We originally published this piece in March 2015. Due to its ongoing popularity, we updated it with new copywriting statistics in October 2020.
Investing in copywriting can make a real difference to the success of your business. Good copy is about more than just filling a page with words, and these statistics show the surprising gains that can be made with a few simple tweaks!
Spelling and grammar
It goes without saying that accurate spelling and grammar goes a long way towards creating the right first impression and boosting credibility, as these statistics illustrate.
1) Three quarters (74%) of web users pay attention to the quality of spelling and grammar on company websites. (RealBusiness)
2) More than half of us (59%) would avoid doing business with a company who made obvious spelling or grammar mistakes. (RealBusiness)
Takeaway: Make sure your website is free from basic mistakes such as typos and punctuation errors, as this will help build trust in your organisation.
Web copywriting
Writing for the web is different to writing for other media (e.g. print). People read online copy differently, so you need to adjust your writing to correspond with this.
3) Your headline copy is everything! On average, a whopping 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will go on to read the rest. (Copyblogger)
4) The ideal length for a headline is 6 words. Try to hit the sweet spot, where possible! (Buffer)
5) On average, visitors to a page will only read 20% of its content. This means you need to structure your page so that the most important points stand out. (Nielsen Norman Group)
6) People scan-read web pages in an ‘F’ pattern. As a result, they read the third word on a line far less often than the first two. Anticipate this and position your most important copy at the start of the line. (Nielsen Norman Group)
7) The ideal reading time for a blog post is 7 minutes (roughly 1,600 words). Bear this in mind when planning your writing. (Buffer)
Takeaway: Pay attention to how you structure your copy, write in plain English, be mindful of length, and spend time on your headlines. All of these things will help you get better results!
Social media copywriting
Different social media platforms require different approaches when writing. Character counts and brevity are important.
8) Tweets of 71-100 characters get the most engagement when compared to longer posts. (Buddy Media)
9) Tweets in timelines with a request to retweet can boost your retweet rate by an average of 311%. So remember, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! (Buffer)
10) The ideal length for a Facebook update is 40-80 characters, posts of this length get up to 86% more engagement! (SproutSocial) Consider this when planning your posts for this platform.
11) Facebook posts with photos earn 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs. Try to find a suitable image to accompany your content, engagement rates will improve if you do! (Kissmetrics)
Takeaway: Character count and writing style matter when it comes to social media. Make sure you’re aware of the differences between the platforms!
Email copywriting
Email is an effective marketing tool, but you need to get people to open your messages! Subject line is everything, so spend time getting this right.
12) The ideal length of an email subject line is 28-39 characters, resulting in an open rate of 12.2% and clicks of 4%. (Buffer). Try to get your subject line within this range!
13) A/B testing your email subject lines pays off! For example, one company found that adding the words ‘Hell yeah’ increased their open rate by 23.88%. (Econsultancy)
14) Mobile opens account for 46% of all email opens. (Hubspot)
15) It’s best to limit your use of punctuation in subject lines to 3 punctuation marks. If you include too much punctuation it can make your email seem like spam which will cause it to go unread. (Mailchimp)
Takeaway: With the average open rate for emails in all industries being 21.33% (Mailchimp), you need to work extra hard on nailing your subject lines. Think about the words you use, punctuation and overall length.
Micro copywriting
The difference between good copy and great copy can be very slight! Small edits combined with A/B testing can make all the difference.
16) Facebook changed its ‘Become a fan’ button to ‘Like’ because it discovered users were twice as likely to click the button. Experiment with your copy, especially on buttons which are relatively easy to change! (Search Engine Journal)
17) Experimenting with call to action text can really pay off. For example, Schuh discovered that changing the wording of its ‘Buy now’ button to ‘Add to bag’ resulted in a 17% increase in people adding products to their check-out. (Econsultancy)
18) Personalised (or ‘smart’) call to actions perform 202% better than generic ones. (Hubspot) Users tend to respond well to personalisation as it matches their current level of interest and knowledge.
Takeaway: The devil is in the detail. Don’t be afraid to refine and try out until you achieve the ideal result.
Landing page copywriting
It’s so important to get the words on your landing page right. It has many roles to fill – all in a single page. Your landing page should pique the user’s interest, communicate the value your organisation can offer, and get them to take action!
19) Adding social proof to your copy can increase conversions significantly. In a test carried out by Unbounce, the presence of social proof increased subscriptions to a landing page by 20%! (Unbounce)
20) Including the word “because” along with a reason for people to do something has been found to increase compliance from 60% to 94%. (Langer, 1978)
21) Don’t be afraid of long form content! Longer landing pages are more comprehensive, giving you greater scope for links and a better search ranking. More copy could increase your sales by 52%, as was the case for Moz when it tried this. (Unbounce)
Takeaway: Spend time on your landing page as it’s important. Offering your audience reasons to read your copy and act should be front of mind here.
Copywriting is a complex business. Psychology and social trends play a big role in effective copy, so keep these statistics in mind when planning and creating your copy.
And test, test, test. You’ll learn by doing and trying out different things, so don’t be afraid to experiment a little!