The Long Copy / Short Copy Debate

October 9th, 2007 by Heather Maloney

I’ll admit that I’ve had this debate with numerous people: are people completely turned off by the long copy, and label you immediately as a con man / woman, or does long copy actually help to encourage the reader to take action because it provides enough information to remove their fears and answer their objections?

By long copy, I’m thinking of the website pages or emails that take you about 10 minutes to read right through and are interspersed with regular calls to action, all taking you to the same destination link. The text will always include appeals to the emotional reasons why you would want the product / service, and will attempt to cover off all the facets that might put you off the purchase, as well as addressing all the benefits.

Here’s a great article that helps to explain the concept of long copy and why the statistics show that it out performs short copy: Long Copy versus Short Copy Face-Off by Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero.

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One Response to “The Long Copy / Short Copy Debate”

  1. Michelle Says:

    This is one the that I have struggled with as I build my business. Personally I hate reading those long sales letters if I am not buying the product, interestingly when I purchase something online I usually scroll to the bottom look at the price and then if that is acceptable I will read the letter to make sure I am getting exactly what I need, so If I am a buyer I need all the extra fluff but if Im not then I wont read it anyway.
    Who’s the target market? The buyers of course!!
    Michelle
    http://www.MichelleTheMoneyCoach.com

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