Too long, or not too long: that is the question

Feb 13, 2006

I wrote a web page for a client and she was quite happy with it. In fact she said she had made the first ever sale after using my content. Then someone told her the content was too long and this dissuaded her visitors from purchasing her stuff, and consequently she was naturally all doubtful.

To be frank long text on various web pages bothers me too, and I never advise my clients to have lines and lines of text (although this can get me more money because for every extra 100 words I charge more) on their web pages — especially the home page. But long text is not always bad, especially when you really have something to say, or if you are catering to market that needs to read a lot before arriving at a decision.

Take for instance a cell phone model. The more you read, the better your understanding is. If the seller is able to present to you all the pros, and a few cons, you can take an educated decision and sometimes if the pros are presented convincingly, you even overlook the cons. OK, a cell phone is not a perfect example, because certain brands don’t need convincing because you’ve very often already decided to purchase the model. Still, it doesn’t harm to read more.

I remember when I wanted to purchase a Nikon Coolpix camera I had to visit various websites to read reviews. It would have been great if all the reading material were present on the Nikon website itself.

Long text seems tedious if it is not solving any purpose by being there. The text should only be there if it is conveying something relevant, something that actually needs to be expressed.