Article for Copywriters: Long, Scrolling Copy, Part I

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July 2003
Issue # 34

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In this issue:

>> Intro: On Resumes and Long Copy
>> Article: Long, Scrolling Copy, Part I
>> Readers Write Back: More on Long Copy
>> Survey: How Flexible is Your Writing Style?

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Greetings from Vancouver,

My move across the country is complete, my computer unpacked and, best of all, the sun is shining.

Before I comment on the responses to the last issue's survey, I just want to qualify something I said in my last article. I made the point that when I received responses to my call for copywriters, I wished that everyone had attached their resumes with their first response. From my point of view, with so many applicants, it just felt like a hassle to have to email people back and ask for the resume.

Several of you took me to task on that point. Meryl Evans didn't attach her resume for these three reasons...

- The client is overwhelmed as is and asks for what he wants to see.

Adding extra stuff can come across as a burden... or it can come across
as a go-getter. Two ways of looking at it.

- Viruses, viruses, viruses. If an ad asks for a resume, I include it
within the email. On the other hand, people not in IT have complained
sending text resume is tacky and lazy when an attachment is nicer.

- People's resumes have been tossed simply because they didn't follow
the instructions in the ad.

She and others made a good point that speaks to my own inexperience as a 'recruiter' -- I didn't ask for a resume and many peopme were careful to follow my instructions.

OK...now to the results of the last issue's survey on long, scrolling copy...

Here's what I asked, and what you chose...

* I don't believe that people fall for long, scrolling sales pitches - 19%

* I'd never want to write that stuff myself, but I know it sells - 75%
* I've written those long sales pitches, and made some big bucks - 6%

Those are some pretty interesting results. Think about it - 75% of us know that long scrolling copy works, but we don't write that way. Hmmm... makes you think... We know it works, but don't do it because...we find it 'distasteful'?

Until the next issue.

Nick

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@nickusborne.com

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ARTICLE: LONG,SCROLLING COPY, PART I

Time for me to put down some thoughts on the subject of long, scrolling copy.

First, long copy sells. There is no doubt about that. Back in my offline direct marketing copywriting days, the longer sales letters always out-performed their shorter counterparts. Companies both large and small knew this, through repeated testing, and letters as long as eight pages were not uncommon.

So...why the resistance to long copy online?

There are a number of factors that have influenced the length of copy online.

The simplest, perhaps, is the knowledge that it is harder and more tiring to read long copy on a monitor. And, often incorrectly, people have used this as a reason to keep all online copy short.

Second, there are architectural and usability issues to consider. This is very much the case when a company or organization is promoting numerous different products or services. If you are selling two hundred different products from a single site, how can you have a home page that is ten screens long? There is a usability imperative here that demands you make it easy for the visitor to find the product or service they are looking for. As a result, first and second level pages are quite rightly devoted to helping the user find what they want as quickly and simply as possible.

As a result, when you come across home pages that are many screens long, it is almost always on a site that is selling a single product or service. Many people who promote their services through this long copy approach will then simply create a new domain and site for each individual product.

If you do that, if you have a single product to sell, then the long, scrolling copy approach works wonders.

As Andrew Palmer of the Daily Reckoning newsletter says:

“The results of our testing proved... longer copy produced better conversions (40% better). And less clicks (pages) equaled more sales... thus, we created all our promotions with one long scroll.”

In a business where we can get excited by a half percent increase in conversion rates, it’s hard to argue with a figure as large as 40%.

So why has long, scrolling text become such a ‘genre’? Why is it associated with small business only? Why is there such a stigma attached to this approach? How come larger companies don’t cash in on the huge increase in conversion rates they could achieve with longer copy?

These are questions I’ll be answering in part two of this article.

If you enjoyed this article, check out 'The Best From Over 200 Articles by Nick Usborne' - an edited compilation of the best of my articles for Clickz.com, between 1998 and 2003.

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READERS WRITE BACK: MORE ON LONG COPY

"I think I may just be the inventor of the long, scrolling, tacky sales pitch for Agora. Three years ago when we launched The Daily Reckoning e-letter as a business model we tested all sorts of web promotional copy. In the beginning I also shared the opinion that shorter more concise copy would prove best via the web in contrary to the Agora Direct mail method based on longer copy. I was wrong. The results of our testing proved... longer copy produced better conversions. (40% better) And less clicks (pages) equaled more sales... thus, we created all our promotions with one long scroll. Soon all divisions of Agora followed suit-sending promotions with long scrolls.

Our eletter, http://www.dailyreckoning.com, is very long as well. Our editor, Bill Bonner, every now and then will poke fun at its length and swear to cut it back. Then the letters come. Hundreds of readers asking that we not touch a thing ...they enjoy the long read. C'est la vie!"

"Disregarding the actual copy for a moment, and considering only the structure, I quote from a study by User Interface Engineering (UEI),

'One of the most significant findings of our research on Web site usability is that users are perfectly willing to scroll. However, they'll only do it if the page gives them strong clues that scrolling will help them find what they're looking for..." reports the article "As the Page Scrolls" from User Interface Engineering (UIE).

"In the trade-off between hiding content below the fold or spreading it across several pages, users have greater success when the content is on a single page.'"

"What sells is the credibility of the person or company making the offer. If they are credible and the offer is something someone can use, those reading it will buy it whether the pitch is really long or not. I don't think there's any one formula for a successful pitch. Just write as much or as little as it takes to say what needs to be said. That's what seems to work for me!"

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@nickusborne.com

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SURVEY: HOW FLEXIBLE IS YOUR WRITING STYLE?

Do you tend to stick to your own voice and style when writing copy and content...and choose your clients accordingly? Or are you very flexible, adjusting style, language and copy length to the needs and requests of your client/employer?

[ ] I stick to my approach and choose clients accordingly
[ ] I am very adaptable and change my style to suit the client
[ ] Other (Explain..?)

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