This is a bit like asking how much does a web site cost and being told from $500 to $4500... not that we can honestly do a website for $500...

When I answer the above I qualify what can be expected for $500 and what you most likey will get for $4500 and I can do this with a sense of confidence.

Would anyone care to really explain how we can go from $25 to $2,500 for a page of content...? Maybe you can elaborate on what the difference is by way of real deliverables at the different break points because this variance is just so wide the answer offers no insight at all to people interested in a real answer.

I know the prices can vary widely but what I have found that the prices vary because we are actually taking about completely different products - not just producing 1 page of web content copy - a typical web page will have between 400 and 700 words.

Anyone prepared to offer a real answer to this very valid question?
 

Upfront comments:

I've seen webpages with two hundred words of copy. I've seen webpages with two thousand words of copy.

You need to distinguish between proofreading (any obvious grammatical / spelling mistakes?) and editing (reorganising what you have written and copywriting (taking what you say/ your dot points and turning it into real text - possibly even with some research / links / statistics to back up your key points as well).  Also on the web, it may be the layout as much as the copy.

Having said that, in my experience most webpages need 30 minutes to 3 hours to whip into shape.  (That's refining and finalising content, not necessarily coding -  which depends on what system you are using and what you want the site to do.)  Setting 'most' copywriters at a ballpark range of $50-$100 per hour, you'd get a range of $25 to $300 per page.

Note that I have not gone out and hired lots of copywriters and my hourly rate is based on someone in Australia rather than an Odesk or Freelancer rate.

More to the point, be sure you know whether you want proofreading or copywriting, set a target price range, then find a few suppliers in that range, talk to them to be sure you can work with them and ask for samples of their work so  you can confirm you like the end result.

Hi all,

I believe that a developer in another country may not believe in the value of a copywriter who works in the Australian marketplace; one of the most expensive comparatively.  I am a freelance copywriter and editor, working with small businesses and consultants. Normally I quote around $115+ per page for a total re-write including keywords (normal page) and $260 for Home Page, but SavvySME has advertised my offer which has no strings attached for $88 inclusive for a normal page (e.g. About Us). It's a really good deal... normally you would be lucky to get good editing for this!

By the way, if you run a service and write your own About Us, it is perhaps difficult to see your own selling points and uniqueness. Often a great opportunity is missed.

You can see my offer in the Marketplace.

The important question is what will you get for your investment in a copywriter? For instance for every dollar you invest in a copywriter if you get back $3, how much would you invest? 

Another question you need to ask yourself is whether your copywriter is a marketing strategist and can work with you in the long run. Your website may need to updated frequently. 

Yes, there are copywriters who will charge you $25 to $250 and others who have a waiting list of clients willing to invest upwards of $5,000. 

Before I take on a copywriting client I need to know if they are committed to filling out an in-depth questionnaire so I understand their business, competitors, the problem they will solve etc. Then I research the market to fill in gaps I identify in the brief. Only when I have all the answers I need will I begin to write copy.

So it's really a case of horses for courses. Do you need a copywriter for a website rewrite or one you can rely on for many years? In the latter case, you will have someone who eventually knows your business so well that all you need to do is tell your copywriter what's needed and they will nail it. Plus act as a consultant and work behind the scenes to suggest new marketing ideas to grow your business. That's the real value of a copywriter willing to go deep.

Hi,
I have read the above comments and would like to add a comment which has nothing to do with pricing.
When getting a copywriter make sure they understand SEO as you may have the greatest website text ever but if good old Google search cannot list you it will turn into a brochure online.

Regards
Peter

Between $25 to $2,500. Depends on what you want the page to do. If you want it to produce results, sales, registrations, downloads, enquiries, highest possible conversions etc, then you're looking at the high end. If you just want it to sound nice and be grammatically correct, then $250 a page is about right. If you want to get it done as cheap as possible and don't care about the results, then you can always outsource it for around $25-$50 a page.

I agree with you on the points you make but let's put ourselves in the shoes of the SME business owner. Is there a realistic, practical and affordable solution that can be put to this market?

I fully appreciate that if you can't afford it don't buy it or entertain buying it. I have the exact same issue with clients looking for a website. However there has to be a solution that can be packaged up for the SME business owner?

What I think many readers here are looking for is what sorts or ranges of packages can a SME business owner expect and what should they expect for that?

I have found that in setting realistic expectation up front on not just price but what you get for that price helps tremendously in dealing with new clients. Being told that a website will cost from $500 to $5500 is just ridiculous as fa as the client is concerned so we tell them our price range and what you get at say 3 different levels and then refer to the additional custom services they can also look at including.

I have in my own experience found it hard to get a similar response from copywriters. Sadly copywriters face the same issue we do as web developers - anyone can hang a shingle outside their door declaring themselves a copywriter or web developer. Do they have the credentials to really deliver - no always and the really sad thing is that the market is unable to distinguish between the good, the bad and the damn right ugly options they are seeing.

