long copy vs. short copy

Long Copy vs. Short Copy: How discovering the optimal length of a webpage produced a 220% increase in conversion

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TODAY’S PRESENTER

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin – Managing Director, MECLABS Flint McGlaughlin is the Managing Director of MECLABS Group. The organization has partnered with key market leaders including The New York Times, Microsoft Corporation, and Reuters Group. Dr. McGlaughlin also serves as the Director of Enterprise Research at the Transforming Business Institute, University of Cambridge (UK), as the Chairman of the Board of Governors for St. Stephen’s University, and as a Trustee for Westminster Theological Centre. Dr. McGlaughlin originally studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of London’s Specialist Jesuit College. Today, his primary research is focused on enterprise as transformative agent. His work has won multiple awards and has been quoted in more than 13,000 online and offline sources.

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EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUND

Background: A company that provides personal psychological evaluations to curious individuals. Goal: To increase free assessment sign up rate. Research Question: Which landing page will result in the highest completed assessments? Test Design: A/B Variable cluster test

Experiment ID: TP1001 Record Location: MECLABS Research Library Research Partner: [Protected]

Research Notes:

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EXPERIMENT: RESULTS

16.52% 19.95% 23.14% 25.40%

Conversion increases as page-length decreases

Control T1 T2 T3

54% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SHORT COPY

Key Principles

1. One of the most effective ways to increase conversion is to decrease friction. Indeed, our experiments suggest that there is a disproportionately high return on efforts to reduce friction.

2. Copy-length is often the easiest form of friction to reduce.

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS Not this But this

43% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS Not this But this

138% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS

Not this But this

5% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

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NOT THIS, BUT THIS Not this

But this

29% INCREASE IN CONVERSION

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However, short copy does not always outperform long copy….

LONG COPY VS. SHORT COPY

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EXPERIMENT: BACKGROUND

Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Test Protocol Number: TP1662

Background: An addiction and mental health rehabilitation facility. Goal: Increase the total number of leads captured. Primary Research Question: Which page will obtain the most form submissions? Approach: A/B multi-factor split test

Research Notes:

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

• Average short-form page template with a rotating banner.

• Call to action is on the right hand side and above “the fold”.

Control

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment - Top

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment – Middle

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EXPERIMENT: TREATMENT Treatment – Bottom

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EXPERIMENT: SIDE-BY-SIDE Treatment

• The treatment is nearly 2x the length of the control and the call-to-action is at the bottom of the page.

Control

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EXPERIMENT: CONTROL

Design Conversion Rate

Control 0.78%

Treatment 2.48%

Relative Difference 220%

220% Increase in Total Conversion The treatment page increased the rate of conversion by 220%

What you need to understand: By utilizing a single-column, long-copy approach, the treatment better guides the prospect’s thought process and generates 220% more leads online.

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WHY THE DIFFERENT RESPONSES? Short Copy Wins Long Copy Wins

Why did short copy win in one test and long copy

in another?

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LONG COPY VS. SHORT COPY

Key Principles

1. One of the most effective ways to increase conversion is to decrease friction. Indeed, our experiments suggest there is a disproportionately high return on efforts to reduce friction. Copy-length is often the easiest form of friction to reduce.

2. However, friction does not exist on the page, it exists in the mind of your customer. The goal of the marketer is not simply to decrease page length, but rather mental effort.

3. Many times, adding copy to a page is required to guide the visitor’s thought sequence to a purchase decision. In fact, our testing suggests a direct relationship between the cost/complexity of an offer and the amount of information that is required to achieve a conversion.

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Copy Length Factor Matrix

Nat

ure

of O

ffer

Cost Low commitment Low anxiety

Sim

ple

Impu

lse P

urch

ase

High commitment High anxiety

Com

plex

Re

quire

s An

alys

is Lawyer

Insurance Policy

Medical House

Wedding Photographer

Music CD

Surveys

Charitable Donation

Short Copy Works Better

Long Copy Works Better

Free Trials

Short Copy Wins

Long Copy Wins

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OPTIMAL COPY LENGTH CHECKLIST

What is the nature of your product? Is it a “high-cost” or a “high-anxiety” product? Or does your offer require little commitment on the part of the customer?

How complex is your product? Does it require much explanation? Or is it grasped quickly with little explanation?

How much does your visitor know prior to arriving on your web page? Is this their first exposure? Or are they coming in from a channel in which they were already sold on the offer?

Does all the copy either express or support the value proposition? If not, it is waste and can be eliminated.

Can the layout of the page be adjusted so that the most essential information is in a vertically-flowing main column and all supporting (unnecessary) copy is in a secondary column?

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Live Optimization

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EXCLUSIVE Web Clinic

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Live Optimization Walmart

Primary Objective(s): To drive sales of consumer electronics

Page URL: http://bit.ly/9skvmT

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Live Optimization Wharton at UPenn

Primary Objective(s): To sign up for an online event

Page URL: http://bit.ly/15pnhkz

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