How long does it take YOU to write a QUALITY ARTICLE?

Exactly my point. With a little training, and practice that can be improved upon. That's what I am trying to do lifting up the talented writers to be "the crop of the cream".

Though in all honesty I never researched anything longer then 6 hours, including the essays I had to write in school. It seriously does not take that long, unless you're really struggling, which should be a sign by itself

 

There are some secrets to research. I am not privy to them but I have heard that they exist. What I would try and do for everyone is use these sites in the order that I have them. Then move to writing.

http://wikipedia.org
http://ezinearticles.com
http://blogsearch.google.com/

Those are the ones that I use the most of when it comes to researching for information and content.

 

Well one good method is using the old fashioned phone. When I have to write about a certain flower, I call a florist I even called NASA once for an article assignment

 

Wow it really depends on the articles and the pay I think. I try to work to a certain amount of money per hour. This is a career for me and I gave up a job as a linking strategist to do it so I need to be earning more than my old salary or it is not worth it to me. You have to have to take the approach of you win some you lose some - some articles take me no time at all, and some take me so long that I am only earning half or three quarters of what I need to in an hour but it all balances out in the end! Personally I rarely spend more than two hours on an article because I can research and write in this time. If someone was paying me $150 per article it would be different!

A lot of people on here often say that you get what you pay for. I think this is really true,and you can relate that to the work that you do for clients. I try to give them what they deserve and spend the appropriate time against their payment!

 

Wikipedia can be useful, but remember that it can be edited by anyone, and as such cannot always be relied upon as a reliable source.

 

Exactly. Thats why I use the phone more often then not

 

For the quality that I write average is 2 - 3 hours for 500 - 800 words. But I try and create a new angle not the usual stuff.

 

This is sort of a trick question. I say this because I could research and complete the 1st draft of an article in an hour. Depending on who reads it, they may think the article is just fine.

But if I myself would read it 2 hours after turning it in, I'm sure to spot 3 or 4 places where I should have tightened the piece.

Another day later, I could read it and think of additional content worth adding. Taking the time to do this is one attribute that distinguishes a writer. Meaning quality isn't always a simply matter of grammar and usage. It's the fresh perspectives brought to the content, and the style choices. It takes most of us more than an hour / 1st draft to put it all together at a "ready for prime time" level.

So in my opinion, true "quality" only begins to be achieved after you've stepped away from it a while. Come back hours later or another day, and you're really likely to produce something of "high" quality.

 

You know jewel3000 if you scroll up a bit and look at Kraven's signature. Take the opportunity now to be lifted out of the scrap yard. You wont regret it I promise you that.

 

One hour for writing up an article of 500 words is a minimum if you want the article to captivate the reader. Even if you're familiar with the subject. The rest of the time goes into research, and you should also count on a minimum of one hour research unless the writer is an expert in the subject.

 

Bulls eye, what your saying then is 2 hours minimum to research and write. Now using the right writing technique you could research a topic and learn enough about it that you could write probably 10 articles from what you now know. So, with that in mind and using the right tactics you would write 1 article then re-write the same article 10 times. Now you have 11 unique (according to Google) articles for use on article directories or blogs. So, I say that you can do this about 2 to 4 hours depending on what your skills or knowledge will allow.

 

I so hate these threads. The only correct answer here is "it depends". For starters, it depends on whether the client wants a truly new article or what amounts to yet another rewrite of the same information everyone else has.

These threads become something of a game of "Name that Tune" - I can write a 500 word article in xx minutes, can you? I wish talented writers would stop having this conversation, it only serves to devalue the written word. A "good" client who sees that their writer can pump out anywhere from 2-4 articles in an hour or even 20 in a day will start to wonder if they are being ripped off even when only paying $5 a piece. And as the rewriting software continues to mature, those playing Name That Tune are only going to see the "going" rates drop.

The other thing that drives me batty with these threads is that even writers don't seem to know the difference between content writing and copywriting.

With content writing you have a topic and keywords which are most often provided by the customer - you can begin writing and researching immediately. Most content writing, or essay writing as I think of it, is filler content or Adsense bait. Many business owners don't realize that even filler content should have an element of sales included. And many writers simply provide essays even when tasked with producing sales copy - they either don't know the difference or hope to get away with taking the easy way out.

With online copywriting you still have a topic and keywords but you also have to learn who the client is and what they sell, who they think their competitors are vs who really is their competitor, and a whole host of other things. It can take several hours-long phone calls just to learn their business and how to formulate a call to action. A huge amount of time can be eaten up just trying to identify the correct keywords to target. 9 hours to write a piece of copy is not that far fetched and the time spent on research is most certainly part of the project and it's costs. It's why real copywriters charge more and why very few good copywriters will ever discuss charging by the word. With copywriting, a 100 word piece can take far longer to write, convert far better and be worth significantly more than a 500 word piece - any copywriter charging by the word is only hurting themselves.

I've seen direct mail copywriters command prices of as much as $20,000! I guarantee you that they don't sit around with their contemporaries and compare how long it takes them to write and how much per word they charge. Some of the big players might take 9 hours just to come up with the perfect title or tag line. They talk about response rates, sales and commissions. How long it takes to write matters little compared to how many leads or sales the copy can generate.

There's a place in the marketplace for essayists and a place for copywriters. Some folks are only good at essays and others can do both. But, any writer plying their trade should know the difference and understand that true copy takes longer to write is worth far more $$$ than the essays most webmasters are looking for.

