Yes, that’s the question – a question that’s been asked over and over again: Long copy or short copy?
More often than not, I hear many of my writing clients say, “Our prospects are busy and they won’t read long copy.” My response is usually, if your message resonates with them they will read on.
And, I add that it’s important to write as much as you need to in order to get your message across. A message that pushes their buttons and reveals a solution that makes their lives and/or jobs easier, motivates them to take action.
Therefore, I was stoked when I came across the infographic below by Neil Patel called “How much copy should you write on your homepage?” posted on QuickSprout’s blog.
I was thrilled to see the section that says “Make the page as long as it needs to be. It requires as much copy as is necessary to help people complete the task at hand.”
Plus, I love that Neil includes my mentor, Gene Schwartz’ States of Awareness which I shared here on my blog and are covered in Chapter 3 of my book Millionaire Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
Since Neil’s post refers to home page content, I will add that these guidelines apply to print materials such as direct mail sales letters as well. When you’re looking at sales pages (vs. “home” pages), I do find that those which run on and on (i.e., if you were to print it out, it might be 15-20 pages of printed content) can get cumbersome, but always keep your goal and your audience in mind.
Then turn to some of the points highlighted in this infographic. Use them as guidelines and you should do just fine.
Have a tip you want to share about copy length? What has worked for you? Long or short? Please post it in the comment section below because I’d love to hear from you. Thanks and here’s to your sweet success.
