# Skipping the product page after long copy: 0.69% to 0.32% conversion

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Landing page (Ecommerce)
- Elements: Checkout steps, Page flow
- Date shared: 2004-09
- Test run by: [MarketingExperiments](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/marketingexperiments/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/long-copy-vs-short-copy-tested
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/me-health-retailer-long-copy-direct-to-cart/

Sending visitors from a long-copy sales page straight to the shopping cart, instead of through a product page, dropped conversion from 0.69% to 0.32% and turned a 50% ROI into -46%. MarketingExperiments (MECLABS) ran this on a test site selling a specialized health product, using Google AdWords traffic. The two results come from different time periods, so this is a before/after comparison, not a split test.

## Result

**0.69% to 0.32% conversion**

- Long-copy conversion: 0.69% (1,440 clicks) with the product page, 0.32% (3,801 clicks) without it.
- ROI on ad spend: 50% before, -46% after, using a 30% profit margin.
- Long copy still beat the short-copy page in every round, so the drop points to the shorter order path, not the copy.
- Verdict: a loss, but measured across sequential periods, not side by side.

## Control

A long-copy article page that led to a product page with product details and an order button, which then opened the cart. Measured over five days.

## Variant

The same long-copy page with the product page removed, so the order link went straight to the shopping cart. Measured over the next eight days.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- Jumping from an article straight to a cart was abrupt. Visitors had not yet seen product specifics or chosen to order, so many abandoned.
- The product page acted as a decision step, letting people confirm what they were buying before entering the checkout.
- Fewer steps only help when each removed step carries no information the buyer needs.

## Caveats

The periods ran one after the other (five days then eight days), not as a simultaneous split, and keyword bidding changed between rounds. The short-copy page was also changed at the same time, the samples are small, and the data is from 2004.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we keep a product detail step between our long-form sales page and the cart, then more visitors will complete an order because they can confirm the product before checkout.
- Primary metric: Order conversion rate from landing page visitors
- Guardrail: Cart abandonment rate
- Guardrail: Return on ad spend
- Who should test it: Stores that run paid traffic to long-form or advertorial pages. If visitors already know the exact product they want, a direct-to-cart link may work better.

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Credit: MarketingExperiments ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/me-health-retailer-long-copy-direct-to-cart/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.