How much should content really cost?

How will you drive traffic to the site?

 

3 cents per word tends to be the soft spot for me. You pay less than that the article quality will suffer...because I will use less time on the article. Consistent work on the other hand will generally improve the quality, as it decreases my research time and thus increases my hourly pay. In the end it's all about how much you are willing to pay, and how much work I am willing to do with that money. Ie. if you want to own a Porsche but pay for a Lada, a Lada is what you get. It's still a quality car in its own field, but it's not the god damn sports car you coveted. In other words stop thinking this writer is worth this or that, start thinking what the article is worth. Also quality is a word that get's thrown around a lot without anyone actually defining what it means.

That said, offering high rates wont guarantee quality, nor does low rates mean the quality is shit. I started with 1 cent per word, because that's what the client paid. Then moved on to new clients that paid more once I got them. The quality, experience and expertise I have didn't change. As a writer I've noticed that the rates mostly depend on who you know; as the client this applies to you as well. If you only have connections to shit writers then shit writing is what you get no matter what you pay.

As to the original poster, if you are happy with the quality I would say give her more work...and pay more when she asks for more. And if you want an excellent relationship with your clients stick to deadlines: pay when she delivers. I've written content for a couple of thousands euros this last month but can't pay my rent because apparently deadlines only apply to me. Seems to be surprisingly hard to copy paste a Skrill email/etc...

As for the research, it depends. I have a few clients who pay me around 2 cents for 500 word articles...but I can churn these out in 15 minutes, with research included. Like I mentioned the more work there is, on the same subject, the easier the research becomes. And when you find a good writer stick to him/her, as they are rare.

All of the above might seem like a bit of a disorganized flow of thought, but then I didn't get paid to write this.

EDIT:
At the moment I get around 30-40 USD/Euro per hour and consider that a very good rate. But not enough, and for this year I aim to double it.

 

Well, you can always give her more money. Say you increase her rates by 50% since she's already done a great job so far and has some 'tenure' working with you. I do work with a friend of mine who sometimes does copywriting for me and I take care that she's pleased with the money she earns. She does tend to ask for less, since we are friends, but I do usually offer more money out of respect for her work. She's amazingly reliable and great at what she does, so, I like to keep her pleased

 

Time would answer your question. I've been writing for a living for 15 years now and if you are not happy with the pay then two possible things happen:
1. Quality of writing drops.
2. The client gets ditched.

Payment should always be based on the VALUE the writer is adding to your business, not on number of words.

 

Average copywriter salary is around $55k, or $26 hourly.. mid-sized companies should expect to spend around $150 per piece of content from freelancers. +photos, infographics etc.. So it isn't cheap.

If you are looking for cheap content you can hire someone from India or Philippines. Lower-cost content isn’t always indicative of low-quality. But it's 9 times from 10..

For business owners though, they still may not understand the value that quality content could bring to the table. In fact, content marketing is an essential part of today’s marketing strategies for each and every business.

Seth Godin: “Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left”

People have trouble finding a writer who actually knows what they are doing.
Trust me I know what feeling, I had no idea what to look for and wasted countless hours on useless writers.
We want to find someone who write high quality content and available whenever we need something.

I rocommend textroyal.com . In the long run this service is going to make you lots of profit.

 

I'm rooting for you to inspire a paradigm shift here, Ray. But the buying demo in DP is nothing like in WF - as you've probably surmised by now.

 

Thats true. The only way you can find out if they are good writers is by analyzing their work.

 

Congrats,
That's a great result for both of you.

 

My basic rate is $10 per 500 words. I found that the motivation to turn out great content for less was just not there.

 

I would be delighted to earn that, the client I work with pays $5, sometimes less

 

I used to outsource content online too. I was charged $8 for every 300 words article.
I don't think it is cheap neither expensive because I am getting quality articles on time.

 

this is a very interesting topic. im glad u brought it up. enjoyed reading the discussion here!

 

As a resume expert i can tell you that quality matters. I f you have experience your price must be higher.

 

So, you're about a penny per word I'm assuming?

 

its 3 usd for 300 words i hired one from iwriter he is good enough in cheap prices

THanks

 

Is her research/writing time pretty average? If she can write a 1,000-word quality content in an hour, that's pretty fast and amazing!

Is $10.00/hour standard for content writing? It could be. But if you are much satisfied with her work, then it would be better if you at least make the pay higher.

Would you pay more than $20.00 for a high quality, 1,000 word article? Yes, if it exceeds my expectations, I might consider paying her more.

As a writer, what do you expect per hour? I expect around $10/hour as a starting pay, but I think it would be more efficient if it is based per project. Like, $25/1,000-word article.

 

2 cases
Low end and High end
Low end without SEO tactics you can easily get around 5$ for entire article.
High end with SEO tactics you can easily get around 10- 15$ for entire article.