Text length for a landing page

by 8 replies
10
Hi Guys,

It's my first post here, so I hope you will not tell me off too much

I just finished writing a copy for a landing page and at the very end I got enlightened. The longish text I created will not come in handy. It is over 500 words long and even if it's written in a decent way, it does not serves its purpose.

One of the very first articles I read about creating a good landing page talked a lot about the wordcount and what is the optimal text volume (and it was something around 500). I somehow internalized this benchmark and assumed that this will be my target writing the copy.

When I finished,however, it just didin't feel very well and I started to look for successful landing pages examples. None of them was that long.

As a side note, I may add that the purpose of the page I wrote a copy for is to get an e-mail in exchange for a free e-book on High Intensity Interval Training.

The question is if there's any benchmark or criteria you use to determine what's the best length of text to include in the landing page? Would you differentiate based on the type of relation with the prospect?

P.s
In the time of content excess I honestly apologize If I repeated one of the previous threads. I tried to find similar queries but I did not find ones.

Cheers!
Oskar.
#copywriting #landing #length #page #text
  • The only way to determine what length works best is through testing.

    I think what you've done--modelling what you see other folks doing--is a good place to start, since you have no data of your own.

    The 500 word count seems pretty arbitrary.

    I would guess the more familiar the market is with your guru, the easier the sale (i.e. less copy). But who knows.

    Cheers,
    Colm
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • The optimal word count for an opt in page is no less than 1 word... and no more than 1,000,000 words

    (I guess that's my clever way of agreeing with colmodwyer... 500 words is really just an arbitrary number)


    First, it really depends a lot on how you're driving traffic to the page. And what they're expecting to find when they get there.

    If you're sending them there from an advertisement, that promises a free e-book, then all you really need is a simple opt-in form ...



    *bullet point
    *bullet point
    *bullet point



    Simple and sweet... If that's all they came for, then that's what you should give them.


    On the other hand... If people are arriving at your site expecting to find useful information (because of your traffic source) then that's what you should give them.

    In which case an informative article (blog post?) that let's them know you're an expert, is what you should be striving for.

    It could be 300 words, or 3000 words, as long as it's not boring, and it's useful information.

    Then of course, add an an opt-in form to the page, that let's them sign up for more great info from you (and the ethical bribe of your e-book download, is just to sweeten the deal, to entice them to sign up)


    Do you see where you're mindset should be here, Oskar?

    Hint: You should be trying to give people what THEY want to find on your page. Not what some Gooroo told you is an optimal word count


    Then - test, test, test, until you learn what your target market responds best to


    Anyway, something to think about.

    All the best,
    SAR
    • [ 4 ] Thanks
  • Very much appreciated. Come to think of it, it sounds so sane and natural. Only when you start, having no reality based context you may fall prey of thinking in some fake "estabilished" standards.That takes a bit of burden off me. I appreciate those answers both colmodwyer and SAR. Thank you.
  • Word count is a weird thing.

    We stackin' 'em up here?

    Or milkin' 'em for maxo effect?

    Deal for Moi prolly always is ... what is gonna crank this lander up & pull in the walletpeeps?

    Gotta figure the quicker an' easier you can do that -- 'specially now we got goober centennials got sub-gnat frickin' attention spans -- THUB etter.

    Gotta figure haikus persisted where samurai regalia did not for a real practical reason beyond the merely aesthetic & non****in' violent.
  • Adding to SARubin's excellent answer...

    When you are leading someone from first exposure to clicking the submit button, you want to maintain the 'scent' along the trail. To the extent possible, your imagery, word choices, color schemes and design, etc. should be consistent.

    For that matter, you should keep the scent trail going all the way to the Thank You page that comes after the shopping cart.
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • It should be long enough to get the job done. Like colmodwyer said, you have to test it.
  • Concentrating on a certain length is a waste of time. I have seen landing pages at less than 200 words and more than 2,000. It really depends on what you're promoting and how you're promoting it.

    This is a common mistake many make when ordering content from writers, too. They assume the content is the problem if they don't get the results they were hoping for. Sometimes, it's more about how the content is used or not used than the length or the actual words.

    Test, test, test and test some more and you will find the right length for your landing page.

    Benjamin Ehinger
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • 1. Forget word count [as others have stated here]

    Try to think this way.

    If you were trying to describe to a group of 'interval training fans'
    exactly what you have to offer that is unique and advantageous
    over all the other 'high intensity' methods on offer......

    If you were trying to show them what 'secret sauce' that other
    sellers of such information don't have, but YOU do have....

    What exactly would you say to them?

    However many words that is.....that's your answer....however...

    There are so many other aspects to a great landing page, layout, graphics,
    headline, sub headline, use video or not, exit pop up or not, two step sign up or one,
    ........can you see that wordcount hasn't even figured yet?
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
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