It can be difficult to compare copywriting prices – especially if you’re new to content marketing. Here’s my take on the cost of content.
Bottom line: when you buy copywriting services from a freelance or an agency, you want value for money.
You don’t necessarily want the cheapest copywriter you can find – but you do want a good copywriter who can work within your budget.
How do you make sure you find the value you want? Here’s my take.
Project fees, not day rates
As a copywriter, I quote in terms of project fees, not day rates.
My feeling is that when you pay for copywriting by the hour or day, you create a pretty odd set of incentives.
One copywriter might “get” your business, have efficient content processes and be an experienced writer. The other might be a relative beginner who is still working things out, and requires more revisions to their work.
But if both charge you £450 per day, who’s going to send you the bigger invoice? The one who takes longer, that’s who.
As an experienced and efficient writer, I don’t use day rates. The good news is: project fees are the alternative.
Project fees create the right incentives
There’s another way to commission a copywriter – and that’s to use a project fee.
According to the ProCopywriters Survey 2020, 74% of freelancers use project fees – compared to 69% who charge a daily or hourly rate.
So project fees seem to be slightly more popular, at least among UK copywriters.
With project fees, the incentives are the right way round.
You send the copywriter your brief for what you need – a white paper, a series of blog posts, a website, whatever – and the copywriter quotes you a fee for the work.
You can send the same brief to multiple copywriters, and get quotes that are more accurately comparable.
Project fees help you refine your brief
But here’s the real secret to using project fees. It’s the fact that, when a copywriter has to quote accurately for your brief, it’s in the copywriter’s interest to work out what you really want.
When I quote a project fee, I sometimes spend a fair amount of time thinking about what your project is, how long it might take me, and how I can help – even before I start doing chargeable work.
As a client, you can make use of this. Within reason, you can often take informal advice from a specialist copywriter on how to refine your brief and meet your content goals – again, before the project even starts.
What’s included in a copywriting quote?
When I send a copywriting quote, it typically covers:
- Initial research and discovery work (for a single piece of content, this is usually a short call)
- A first draft in Word
- Unlimited revisions within 14 days, within the scope of the agreed brief.
Copy-editing and proofreading are different; I provide these on a “single pass” basis.
Copywriting services: prices to get you started
Need some figures so you can plan your budget? No problem. Here are some guide prices so you can see what I might typically charge:
- Single blog post: from £ask
- 1-page product flyer: from £ask
- 2-page case study: from £ask
- 4-page brochure: from £ask
To be clear: these prices are only indicative. Copywriting and editing are bespoke services, and I quote individually for all projects. But this should help you plan.
Find more prices on my service pages
To see prices for other services, see my copywriting service pages.
You’ll find guide prices at the bottom of each service page, such as blog copywriting, case study copywriting, and so on.
