In Episode 42 of The Copy Coach podcast, I’m talking about what role your sales page plays in your business, how to figure out how many words you should be using on it AND how you can make sure you’re not missing out on 75% of your potential clients and customers.  Listen to the full episode here. Or, for the scoop-in-brief, keep reading.

Asking “how long should my sales page copy be?” is kinda like asking “how long is a piece of string?”. There is no definitive answer because the answer depends on many things.

It depends on what you are selling. It depends on the price point. It depends on your ideal client’s awareness level. And of course it needs to take into account the 4 decision maker types.

What you have to realise about conversion copywriting – which, of course, is the type of copy we use whenever we are trying to move our prospect closer to the point of saying “yes” – is that you are really having to “coach the conversion”.

This is a technique created by Ry Schwartz who is a top copywriter who has written long-form sales pages for people like Amy Porterfield and who has consulted with people like Jasmine Star.

The coaching the conversion method really makes you look at conversion copywriting, and in particular, long form sales pages as being the online, stand-alone, and in some cases evergreen, version of you being able to physically coach a prospect into saying “yes”.

So, really your sales page replaces your sales call.

And just like how you would have to put the work in to persuade someone of why they should invest in your offer if you were sitting down over a coffee or on a Zoom call, you have to be doing this on your sales page too.

Ok, but how many words do I need to write?

When it comes to a long-form sales page, the average word count is 5000 words.

Typically, for my clients, I’ll write a long-form sales page that varies from anywhere between 2500–5000 words – still, it’s a lot of words.

But is it too many?

In a word, no – because the words are necessary.

I’m not talking about filling a sales page with 2500 words of fluff – each word has a place and a role.

Each section of a long-form sales page is needed in order to properly coach that conversion and to move your reader through the different levels of awareness. Every section on the page has a part to play and – just like a recipe – you can’t skip a step. Otherwise it won’t work.

Ry Schwartz said that when it comes to thinking about how long your sales page should be, you should think about how long (in time) it would take you to persuade your prospect to say “yes” to your offer.

So, imagine if you were on a sales call or having a cup of coffee with a potential client where your end goal is that conversion – whether it’s your 1:1 offer, or a course/mastermind/group program.

Imagine you were having a IRL conversation with them with the goal of getting them to say “yes”.

How long, do you think, would you have to speak with them for? 

Ry Schwartz said you can kind of think about the number of words being equated to this length of time.

So, for example, for every 1 minute you’d spend on a sales call or speaking with a prospect, you’d need 100 words.

A 10 minute conversation = a 1000 word sales page

A 20 minute conversation = a 2000 words sales page

And so on.

So 5000 words might seem like a lot but really that represents 50 minutes of conversation.

And I can tell you that every discovery call I’ve had with potential clients – the clients who do go on to invest in my high-level 1:1 packages? We typically speak over Zoom for at least 45 minutes, if not 60 minutes.

So, i I wanted to make sure that my sales page was doing that job for me, I would need at least 4500 words to get that person to the point of saying “yes”.

And, at the end of the day, that’s what you’ve got to remember: your sales page isn’t just for fun. It’s isn’t just to make you look legit and pro (although it definitely works to do that, too).

It’s to stand in for YOU.

It’s so that you don’t have to rely on showing up to make a sale.

Nobody started their own business to be glued to their phone all day. Nobody wants to have to show up and sell in order to see growth and momentum in their business.

Enter: the long-form sales page. That’s what it does – it sells for you.

Joanna Wiebe – who is the original conversion copywriter – said this, which sums it up:

“As a copywriter, you aren’t being paid to write. You’re being paid to sell”

And that’s exactly the same for your sales page. When you invest in a sales page, you aren’t investing in a word-filled webpage. You’re investing in an asset – a salesperson – for your business.

So, make it count.