When you decide to engage the services of a copywriter, you’re working with a professional and should expect to pay accordingly. You need a writer to do what you can’t – communicate your message clearly and be objective about your business; they’re the expert in the same way as a graphic designer or web developer is.

Copywriters are well-qualified (or should be – don’t work with anyone who can’t demonstrate their credentials). Many have a background in journalism or PR, or have worked at an ad agency. They’ll have studied writing in one form or another and should have some experience in writing for business.

How Much is Reasonable to Pay a Copywriter?

Most copywriters will have an hourly rate which they use as a base guide for pricing their services. The starting hourly rate can be between £25 and £50 and go into the hundreds.

However, most writers won’t charge by the hour. The process of writing may not take long, but they have to spend a lot of time thinking about what to write.

And think about how to put the words together in the right way to engage the reader.

They may do background research, and will spend time familiarising themselves with your website and other marketing materials. They will also allow a little extra time in case they need to create additional content, make amendments or if the project is held up at the client.

[ctt template=”3″ link=”dPm11″ via=”no” ]A copywriter is an experienced professional, providing a specialist service, and should be paid accordingly.[/ctt]

How Copywriters Price Their Work

A copywriter will often have flat rates for particular types of copy that they’ve done many times before.

For example:

A 500 word blog post at £80 (2x£35 + extra), or five web pages at £350 (£75×5 [pages] + extra).

They will give you a detailed breakdown of what they’re going to do, the costs, and the timeframe for project completion.

You should never ask to pay per word, because this devalues the work of the writer. This approach is more usual when you’re looking for suppliers on freelance sites such as Fiverr (read more here) and the emphasis is on quantity rather than quality.

If you’re using a technical writer, you can expect to pay more – this is someone who writes in a specific way to clearly communicate facts and to create manuals, often in areas such as IT and engineering.

Similarly, if you are in an industry that has a lot of complex technology and you’re looking for detailed, high-end content for specialists, you’ll need someone with the skills to support your needs.

Obviously, prices for copywriting services are down to the individual, and they will base their fees on their knowledge and experience.

But you can expect to pay at least £25 per hour, or around £250 for a project. You can find more information about copywriters and how to find one from the PCN.