Overhauling Your Web Copy.

It interests me when I speak with a prospective client and they are adamant about placing items “above the fold.” Okay, I tell them, but I also remind them that the above the fold they see on their computer is not universal. They sometimes tell me that as long as every computer in their department or office area displays things above this fluid and changeable fold line then that’s okay – thus regardless of what it may look like to their customers or clients. This strange logic placates them but… I can see the logic – text above the fold can be read without having to scroll, which makes it more likely to be read in those precious few moments a visitor’s eyes first meet your site, but where exactly is the fold?

On my desktop computer, with a regular 19 inch monitor, my browser window has several tool bars open and I still have several inches of screen space. Switch over to my laptop, with a 15.4 inch widescreen monitor, and nary a tool bar, and the fold hits almost immediately – there is barely depth enough for a header, a photo and a couple of paragraphs.

I like to keep the good stuff above the fold – but not all of it – because web copy is important and its importance doesn’t drop off because it is below a very hard to define area.

The word count on your web page needs to be high enough to impart information not only to your readers, but also search engine robots so they can ascertain how relevant your content is for their search queries.

You might think it a waste of time to write a lot on a web page because people don’t read the same way on the web as they do with print; but the fact is that with all things being equal, long copy will outperform short copy each and every time.

Now don’t get confused with long copy and boring copy. You don’t want boring copy – you want quality copy.

Very few people will read your entire web page’s content. They either have to be researching something, or they have plenty of time on their hands! Whichever is true, the longer your web page [when trying to get a sale] the much more effective it is than a short one.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are your prospect. What might seem long to you, especially if you wrote it and edited it several times, may not seem that way your readers. You need time to build their trust through examples, testimonials and money back guarantees, for example. You can’t just expect to show up online and seal the deal within a few hundred words.

Now there have been many studies and split tests conducted on long copy versus short copy. The far and away winner is always long copy. But remember that’s targeted relevant long copy.

So, what kind of long copy are we talking about? Well here are some great online examples:

Google Ambush
The Magic of Making Up
Earth For Energy

Research on long copy has shown that readership typically drops off dramatically at around 300 words, which on this post was at the ‘Very few people will read your entire web page’s content’ part in paragraph eight, but interestingly it does not drop off again until around 3,000 words – and I am not going to write that much here, I promise, as I’d need to come up with another 2,500!

So let’s end with a brief word on your target readership, since that’s what who you are lasering in on. Know who your true audience is. It is vital. Writing long copy and promoting something to an audience that has little or no interest in it is pointless – it’s a time and money loser for you.

And don’t worry so much about the fold and what’s above and below it. If you have hooked your audience they will continue to read even if they have to expend a little more energy scrolling down the page.