How much Content do you need?

How disappointed are you when you click on a link promising information about a particular topic, only to find very basic or too little information?

When you promise valuable Content, be sure you deliver. Don’t short-change your audience by not delivering on your intriguing headline or link. Be sure to give them enough information to make the click worth their while.

For a Lead Generation Offer page, use a benefit headline, pain/pleasure statement, bulleted benefits of what the visitor will get by responding, and an action button.

For an ecommerce page, don’t be afraid of “too much Content.” Focus first on answering your Personas’ key questions.

If you had to sell the product to someone in person, think of how many sentences you’d say. You need each of those sentences in your copy.

What is “enough” copy?

It’s when you provide enough information to answer each Persona’s questions at each Buying Stage.

 Some visitors to your website may come with a specific list of requirements they’re looking for.

• So “all that copy” is there to answer questions and provide specifics — because specifics sell.
• And it’s there to meet the needs of the range of visitors coming to your website.

Before you start to rewrite your existing website, start by analyzing the effectiveness of the current copy. You want to be sure any changes actually improve results (and don’t change things that are working well).

How well does your current Content engage the visitor?

• In Google Analytics 4, select “Engagement Overview” and look for “View Pages and Screens.” For Home and Product/Service pages, how much time (Average engagement time) are visitors spending on those pages?
• A long time on the page indicates the page may be doing its job – and keeping the audience engaged. Low time on page could indicate the visitor didn’t or couldn’t find what they were looking for.

How effective is your Lead and Sales Copy?

What percentage of Users on your Lead Generation Offer page complete your form to get the Offer?

If it’s a low percentage (less than 3%), it could be because the copy on the page doesn’t convince your prospects of the value of your Offer – or it could be that your form asks for too much information.

What percentage of views (or Users) to each product page results in an ecommerce sale (a conversion)?  That will give you some idea of how effective each product page is at actually selling the product.

 “But I don’t want large volumes of Content”

A team was starting a website redesign, and their manager stated he wanted to avoid “large volumes” of Content and wanted a more “minimalistic” look.  

Is this individual saying he doesn’t care whether the site’s Content sells or not – he just wants to be sure it looks a certain way?

 The fastest way to create a website that won’t sell is to tell your copywriter, “I only want this much copy.”

 That’s like telling your salesperson, “You can only spend 10 minutes with each prospect.”

 Having a vision for an overall “brand look” is great — but that should never limit your ability to sell.

If your concern is lots of long, boring paragraphs, communicate that concern to your copywriter. Insist on engaging, easily scanable copy. But keep in mind that your various audiences will come to your website and expect to get the full story.

With most website Content, it’s not a “volumes of Content” problem. More likely, it’s:

• A lack of concise writing – including lack of specifics. You want to focus on your prospects’ problems – and how your unique benefits solve them — without useless wording.
• You want to focus on your prospects’ problems – and how your unique benefits solve them — without useless wording.
• Poorly organized Content that isn’t scanable. Your copy should be easily scanable and visually “friendly.” Subheads should outline your key points.

What could happen without enough copy?

When visitors can’t find answers, or they find an incomplete answer, they usually won’t contact you to ask about it. They’ll go to another website.

• Think that won’t happen? What do you do when you can’t find details of something you want to buy? Don’t you just search for another site?
• If you leave your Personas with unanswered questions, it’s just too easy for them to click to one of your competitors.

 Start by creating your complete sales message first, following the Sales Process and addressing the most common objections.

Then map the copy to the available page layout. If you have additional copy, consider adding pages you can link to. Or if ecommerce, you may have tabs you can use for more Content.