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”WAY too much text.”
… And it’s common-sense feedback for a text-heavy landing page. It’s best practice, right? Short, punchy, concise copy converts. And look, we don’t disagree with that! But we do believe it’s a gross oversimplification: one that could cost you literal hundreds of thousands in lost revenue.
Why Landing Page Length Isn’t Everything
There's this common idea that short and sweet always works best, but that's not necessarily true when it comes to boosting conversion rates. It's easy to think that keeping things brief is the key, but when it comes to landing page testing, context is king.
Time and time again we get the reaction shown above, and time and time again we respond the same way: give us a chance, and we can show you how well this can perform!
Take this example: we tested a more traditional, short-form landing page against an advertorial-style blog post landing page for a popcorn maker product. The advertorial was lengthy, but it also spoke in-depth about the things the target customer really cared about, as uncovered in our audience research.
A/B test: short-form LP vs. long-form advertorial
The Before and After:
 Before: ample spacing, lots of images to break up text. |  After: dense text, not as broken up, not as image-heavy. |
The key difference? We zeroed-in on the target customer – her personality, her hobbies, her tone – and were able to craft a user journey that felt really tailored to her. More importantly, we answered all her questions in detail and helped her feel more prepared to “pull the trigger” on purchase.
See, what really matters in a landing page is the quality of the content and how it fits into a bigger plan, not just how short it is. Longer, well-thought-out content has the potential to give customers the background and info they need to make smart decisions, building trust and getting them more involved.
If we only focus on being brief, we miss out on how complicated it can be for people to decide. This might actually make a landing page less likely to convert. So it's crucial that we dispel the “shorter is always better” myth and build landing pages with substance and a strong user journey strategy, not just super-brief copy for the sake of it.
The Power of Providing More Context
Providing customers with additional context upfront goes beyond just delivering information – it's a move that actually accelerates the decision-making process. When customers are able to find the right details they need right from the start, it empowers them to make informed choices more quickly.
This approach taps into the psychology of decision-making: recognizing that consumers often seek a complete understanding before committing to a purchase.
By presenting the necessary context upfront, a landing page not only streamlines the decision-making journey but also establishes trust. Customers are smart. They know when they’re being misled, and they’re far less likely to complete a purchase with you if they sense critical information has been withheld prior to checkout – intentionally or unintentionally.
Case Study: Increasing AOV With One Counterintuitive Trick
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may have seen this expectation-flipping case study. It’s a wonderful example of how stepping outside the standard best practices and giving your audience ALL the info they need can unlock some really big wins.
The standard assumption: when incentivizing a free shipping threshold, it’s better to name only the threshold price, not the standard shipping price. (e.g., “Free shipping on $50+” should perform better than “$7.99 shipping, or free over $50”.) The accepted logic here is that users will go for the less expensive products, feeling less pressure to meet that minimum purchase quota.
Our hypothesis: Being transparent about these fees could actually build customer trust and increase transactions. Yes, it adds more shipping-centric text to the product page, but it also removes the unpleasant surprise of being hit with an unknown fee upon checkout. That increased transparency was something we believed was worth testing.
The test results: In an A/B test, the version of the product page that included BOTH “free shipping on $50+” as well as “$7.99 standard shipping” beneath the ATC button had higher CVR and AOV than the version that only listed the free shipping threshold.
Rather than lowering AOV, upfront transparency seemed to encourage even larger purchases, as customers preferred to spend more to “save” on shipping once presented with all the relevant shipping info.
Why Targeted Testing Always Beats Assumed Best Practices
When it comes to optimizing landing pages, it's not about breaking the rules—it’s about evolving. Instead of blindly following traditional “best practices,” iterative testing challenges us to think differently. In the world of CRO, we often consider certain design elements or text lengths foolproof. But if we stick only to those guidelines, we often miss out on what truly works for our specific audience.
That’s where iterative testing—like A/B testing and multivariate testing—comes in. It opens the door to constant experimentation and fresh ideas. These methods help us zero in on the small tweaks that can make a big difference in conversions for our unique visitors.
The key is to stay adaptable and keep refining based on actual data. By challenging the old "rules" with testing, you open the door to needle-moving insights about your audience. So the next time someone says, “That’s not how it’s usually done,” take it as a chance to explore, experiment, and discover what really works for your particular audience. You might just uncover a (long-form & copy-heavy) treasure trove. 😉
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