headings and useful error messages in the handoff. Shortened copy can make a layout seem stable until the final content arrives.
Review meaning after layout
Check that emphasis, order, link context, and labels still say what the writer intended. Ask for a wording decision when layout pressure makes a factual or audience change tempting.
Further reading
Prepare a design asset handoff
Source
GOV.UK Service Manual, content design
Frequently asked questions
Can the designer edit copy for length?
Only when that responsibility is agreed. The content owner should approve any change to meaning.
What belongs in a copy handoff?
The approved text, structure, status, links, asset relationships, open questions, and decision owners.