Hello my nerdy friends,
The age old debate: short vs long copy.
You’ve probably heard copywriters say that: “The right person will read all of it”.
But is this true, though?
The research:
Across 3 different research studies, researchers tested 50k+ real landing pages to see how copy length affects conversions.
They compared very short pages with fewer than 100 words to longer pages with several hundred words (Dvir & Gafni, 2018); (Korniichuk & Boryczka, 2021); (Hylewski, Pluskota, & Abel, 2024).
🧪What they found:
Some experiments show landing pages with less copy converted 37% better than longer versions(Dvir & Gafni, 2018;).
But...
Other research shows that longer landing pages outperform short ones(Korniichuk & Boryczka, 2021).
“Wut?” - would be a reasonable reply to this very unhelpful contradicting info.
Let’s get to the bottom of it:
Our brains hate overload. Too much information feels confusing, so people peace out.
Our brains also hate uncertainty. Too little information feels risky, so people hesitate.
So, the goal is to give just enough detail to make the decision feel right for your specific product and target audience.
How much copy is “enough”?
Well, this depends on who your target audience is and how much trust and clarity they need, to feel confident in taking action.
Here’s the rule of thumb I’ve created based on research:
Risk: Is the action you want them to take “big deal” for them? Is it relatively expensive or risky? OR is this a complex product that you don’t understand at first glance?
Yes -> long copy
No -> short copy
“Cool, but how short is short and how long is long?”
According to the studies:
Short: 42 words (Dvir & Gafni, 2018)
Long: 220 - 242 words, 22 sentences (Korniichuk & Boryczka, 2021)
And, on average, conversions start to drop like flies after 500 words (Hylewski, Pluskota, & Abel, 2024).
Takeaway
Basically, if you’re offering free lead magnets or targeting a warm audience or selling something relatively cheap and simple -> you probably want to test a landing page with <42 words of copy.
For anything else, try to be in the 220-242 word range.
And probably never more than 500 words.
Create something cool this week,
Ksenia, the chief nerd
P.S. I’m taking a couple weeks off from sending the newsletter, because I’m a bit busy with life stuff. But as soon as I get more time, I’ll be back to sending you insights!
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