In our firm, a typical small website project goes like this:

We give clients a comprehensive Briefing Sheet containing a wide range of questions about the business, the market they're in, their competitors and their goals. From the answers supplied and our subsequent telephone conversation, we write the copy and produce a final draft in a format suitable for supply to a web developer.

Fee is $250 per page, with a minimum of 5 pages. This includes one round of alterations. A page is 400 – 500 words.

The reason there is a minimum page count is because it's difficult to write a single page in isolation at a reasonable fee, if it has to be matched to existing content. 5 pages of original content is usually enough for a very small site and might cover: Home; About; Services Overview; Service Description; Contact/CTA.

We do this kind of project as a fixed price deal, because so many small businesses want the surety of not having fee overrun. The only time additional fees are required is if a meeting is needed to further clarify content issues or to discuss marketing in general. In that case, we make an allowance of $250, covering up to 2 hrs. 

Note that this methodology does not apply to all or any other firm, and should not be viewed as representative. It's simply the way we do it. Bigger projects with bigger budgets are done differently, with a lot more analysis, meetings and discussion.

Hi

I have 2 copywriters on my virtual marketing team.   I write a number of articles and content for 4 websites per week and send it off to them regularly.   They have a turn around of about 3 days depending on the size of the article and how bad my initial writing was (sometimes it can be bad).   In my area of expertise it is very easy to fall into slang and get way to complicated for the average person.   They keep me in check and deliver very good to outstanding articles.

They cost me $20 - 30 per hour.

A copywriter is only as good as two things - the content that you give them and how much you trust their interpretation of what you are trying to say.   With my team we came to a very quick understanding that 99.9% of what they delivered was going to be what I used on a page.

I agree with Mark, those prices are about right - the cost totally depends on what you want to do.

You can outsource using freelance websites such as elance, and you'll pay even less, but bear in mind, sometimes you get what you pay for.

I too think those prices sound right, but I'd be dubious about outsourcing writing for the lowest cost possible - you definitely get what you pay for as Annie says. And, if you want visitors to your website to get a great first impression, clean, well-written and succint content is a huge part of that.

It's important to understand that experienced copywriters do not charge per word of copy. If there's a copywriter who says they'll charge per word on your landing page, red flag!

Copywriting is all about brevity, but getting the message across in the fewest words possible is much harder than writing blogs and articles.

There's a huge range in pricing because of experience level, previous conversion rates and length of the landing page. Some landing pages just need a sign up form, whereas others are long sales pages to get people to buy a high ticket item. 

Great copywriters will know their worth and be able to tell you how they'll benefit your business! However, expect to pay 100s per landing page, if not 1000s by a senior copywriter. 

Hi Ananda, this is such an open ended questiosn and as you can see with the range of responses there are a huge range of options. What I normally do is have a look at a few websites and get a general idea of price in most industries someone has gone to the effort of a packaged solution which will give you a better idea of price. See if it's affordable then set a budget and try and find who will give you the best quality you can afford. 

Failing that, usually if you attend a networking group even similar like this website online you can ask and people are happy to answer. Usually I would have a detailed spec ready and I would just send it to as many copywriter and try and get a range of quotes and compare notes and what advice they have given me through the quote. You can also tell how much time the copywriter will spend with you by the response they give to your specifications, it's usually a bonus point if they have taken the time to understand my problem and have a look at my specs. The ones who don't have time to read it probably wont have much time to do a proper job on your project.

As others have mentioned, it depends what your goal for the page is and who the target market are. If you're selling B2B services to high level professionals, then you are going to need a much higher standard of English. 

My recommendation is to pay for quality content, but then make it work for you across as many platforms as possible. For example, a case study can be published in different formats in different locations on your website, as well as turned into a blog, which can then be used on your site and LinkedIn, and possibly as a press release or media pitch as well. You might also have a long version of it printed out as sales collateral. This way you get far more bang for your buck.

The same goes for video. If you invest in video, get it edited into multiple formats - longer form, shorter form, video ads - and also get it professionally transcribed and use it for written content.

Hi Ananda,

I'm a copywriter specialising in Web Content (have been employed full time at large organisations as a web content writer) and the average optimal web-page will generally cost you around $80 per page for a good writer. As I can see, that is around the same as Jennifer Lancaster mentioned above.

Hope that helps!

Kate

If it's general copy for a website - yes about $50 - $100 per page will do it - If it's copy for a sales letter, I know people who have paid up to $10k from the very best copywriters. You can get an okay sales letter for under $1k. It depends on what you are selling, how much competition there is & the $ value of your product, e.g.  a $17 ebook vs a $10k product/service.

So it really depends on what is the purpose of the page,  information or Lead Generation. 2 entirely different things.

It is depend on the website theme and design basically. If your website is product based or ecommerce then charge $20 to $40 and if it is simple blog then $25 to $50. But joomla expert india company charge reasonable as per their packages.

