Body Copy
Branding & StrategyAlso: Body Text · Web Copy
Quick definition
Body copy is the main block of written content on a page, ad or email, sitting below the headline and above the call to action. It carries the argument, the detail and the proof that a headline alone can't fit, and its job is to move a reader from interested to convinced.
What it actually means
A headline is a promise. Body copy is where you either keep it or lose the reader. Most people skim the headline, glance at the first line of body copy, and decide in about two seconds whether to keep reading. That means the opening sentence of your body copy is doing almost as much work as the headline itself.
Good body copy answers the objection the reader is silently forming. Not 'what does this product do' but 'why should I believe this applies to me'. That's a different job to a headline, which exists to earn attention, or a call to action, which exists to convert attention into a click.
Most body copy fails for a boring reason. It's written from the brand's point of view instead of the reader's. 'We've been helping businesses since 2009' answers a question nobody asked. 'You're losing customers because your checkout takes four clicks too many' answers the question they're actually holding.
Body copy also carries the burden of proof that headlines can't. Specifics, evidence, a clear unique selling proposition (USP), the detail that makes a claim credible rather than just loud.
A headline gets the click. Body copy is what decides whether the click was worth having.
How it shows up
Body copy shows up on landing pages, product descriptions, email bodies, ad copy beyond the headline, and the paragraphs under a homepage hero. It shows up in the data as a gap between click-through rate and conversion rate. Strong click-through with weak conversion often means the headline is doing all the work and the body copy underneath it isn't closing the argument. Heatmaps and scroll-depth tracking will show readers dropping off exactly where the copy stops answering their objection and starts talking about the company instead.
Where people get this wrong
Related terms
Common questions
How long should body copy be?
As long as it needs to be to remove doubt and no longer. A simple, low-consideration product might need two sentences. A high-consideration purchase like a mortgage or an enterprise tool might need several paragraphs. Length follows the size of the decision, not a word count target.
What's the difference between body copy and a headline?
A headline earns attention in one line. Body copy uses that attention to build a case with detail and proof. They have different jobs and both need to be written deliberately, not just the headline.
Why does my body copy get skimmed and ignored?
Usually because the opening sentence talks about the brand instead of the reader's problem. Readers decide within seconds whether to keep going. If the first line doesn't speak to what they're already thinking, they leave before the rest of the copy gets a chance.
Does body copy affect conversion rate?
Yes, directly. If click-through rate is healthy but conversion rate is weak, weak body copy is one of the first places to look. It's the part of the page doing the actual persuading once the headline has done its job of getting someone to read.
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About New Rebellion
New Rebellion is a marketing intelligence consultancy. We build tools, score Australian businesses on how their marketing actually performs, and publish Debrief every day. This dictionary is part of how we work in the open.
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