Average Rate for Content Writing?

[suznee]

If  a job was posted for content writing what would most of you consider the average rate you would take for a content writing job?

I realize t hat there is differences of length of the article and other specifications, but what would be the norm?

And no I am not going to into content writing 😛 I am just trying to figure out some of the other niches out there and what the average rate is for specific types of jobs.

I realize that there is people from all over the world and different levels of writing skills, I am looking for the middle ground on what the average is on a content writer.

[fergusm1970]

I'd want $8 per 100 words. If it was something interesting and looked simple I might settle for $5. Right now I'm doing some 400-word articles at $50 each.

[petra_r]

You're not average, Fergus....

I think writing is one of those fields where you see less than a Dollar per 1000 words to more than 150 per 1000 words.... it makes "the average" almost meaningless.

For what it's worth- my last 3 writing gigs were:

$ 66.67 for less than 700 words, no research required, in German just recently - not pure content, that went to print as well, but also as content

$ 200.00 for a little marketing eBooklet which was just a hair's breath over 3000 words, but that was 2 years ago (English) and probably can't be called "content" as such

$  35.00 for a 450 word product comparison - English - that was proper "content" also 2 years ago

[fergusm1970]

I suppose it depends what sort of content you're looking for. If you want spun junk or keyword-stuffed filler then a cent a word is probably reasonable. For proper content I'd say I'm pretty cheap (and even then I do often end up working at less than my preferred rates). In my experience off-platform clients are almost always willing to pay a lot more. Unfortunately when potential clients see dozens of applicants all promising to deliver content for peanuts, it's hard to convince them that they really need to pay 20 or 30 times as much. I do wish platforms like this would force clients to enter a rate per word on fixed-price writing jobs.

[boshoffirene]

It really is very difficult to put a price tag. One WOULD think per word...but actually, there are many variables. For instance: what is the purpose of the piece, is there research involved, how long will it take to write, etc. So it is more a case of "how long will it take me" as opposed to "how much writing am I going to do".

Having said that: I would NEVER settle for less than 1c per word...no matter how many a's or I's there are. It is a word. 

[caroline]

That's why I decided to be inactive in Odesk in 2009 because there are a lot of desperate people out there who doesn't seem to know their worth. That burger is more expensive than their skill.

I only got back 2 days ago here in Upwork to check the translation and writing industry if the rates got better.

Wel, there is an increase in the writer's awareness now that they should  know their worth but there are still a lot of employers who are low bailers. They will initially offer a fair rate when they post a job offer but during the interview process they will negotiate with the number of articles on a given budget which equates to being offered a lower rate because you are asking to do more than what is originally posted in the job post.

[mishka_rkz]

I'm actually surprised by the rates mentioned here. I like to use hourly ocntracts as it includes the effort of research and complexity of the article. But when I raised my rate to $7/hour I actuallly lost many interested clients. For me after working almost a year in content writing, my rate has increased from $2/hour to $6.67/hour. 

[fergusm1970]

I hate hourly contracts because I'd like to get paid before the next ice age arrives, but I feel your pain. One way to look at it is that if a client won't hire you at more than $7 an hour, do you really want to work for them anyway? I can be hired for $7 an hour, but all I'll do for that is sit and glare at you through contemptuous clouds of e-cig vapour. If you want me to actually write anything it costs rather a lot more. Push your rates up as fast and as far as you can; you won't get as much work, but you'll get a lot more money.

[droleary]

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@fergus M wrote:

I can be hired for $7 an hour, but all I'll do for that is sit and glare at you through contemptuous clouds of e-cig vapour.

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Tempting.

As to the subject at hand, while I don't normally go after writing gigs, I did get an offer the other day at $0.025/word for a topic that required specialized technical ability.  I actually worked out what it would be worth to take the time to cover the topic properly and it was, at a minimum, double that rate.

The problem with the writing gigs I've seen on this Upwork that the client doesn't really care about the work that gets done.  All they're really using it for is SEO to drive ads, or some other scattershot marketing scheme.  It's not actualy "content" writing in any regular sense, so the pay they're offering is generally garbage as well.

[elastella]

I used to freelance for my former employer, a UK publisher (which involved serious research) - and was paid £ 0.60/word. Excluding any kind of expenses. 

So, I find Upwork quite challenging in this regard...

I don't really offer writing as a service anymore. Instead, I focus on editing and proofreading. Potential clients gasp when I tell them I won't work for less than $ 0.05/word - which quite often means I don't get the job.

Actually, writing for anything less than $ 0.10/word is never going to make it worth my while. I don't know how people based in the Western Hemisphere can work for $ 0.01/word and make a living out of that. Most Upwork writing gigs (I see) offer that as per word rate. Or even less.

[researchediting]

The Editorial Freelancers Association rates have served me well.

I hardly write for pay anymore, because I'm too slow to make it worthwhile. Editing is something I can do at a standard industry pace, so that's where I focus.

My one ongoing writing gig pays 18-26¢ a word, depending on whether I write long (usually) or short (fat chance!) within the client's format.

Oh, and if a job requests specifically requests "content" rather than specifying a subject, in the dustbin it goes.

[iaabraham]

I usually charge by the hour. The problem is that I'm a very slow writer & researcher (which I warn people about), so the final amount doesn't work well in the client's favour.

Right now, I'm blogging about business and social media for a company and they pay me $22.22/hr (including Upwork fees).

So usually I make around $10 per every 100 words (minimum - but that includes online research, formatting the article, finding images, uploading to a CMS and optimizing for Google).

Then there's a charity I write for at a much cheaper rate ($15/hr), but I have to increase my fees soon because it's too low for me.