Will 250-350 word articles work ok?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by nick2007, Mar 11, 2011.

  1. #1
    I have an online store, and it seems no good to add long articles above products. What minimum words must an article have in its body?
     
    nick2007, Mar 11, 2011 IP
  2. shemaa

    shemaa Peon

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    #2
    People often get bored reading a long article filled with unneceessary details. You can explain a product very well in 250 words if you know what to exactly write abt it.
     
    shemaa, Mar 11, 2011 IP
  3. Aquarezz

    Aquarezz Notable Member

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    #3
    Just write until all points are covered. But write with bullet points for example. You aren't building your online store for search engines, but for real human visitors ;)
     
    Aquarezz, Mar 11, 2011 IP
  4. nick2007

    nick2007 Well-Known Member

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    #4
    OK, Thanks for the replies. Think 200-250 words would be ok for customers and SEO too.
     
    nick2007, Mar 11, 2011 IP
  5. mmm555

    mmm555 Member

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    #5
    For an online store, that seems plenty ample. Good luck. :)
     
    mmm555, Mar 27, 2011 IP
  6. kcontent

    kcontent Peon

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    #6
    Short and sweet is best; attention spans of shoppers are usually pretty short. Use effective keywords in a useful fashion and your SEO should be fine. Don't forget the alt tags for product images too.
     
    kcontent, Mar 28, 2011 IP
  7. johnafeem

    johnafeem Peon

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    #7
    good, google loves long articles but 200-250 words is also good
     
    johnafeem, Mar 29, 2011 IP
  8. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #8
    It's always interesting to let these sort of threads run for a few days and see the 'expert' answers given. So many here are giving you really poor advice.

    Worry less about the number of words and worry more about adequately describing and selling the item. The beauty of selling on the Internet is that you don't have to worry about such things as column inches and printing costs. If an item is complex enough that it requires 1,000 words to convey all of the details a customer would want to know, then use 1,000 words. If the item can be described in a single sentence, then that might be all that's needed and trying to stretch it to 200 words would look ridiculous.

    If you were selling hardware like nuts and bolts, 200 words would be silly. For example, how much could you say about a 200 foot spool of 20 gauge copper wire? On the other hand, if you are selling a piece of furniture, you might need to include information about obvious things like the size of the item, how much it weighs and what it is made of. However, you are also going to have to provide the prospective buyer with a more in depth description of what the item looks like, how it can be used, whether or not there are coordinating pieces, finish or fabric choices etc. In essence you are going to have to consider all of the things people think about when buying a piece of furniture and answer those questions for them within your description.

    As to SEO, if you are selling online, you should definitely be building your online store for the search engines. Catering to buyers is extremely important but if your SEO is so lacking that you have no traffic, you won't have any buyers anyway. Whether selling a 50 cent bolt or screw or a $100 million dollar home, you should always consider the search engines with your categorization and product descriptions. Put more effort on the categories than the individual products when you sell items that you may have only a few of but put equal effort into both, SEO-wise, with items you always stock.

    Also, don't forget to use a bit of salesmanship. Even with my copper wire example, there's always something you can say to help sell something so simple. For example, "We've found this 20 gauge copper wire to be the absolute best wire for working with seed beads. It only comes in 1,000 yard spools and is fine enough to go through the beads several times. We love this wire because it doesn't kink like so many other beading wires do. It also has an extremely thin plastic coating which will protect the finish and keep the wire from tarnishing. This copper beading wire is made by the electrical supply company XYZ for plumbing applications but it is our favorite beading wire and the only one we recommend to customers visiting our shop in Anytown, Anystate. "

    Salesmanship, description and keywords and only around 100 words. It does everything you need it to do. Why waste time trying to come up with 100-150 more words when you could move on to the next item?
     
    YMC, Mar 30, 2011 IP
  9. nick2007

    nick2007 Well-Known Member

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    #9
    YMC, thank you for your long useful post. And especially for that part of it. That's exactly I wanted to clear for my collectible store.

    P.S. Thanks to everybody who answered me here too.
     
    nick2007, Mar 30, 2011 IP
  10. TeDWooD

    TeDWooD Member

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    #10
    Being honest from experience you should aim for 400 words because as you can see by the changes the directories have made, low word count doesn't cut it anymore.
     
    TeDWooD, Mar 30, 2011 IP
  11. cuonghvn01

    cuonghvn01 Guest

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    #11
    i'm a newbie, your share will good for me. Many thanks
     
    cuonghvn01, Mar 31, 2011 IP
  12. webcontentdiva

    webcontentdiva Peon

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    #12
    It should be at least 200 words, but it's more about covering the topic than the length. You can break up long articles using sub-headlines and bullet points, for example. Obviously, the more relevant and useful the article is in sharing information with the readers, the more likely they are to read the entire thing from beginning to end.
     
    webcontentdiva, Mar 31, 2011 IP
  13. nick2007

    nick2007 Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Well, i've found that some online stores like mine don't have any articles above their products. Of course, i always try to write something interest above every list of my products. But for example, i don't have an idea what to write about glass pine cone Xmas ornaments and glass icicles which i sell too.
     
    nick2007, Mar 31, 2011 IP
  14. ParentingCoachLisa

    ParentingCoachLisa Peon

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    #14
    I've written for an online store before I wrote for about 200-350 words. There is no problem with yours.
     
    ParentingCoachLisa, Mar 31, 2011 IP
  15. contentboss

    contentboss Peon

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    #15
    listen to what YMC said - very well written explanation of what you need to do
     
    contentboss, Mar 31, 2011 IP
  16. nick2007

    nick2007 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Yeah, i've followed to YMC advice.

    My thanks to everybody for his/her response.
     
    nick2007, Apr 1, 2011 IP
  17. stanzckp

    stanzckp Peon

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    #17
    200-350 should be good enough.. but make sure you detail out important info & call to action :)
     
    stanzckp, Apr 1, 2011 IP
  18. john newland

    john newland Peon

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    #18
    everybody loves a good story, and it doesn't have to be salesy. In the case of glass pine cones/icicles, who makes them? where? how (by hand, by machine with a lot of manual imput, etc)? When did the maker first begin making them? why did they begin making them?

    The world loves a story. Sometimes it really helps to think backwards about the product or the company that makes it. Your copy is now about buying a bit of culture, or a bit of history.

    Now, that was about $1.50 worth of advice. pay up! 8*)
     
    john newland, Apr 4, 2011 IP
  19. nick2007

    nick2007 Well-Known Member

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    #19
    Thank you for your suggestion. I've writen some short pieces. I know this topic (Christmas ornaments ), and it was interesting to write about my vintage Xmas ones. In some cases, it's better to write articles yourself than to hire someone else.
     
    nick2007, Apr 4, 2011 IP
  20. dlmoredotcom

    dlmoredotcom Peon

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    #20
    Every article should only over 200 words because I know many people lazy to read, unless it's really attractive article
     
    dlmoredotcom, Apr 5, 2011 IP