Do You Really Need A Long Sales Page?

Recently, a client of mine requested a sales page and wanted it “short”.

When the topic of how long a sales page should be comes up, I have a standard answer:

“I use as many or as few words as it takes to convey the benefits of your product or service, and overcome your prospects' objections.”

In other words, you can effectively sell with short copy — sometimes. But you need long copy — at other times.

After all, your sales page is your salesman, but in print. If it were a real person talking to your prospect, it could take thousands of words before finally getting a sale from your prospect.

How do you know just how long to go?

When You Need More Words

Long sales pages out-convert short sales pages when:

• You're selling a product rather than trying to get the prospect to opt into your list.
• Your reader is not yet familiar with you, your product, and what benefits it brings. Remember those Internet marketers you've seen who sell gazillions of dollars worth of product with a simple video and order button on the sales page? Their prospects have been pre-warmed up days, weeks or months before the offer was made. They're just going to the sales page to place their order.
• You want an immediate sale. That is, you're asking for payment upfront. In contrast, if you're offering a free trial and the prospect can choose whether or not to pay later, then you can get away with a shorter sales page.
• Your product or service requires a substantial investment. For instance, it takes more words to convert a prospect to buy a $497 product versus a $7 or even $27 product.
• Your product is complex and needs to be explained, such as a piece of software that has many features, or a 12-month membership program with both online and face-to-face components.
• You're offering a product that doesn't fill a desperate need. That is, your prospects are probably not actively seeking the solution you're offering. They can put off the purchase and not suffer.

The Last Word

The ultimate answer to the question of sales page length can only come from testing. Although the list above is based on the informed knowledge of many direct response copywriters, you can really only know what length works for your particular product/service and your specific market through testing.

Compare the conversion rate of a long sales page with a short sales page. Which ones pulls more sales? Then go with the winner.

What Do You Say?

What are your thoughts on how long a sales page needs to be? Better yet, have you tested sales pages of varying lengths? If so, which ones performed better than the others? Please share by posting a comment below.

photo credit: rick