Too much copy or too little; What's right?
As we all know content (copy) is king, but do we all know how much is too much or too little? Does a paragraph work, or should it be 4 paragraphs? Do bullets have the same impact as sentences? There are hundreds of questions like these that come to mind when writing copy for your website.
So how much copy is enough?
That really all depends on what you are writing and for who. If your topic is structural engineering then you will probably have more than just a paragraph and some bullets. On the other hand if your topic is selling a new product, a great intro sentence or two and bulleted feature list might just be the key to more sales.
There is no definitive answer to what is right for your site. You want to be sure that you provide enough content for your website visitors to make an informed decision without inundating them with information that might be better served as a downloadable PDF.
Is there such thing as too little copy?
Yes, generally speaking if you can take someone who has no idea what you sell and have them read the copy for one of your pages and they know what it is you are selling after reading it, you have enough copy. If they are more confused or are left asking more questions then the copy is either not enough or not written clearly enough.
It is important to know that when you are writing people will read it. There is a popular saying that "no one reads on the internet" and frankly I just don't buy it. Sure, maybe they don't read as much on the interent, but they are reading something. This should be your call to create copy that is concise, powerful and informative all at the same time. Not an easy task, but one that will ultimately give your site that leg up you are looking for.
Remember: It's not about the quantity but rather the quality.
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Ignite Media LLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
Website Design & Development eCommerce Development Search Engine Optimization
Labels: copy writing, differentiate
posted by Ignite Media LLC at
Thursday, June 05, 2008
2 Comments:
Thanks for an excellent post.
I use site text for different purposes on different pages. For example, on the home page, above the fold, a quick run down of visitor benefits - how this will make you smarter, healthier, richer and so on.
This seems to convert much better than a hard sell approach.
On other pages, providing useful information that actually helps the visitor make a buying decision is effective.
Too much or too little copy, I think depends on the purpose of the text. I'd read 10 pages of well-written content on a topic of interest to me. However, I won't read a paragraph of hype.
Copywriters should meet visitor needs, NOT client needs. The client needs a sale. The visitor may require more info before closing the deal.
Thanks, again, for some excellent thoughts.
editor@webwordslinger.com
Not a problem, glad you enjoyed the post. I certainly agree that well written text goes a long way.
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