Hi everyone,

This is my first posting, so sorry for the multiple questions.

I run an online career guidance program. Most visitors come to my site by searching on "career counseling", "career testing" and "career change". My goal is to give off a professional feel, but also inspire/persuade people to give me their credit card info!

I know they say that long copy beats short copy if it's good copy. Does that still apply on the Web?

Most copywriters who write for the web, when I ask them, tell me I’ve got to cut things down to two screen fulls at most. I’ve experimented with breaking up my stuff into several pages, but felt that the browser wasn’t seeing all of my persuasion (because they didn’t go to each page).
My main product page is http://www.TheOxfordProgram.com/overview1.asp

It’s LONG copy. I'm not good at cutting it down. My competition (http://www.readyminds.com or http://www.careermakers.com for example), use much less copy.

There are so many things that experienced copywriters say you have to do, that I find I can't cut anything. I struggle with getting all of the following on the page.

* Headline to generate interest
* Something that makes the surfer feel like I'm "speaking to them"
* What is the service?
* Who is it for?
* Testimonials
* What are the features?
* What are the benefits?
* Why is my service better than the competition?
* Is it a credible, legitimate business?

I just have a tough time deciding:
* what parts to keep
* what parts/messages to promote more
* what parts to delete (the main details page is getting too big!)
* what order to arrange the messages on the page
* how to make it more readable and scannable
* how to make the reader read the long copy
* should I break things into multiple pages (some argue for that, some argue against it)

Are there sound techniques to get a surfer to read a long sales webpage (other than the usual scannability suggestions regarding bolding, font, white space, etc.)?

Sorry for all of the questions, but I'd be grateful for any advice you may have to improve my site/page?

~Steve

Steve,

I like your content but there is far too much going on. You have the right idea but try and see the whole thing as if you were writing a sales letter to someone. I start to read and then, I am stopped. Thats how it goes all the way through.

Keep most of it in the same table rather than some copy. Stop. New table. Stop. Some bullets. Stop etc. Visuals and copy are essential online but they have to be used properly. Keep things simple and dont go overbaord on layouts. Long copy outpulls short everytime. Remember though dont write long for the sake of long. If it takes ten pages to say it ... use ten. But dont stretch it just to make it long. Just tell the story.

Thanks for the great tips!