I would say most websites need at least 600 words of explanation — 300 on what the product does, another 300 on why you should have it. The ‘about us’ etc isn’t so important. But usually you’re selling a product people are unfamiliar with — you’ve got to explain what it does.

I was quite amused when I saw that episode of Mad Men where Don Draper confessed to ‘never having wrote anything longer than 250 words in his life’. Obviously, you didn’t start out writing sales brochures, Don. But he’s got a point. Anything longer than 250 words, whether it’s on a page or spread out over six, requires considerable time from the reader. But can everything be sold in 250 words or less? Probably not.

Thanks for reading!

But (and I know I’m going to take heat for this), how we pitch offers to folks online needs to change beyond the design. People hate hype and they seem to be sensitizing — not desensitizing — to it.

Whatever “template” was used in direct mail marketing (and surely still is), comes off as cocky and disrespectful when translated for the web.

Too much of the “long copy” I read today doesn’t respect the sensibilities of the reader. I’ve had entrepreneurs tell me they’ve spent THOUSANDS of dollars on copy they cannot bring themselves to publish because their voice and their message feels cheapened by old-school copywriting tactics.

Moreover, there are lots of sales pages that –while longer than a tweet– are definitely shorter than the scroll-fests we’ve become accustomed to … and they convert like hell.

Today’s entrepreneur wants real relationships with buyers. Design can support this. But so can copy written with both a lighter touch and deeper respect for the reader.

Karri

I agree. But that’s a design issue, rather than a copy issue! Important information like price / calls to action shouldn’t be placed in the main body of the text!

I suppose long copy is very much linked to the Ogilvy school of advertising (good post about that here) about setting out a reasoned argument, rather than an immediate appeal.

The web’s a funny place — I advise my customers no more than 300 words per page on main sales pages because people have such short attention spans. But cumulatively (ie over a 6 page site), you’re looking at a long copy situation on most every website, ie each website is a structured argument that takes place over a number of pages.

Perhaps it’s safest to say long copy is best when it’s broken up into digestible parts, either by headers (as this blog entry was), over a number of pages, or just by placing the important information outside the main body of the text.

But long copy’s definitely not dead yet!

Thanks for reading

But the onus is on us, the copywriters, to innovate more efficient – and maybe more enjoyable – ways to get our point across. 140 characters or a couple headlines certainly aren’t enough (on their own).

However, just because something “works,” doesn’t mean it’s the ONLY thing that will work … and work well.

We’re seeing more and more web copy now that breaks the rules and converts very well. At least in the online space that I’m familiar with and work in (I realize you may have been speaking more to print in your blog post.)

And I say this as a “long copy copywriter” too. Oh how I love a juicy narrative! But a lot of folks online — buyers AND sellers — feel fed up with the scrolling sales letters that make you hunt for the price or squint through a bunch of yellow highlighter and bad typography.

The copy zeitgeist is ripe for change