So Why The Long Face, Sorry, I meant Copy?

It’s an old joke, based on a horse going up to the bar in a pub , but when it comes to the number of words on a page, it’s no joke, but a serious issue that anyone who wants to get visitors to their website should take note of.

So why does ‘long copy’ matter so much , and if it is as powerful as I say, why do people not put this ‘simple’ bit of SEO to work on their websites?

The most obvious answer is that many website owners just don’t believe that people are going to read more than a few words, so don’t think it is worth the bother, while others don’t want ‘all those words’ cluttering the pages on their site and ruining its look and feel.

People Won’t Read All The Words

There is some truth in the first comment, many people will not read all the words on any given page, especially if it is not written in a manner that is likely to engage their interest or curiosity, but the fact is that some do (perhaps the ones most likely to become customers) and in any case, Google will read it, and from the SEO point of view that is most important…

As to the second point, that of damaging the design of the pages, this is myth, as there are many ways of presenting a huge number of words to the reader without subjecting them to a wall of text that no one is going to bother with.

Use White Space

By using white space, breaking up the blocks of text with images (or better still, perhaps some Social Proof / Testimonials) and by the use of ‘ Read More about why long copy works ’ internal links that open up a concertina that show more of the text, you can have a very nice, easy to use and read page that contains thousands of words.

By the way, did you notice the text of the link to that extra ‘hidden’ copy? It’s another important and often underused way to tell both the human reader and Google what this extra copy is all about. Remember, Google now understands the written word at the sentence level, so it will deduce what this extra copy is about. It’s a ‘trick’ that boosts Google’s understanding of the content of a page and is highly useful when it comes to capturing long tail keyword searches . So make sure you use this method for internal links on your site, it will REALLY help with those rankings..

This I believe deals with the two arguments against using long copy, but what about the reasons for using it, is there still more to tell and lessons to be learned?

From an SEO perspective, the reasons are quite simple, statistics showing that in most cases, the longer the copy (at least until you hit more than 7,000 words) the more likely a page is to have a first page ranking on Google.

Then there is that matter of obtaining traffic by ‘capturing’ those long tail searches, searches that use many words, often in the form of a question (voice searches are mostly always in this format, which makes the subject interesting as their use is increasing).

The number and variation of these searches are vast, and whilst it is possible to use tools like Answer the Public , Ubersuggest and SEMRush to get some ideas of the phrases being used, so you can optimise for them, the very nature of well-written long copy automatically increases the likelihood of being ranked for such searches.

As I mentioned in my article about ‘Trawling the Google sea’ the more words on the page means the more hooks you have on your fishing line, leading inevitably to more ranks and thus more traffic.

There must be a catch here (please ignore the pun)

Well actually there are two, one being very recent indeed.

The first and most important one is that long copy won’t work if it is not well written and engaging. Yes, ‘boring copy’ may well get a high rank and thus result in a click to a site, but when the visitor gets there, the copy will soon put them off, and they will leave, perhaps with a bitter taste in their mouths, never to return…

This leads me to a most important statement, which is NEVER write for Google or any other Search Engine, Instead write for your CUSTOMER, the human that is going to read your text and decide to do business with you in some manner.

This means creating engaging content, something that answers the needs of the visitor, possibly giving them a solution to a problem, or maybe just to entertain or educate.

That does not mean the needs of the Seach Engine should be ignored, so do make sure that you use the right words in the copy, that is variations of words that mean the same thing or are related. This helps in reducing accidental keyword repetition whilst making the copy more interesting. Also don’t forget to use the right HEADERS and INTERNAL LINKs in the copy as this helps Google as much as the human reader.

But what about that other ‘new’ catch?

Well it appears that Google has added another ‘filter’ to its algorithm, one that ‘sniffs’ out pages that contain information / cover aspects that are not in line with what that site appears to be covering. Such pages are likely to be removed from any high ranking position they have, and I suspect that sites that trigger the filter too much could be penalized.

So, just make sure that when you create that copy, that it is on point and that it supports the message that your site is trying to put across to your readers.

Anything Else Important?

Perhaps the biggest mistake that people make when writing long content is not allowing the reader to take action in an easy fashion, or worse still, not to give them the idea of making an action at all.

Here of course I am talking about CALLS TO ACTION. This is a most important point, as when you boil it all down, the reason for all the work in creating the copy is to get a rank, then a visit and then get the reader to do something, like buy a product, sign up for a newsletter, ask a question or to contact you in some manner.

So, do make it easy for the reader by liberally spreading valid CALLS TO ACTION amongst the words. If you have ever seen the film Starship Trooper you can see this in action in a video advertisement about joining the army, the words ‘DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE’ being liberally interspersed in the story line.

An often forgotten CTA

I cannot close without mentioning a Call to Action that is often overlooked, and that is the one that points to another interesting article or page on the same site, this containing more information that the reader should find useful to read.

There is a good reason to use these as, you have by default, got the readers interest and if they see the CTA, you could? keep them ‘on that fishing line’ that bit longer by presenting them with more juicy tit bits.

I hope that this has given you cause to think about using more words on your pages and that you have great success in obtaining better ranks, traffic and customers.