Well if you plan to get it outsource to India , you will get at very very reasonable rates. But do check there previous work and writing standard . In India you will get rates ranging in-between 7 to 10 USD maximum for writing 500 to 600 words article.

You can always use sites like fiver.com or seoclerk.com where every service being offered at 5 USD . But again do check quality standard before appointing .

If plan to outsource to India can always get associated with some reputed seo company or web design company as all digital marketing companies offers content writings at very reasonable rates.

To answer the question how much does a copywriter make for an article, first of all, you need to tell us more about the article requirements and type. Every article is different and has a different price.

I am a copywriter by trade, and that's akin to asking how long is a piece of string. Some copywriters charge a fixed price per page (me), others by word, others by the hour (which I couldn't do - curse these fleet-fingered hands!)

The first thing I ask is "how many pages, and how much words do you want on them?" before ever sending off a quote.

There are a lot of good points made so far. I might add that there's a HUGE difference between web content copywriting and copywriting that is SEO-friendly. Good website copywriters must have a good grasp of SEO and how to write copies that improve your website’s ranking, rich snippets or at least utilise the keywords you want to target.

When asking for a free quote, make sure you ask about their experience and skills in writing content that’s optimised for search engines. It makes a big difference to your website in the long run.

There are lots of copywriters on the market, and it depends if they are junior or more highly qualified. And the price ranges are different. This is a great resource to download about the Australian market: https://www.clevercopywritingschool.com/courses/recommended-rates/

When picking a copywriter ensure they:
- get to know the business
- talk about benefits (not features)
- conduct lots of research
- product unique content (and doesn't copy competitors)

Hi Ananda,

I run a digital agency which specialises in Copywriting, here is a breakdown of what is required versus cost.

Content Brief (this is created for each page and outlines the direction of the copy
A content brief includes research into what will be presented on the page and will present sections, titles and a breakdown (in dot point form) the topic of discussion per section. The brief also includes links to resources for the copywriter for inspiration.
On average a content brief can take between 45minutes to 3hrs depending on the length of the copy and research required.

Copywriting
Copywriting begins once the content brief has been signed off and depending on the depth of the copy and the length - this largely determines what time is required to complete the page.
On average copywriting per page can take from 45 minutes to 4hrs.

Costs vary per hour depending on the copywriter, their ability and the quality of their work. 

A general range of pricing can be $80p/h through to $250p/h,

It is always best to properly interview a copywriter before working with them, understanding their ability and reviewing previous work they have completed will help you determine who best to work with.

A key question to ask is what tools do they use to help them with their copywriting.
Below are the tools we use.

 - Hemingway
 - Grammarly
 - SEMRush
 - Ubersuggest
 - LSI Graph
 - Answer the Public

If you have any questions please let me know.

Putting on my copywriting and marketing cap a general range is $300 to $500 per page. Sure you can get a copywriter for less or pay a lot more but the value may become questionable. 

Here's a tip though when looking for a copywriter...

Ask to see examples (which I'm happy to show people). 

As an 'old school' copywriter who learn how to write effective print ads that cost up to $2,000 for one run that HAD to work or it was $2,000 down the drain, that way of learning cost a small fortune to learn by paying many thousands of dollars on sources and workshops etc. 

That old school way proved time and time again that the more you can write in "point of you" and use the word "you" or its variations, the more effective the results tended to be (with some other factors well managed).

These days what people pass off as copywriting is very average and definitely not 'old school' using proven principles that have worked for decades and decades.

This will be a controversial point for some marketers... If you see a website using "we" frequently, that's not as effective as writing with "you". In the old days, before the internet, a copywriter would never use that word, because it rarely has anything related to benefits and people are persuaded by benefits, not be how good a company is, or how many years of experience it has.

All great copywriters loved measuring and fact-backed results from their copy.

Want to know what great copywriting does and achieves?

It will increase Time On Page (a Google ranking factor) and reduce Bounce Rates (a contributor to ranking). 

One other thing to keep in mind is that a good copywriter must know Google ranking criteria - called "on-page" SEO. 

If they don't it won't rank the page higher in Google's search results. Most SEO companies are not great copywriters, if they offer the service at all. Most copywriters are not well educated in SEO or are in very basic principles, not current ones. 

If you're looking for a good quality copywriter that produces results that show up in Google Analytics then look for one that has 10+ years of copywriting experience plus 10+ years of SEO experience. 

Yes, you may pay more, but the value you receive could be 2 to 5 times better.

A copywriter who charges $700 per page, but doesn't know SEO principles is probably a waste of money and so is a copywriter who charges $200 per page. 

Finally, if you pay a copywriter, ask them why they used the method/content they did. Try to learn from them. You can definitely learn a lot from a great copywriter. 

Consider what you're paying for. Ask loads of questions of whoever you are considering and good luck! 

Ananda Raj Pandey
Generally, a good copywriter will give you a price quote for the whole project or for a single piece of writing. If the work is hourly, you'll find ranges between $50-$150 per hour for a good copywriter who can research and write on any topic.