Essayists need to decide if they want to provide unique word-count based content that simply passes Copyscape or Google searches. Or, if they truly want to up their game and be paid more, start writing well-researched content that uses true primary source materials which may even take longer to find than it does to write the essay itself.

C'mon folks stop thinking of writing as a commodity measured by time to write and word counts and start thinking in terms of return on investment, conversions and other quality based metrics. Even those of you providing 500 word Adsense bait articles should consider these metrics if you ever want to get out of the pennies per word game.

OK, stepping down off my soap box now.

As to answering the original question - I shudder to think how long it takes to actually write each commissioned piece of copy when time spent talking to the client, my time spent learning more about their business and off-computer thinking time are factored in.

 

YMC,

Are you a professional copywriter? Just wondering because your signature says professional content writing. Your right that most online writers do no know the difference between a copywriter and a content writer. A content writer writes for adsense and blogs. Just what it says content. Something to put on a page in hopes of getting a visitor to click an ad. There is a business out there for that service and some people excel at it. While a copywriter writes the same type of work. Except their main purpose is to get the reader to perform a certain action. It could to buy a product or service. But first things first. A copywriter has to get the person to visit the site. They want them to click the link in the bio box. This is where copywriters begin. Its with article marketing, then to the blog, then to the product. Its like real world advertising. You seen ad, head to the store, get the product.

Copywriters still have to have knowledge of search engines and SEO. They need this in order to get the readers to see the article (bill board or advertisement). Then they need to write an article that will drive the reader to keep reading and then click the link to the blog (store). Once there they need an article that will make the reader believe that they need the product or service (buy the product).

So what type of writer are you? Copywriter or Content Writer?

 

I do both but most of my work should be classified as copywriting. Most clients don't realize that they are technically two different things.

 

Ignoring the soapbox reply, I can truly say I agree 100% with this statement. Clients only think they are buying an article, and look no further then that.

 

Yes YMC, you are correct about your terminology to some extent. The subject of this post is article writing. That is a form of content, In fact beyond long page sales copy there is quite an overlap of a professional. Both will do blogs, press releases, email writings, and even advanced ghostwriting. What really pisses me off is when a copywriter thinks they are a step above a content writer. I am the proof that is not the truth. If you match an average copywriter against a article marketer you have quite a race. Plus today programs are coming out for $25.00 that are as at least 80% as good as the average copywriter.(they were written by copywriters)

There is no program that can match a skilled content writer, nor will there ever be. Because you do not know the scientific formula and structuring involved, do not knock it. Both areas are lucrative but require a willingness to educate the buyer. Fortunately in copywriting that is standard procedure, but it is not until article writers turn to article marketers does that occur.

 

Me making you mad? So, what else is new?

I've seen some truly talented content writers and bloggers who were still in high school. The folks I would consider talented copywriters all have 10, 20 or even 30 years of business experience along with the ability to write well.

Taking an article, rewriting it and posting it on article directories does require a certain skill set. But, like most long page sales copy, the process is quite formulaic and lends itself to automation. Article marketing is often simply providing free material for the autobloggers and keywords matter more than quality.

True copywriting involves business analysis and market research that are learned skills and not something that fits the yes/no or if/then/else structure of expert systems and other AI programs. No $25 writing tool is going to interview a client and identify missed opportunities for new offerings or gently suggest dumping a loser. No software is going to guide a business owner to seeing how marketing their product or service on the web is different than in their store. And no software is going figure out what their unique selling proposition is for a business owner who doesn't even know what that phrase means.

Not all articles being bought and sold on the web are designed for the same purpose or take the same amount of time to craft. Many here do not understand that the article marketing you advocate is very different than copywriting or selling writing services. Article marketing is simply the latest incarnation of the leave behind or take-away.

You are so focused on your "scientific formula and structuring" that you are failing to see that many writers here do not understand the different types of "article writing" being done on the web, how they are related and how they should command different rates. Offering to teach people your technique is well intentioned but writers should first understand the different types of "article writing" being done online before deciding upon which one to specialize in.

 

YMC Other than standing on your soap box, many of your viewpoints are valid. Despite that you miscomprehended the true mean of article marketing. Dictionaries on internet terms are so outdated. Even the term copywriting comes up as a misspelled word.

The true article marketer's career closely parallels that of a copywriter, yet both take a different angle. My studies were developed, yours were read.

I have quite a number of friends that I respect as copywriters, and have in turn, in the past released work to their area of expertise. An article marketer works with professional clients on a package concept that involves much more than article writing. SO THERE IS THE MEANING YOU COULD NOT FIND. A copywriter does similar and some overlapping tasks. Yet each is complex, one is a scientific formula, the other is testing mathematical equations. Both in the end seek to maximize results with word usage. Neither is interchangeable.

If you are posting to help others then input is perfectly fine. However the sign clearly said articlewriting, and you entered MY POST. Should benefit come from further understanding then gain was accomplished, fine, otherwise it could only be consider otherwise. I do not enter a copywriting post and get on a soapbox.

 

I concur. 40 mins max, you must be flying in a private jet, girl!

I take at least three hours (sometimes four) for an original and high quality 500 word piece. of course, this implies original structure, original viewpoint, factually sound, proper flow and without the need for any back office proofreader or crappyscaping (to borrow your term, kraven). my clients normally upload it straight upon receipt. although, i did misplaced a period 3 months ago.