By Eric Graham
I've seen this ongoing debate debate jump up again recently inseveral Blogs and message boards and I can't help but laugh.It's not a new debate. Ever since the long copy masters of theearly 1900's, people have been arguing for or against thepractice.
As a copywriter and conversion specialist, convincing my clientsto test longer copy on their websites is often a very difficulttask. After all, online customers have microscopic attentionspans and are always in a hurry to move on.
Different visitors have different goals, different personalitiesand different buying styles. Some visitors will want to readeverything you can give them before buying and then they stillneed "more information" before they can decide. Others just wantto know "what are you selling", "what does it do for me" and"how much is it" and they want to know it NOW!
It may sound like an impossible task to write copy that sellsboth of them. After all if you cut your copy to bone to sell thesecond visitor, you won't have enough information to persuadethe first visitor. And, if you waste the second visitors time byforcing them to read a 20 page sales letter to "get to themeat", they will leave.
(Fortunately, there is a way to satisfy BOTH of them on the samepage. But more on that in a minute.)
There are two basic camps in this debate. The first group says"Long copy ALWAYS outsells short copy", while the second groupsays stuff like ".as a consumer, I don't have time to read allthat copy. I'll NEVER buy from long copy."
The part that makes me laugh is that 90% of the people in BOTHcamps have never scientifically tested copy of ANY length! Theymake these statements of absolute facts, with no test results toback up their claims.
The truth is, sometimes long copy out pulls short copy andsometimes short copy out pulls long copy. But you have to TESTit to know which is going to work for your site and your targetdemographic. (Actually there is one absolute when it comes tocopy. Good copy always outsells Bad copy, regardless of length!)
Another thing to keep in mind is, just because you conduct atest and find that a shorter version out pulls a longer version,don't automatically assume that "short copy is better than longcopy". If you are testing a clear, attention grabbing shortmessage against a long, boring message, your test is not goingto tell you much.
Its much like comments I get from time to time about using audioas a sales tool on websites. Occasionally a client will tell me"we tested using audio and it didn't work". Well. Just testingaudio vs. no audio, doesn't mean your test result is valid.Perhaps your message was not effective, maybe they didn't likeyour voice. You need to test multiple audio scripts and evenmultiple speakers, before you can draw a valid conclusion.
In the end the length of the copy is irrelevant, the responserate is what matters.
From my own testing I have found, as long as you keep yourreader interested, keep your copy active and ensure a good flow,longer copy usually out performs short.
To often, people who have heard that "long copy is better",write long copy for the sake of long copy. The result is usuallylong-boring copy. Adding more words, just to have longer copy ismissing the point. The copy still needs to be tight, clean andlaser focused.
The good news is, if your prospect is truly qualified and inreal need (or want) of your product or service, they will readeverything you give them, as long as you keep it interesting.
My friend (and long copy sales letter king) Michel Fortinrecently posted an excellent article to his Blog about how tokeep long copy interesting. You can read it here:http://michelfortin.com/archives/2005/05/how_to_write_co.htm
At the beginning I told you that there is a way to write yourcopy to persuade and keep the interest of both long copy ANDshort copy fans.
You can cater to both visitor types by using "Dual ReadershipPaths". You do this by using your headlines and sub-headlineswithin your copy to tell the "scan and buy" visitors everythingthey need to know to make their buying decision. By creativelyusing your sub-headlines and bullet points you can persuadethose who do not have the time to read your entire message,without sacrificing needed benefits and copy for those who won'tbuy without a "full" explanation of your product or service.
The bottom line is this.
The LENGTH of your copy is not what is important, it is theEFFECTIVENESS and response rate that matters
Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
