Don't create or modify your web site until you have read this list !

> I was thinking about the one on long copy,
> even long copy on a single page....

This is, btw, what the big research firms have been saying for about 3 years (I have the magazines that talk about this) -- break up copy because people read the web differently than they read print. If you look at major news sites and compare print and web editions, you'll notice that the text is broken up differently and often a bit shorter or spread between pages.

> When I read that, what popped into my mind
> specifically was Marlon Sanders' web site,
> www.amazingformula.com -- an example of
> long copy on a single page which appears to
> be successful.

Here's where I'm going to be controversial -- that page ONLY works on a select audience. It works on the people who have been "trained" that this is is a wonderful and proper presentation.

Don't know if you remember it, but months ago on Lesley's board, someone asked for a review of a site to help increase sales and traffic. It was a long (6-10 screens full) sales letter ALA Marlon Sanders. The marketing experts on the board loved it and said to tweak only a few things. I said it was WAY too long and visually uninteresting and needed to be several pages with the main points up front -- and coworkers in this designer's office (who had no contact with the Business Gurus and their marketing material) echoed my comments.

So -- if you're selling to the market that has been trained to expect this, short will be suspicious and long and filled with examples will be boring. If you're selling to others (like my grown children or my husband or a lot of other people), they expect ads to be short and sweet and want the material spread over pages and condensed and value (instead of long teasers) given. (and they want to know page counts on books, too.)

So -- my point is -- when deciding whether it's good or bad, know what your audience expects and trusts. But don't assume that the same copy will work on everyone. Put a Marlon Sanders ad in front of a buncha coding geeks and his sales will tank.