Are you wondering how to price your content in order to pay your monthly bills and attract new clients? The truth is that freelancers can charge any rate they wish from less than $10 per article to more than $1,000. Your answer will probably depend on your experience level, your education and your experience as a freelancer.
Typical Custom Content Prices
When it comes to pricing your custom content articles, you can set your prices anywhere that’s comfortable for you or that you feel are fair to both yourself and your clients’ needs. With that being said, here are a few common price points.
- No Research Needed or a Brand New Content Writer - .01 to .05 cents per word
- Some Research Needed or a Freelancer with 1 to 3 Years Experience - .05 to .10 cents per word
- Experienced Freelancer with 5 to 10 Years Experience - .10 to .20 cents per word
- Experienced Freelancer with 10+ Years Experience - .20 - .50 cents per word
- Lots of Research and/or Formatting Required - .50 cents per word to $1 per word
- Extremely Experienced Freelancer or Niche Topic - $1 to $2 per word
- Knowledge Requires a Degree in the Field - $2+ per word
What Do Those Price Points Mean and What Can You Expect
The quick answer is that you can expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $1,000 for a 500-word article, depending on your freelancer's experience and the amount of research and professional knowledge needed.
.01 to .05 Cents a Word
When you see this price point listed for a freelancer, this is probably a beginning freelancer that’s just getting started in the field. They probably have less than 100 articles, blog posts and webpages under their belt, and they are trying to build their clientèle by offering extremely affordable rates. By choosing these guys, you can get the content you need for your website or blog at or below your estimated budget.
This price point could also indicate that the freelancer has a lot of knowledge on X topics, and if your article is basic enough, they may give you this rate because they no longer have to extensively research it, which means it may only take them 20 to 30 minutes to write it and double-check their information to make sure it’s correct.
You’ll also tend to see Content on Demand in this price range. These are articles that are prewritten. They’re typically very basic and not specific to one particular client, but instead, written in such a way that any client in the particular field could use the article. Since there’s no further work for the freelancer to do, they are typically made available on the freelancer’s website where they can be purchased and immediately downloaded for use.
.05 to .10 Cents a Word
For articles that need a little research and for freelancers who have between one and three years experience, you can expect to pay between 5 and 10 cents a word. This makes a 500-word article between $25 and $50. These freelancers have written at least 1,000 articles during their careers, and they may have extensive knowledge in certain fields due to all the research they’ve performed. You can expect better quality and a more informative article for your website when you choose freelancers who meet these metrics.
.10 to .20 Cents a Word
When you see a freelancer charging between 10 and 20 cents an article, they have a broad range of knowledge on a variety of topics, including heating and cooling, electrical work, plumbing, drug addition, computer repair, finance and certain medical fields as well as other industries. They received this knowledge by researching these topics for various clients, and with five to 10 years experience under their belts, they are extremely good at writing articles in their chosen industries. This means that you can expect each article to be engaging and informative. This freelancer also includes backlinks and statistics as needed to add more value to the content.
.20 to .50 Cents a Word
This freelancer has an incredible base knowledge on their preferred industries. At this point, your freelancer probably has at least 10 years of experience, and they’ve started to specialize in certain fields. They know where to find the information they need, and they know enough information to be able to apply it for a range of topics and from a range of perspectives.
.50 to $1 Per Word
These freelancers are experts in their chosen fields and industries. They may have work experience in the industries, and/or they have written thousands of articles on the specific topic. At this price point, you can expect your freelancer to give you an expert quality article with information that may or may not be easily researched via the Internet. They also know how to format the content to make it easy to read for an online audience, and they can scale the language for your particular audience so that it is easily readable and understandable.
$1 to $2 Per Word
At this price point, your freelancer has an unparalleled knowledge of their chosen industries or they’ve mastered the ability to find information. Articles in this price range often need custom information and long research times in order to make sure the information is factual, engaging and relevant. These freelancers can write for any audience, including B2C and B2B as well as from a commercial or residential standpoint. They may also have a deeper knowledge of the intricacies of their fields.
$2+ Dollars Per Word
Freelancers that charge this rate have either been freelancing for 20 years or they have a degree plus work experience in their chosen industries. You can expect doctors, lawyers and professionals to charge this rate because they have industry knowledge that cannot be researched online.
Understanding What You Should Charge for Your Custom Content
As a professional freelancer or a freelancer that is just getting started in the industry, you want to ensure that you are making a living wage and growing your business. If all you want to do is pay for your living expenses, then you need to figure out your monthly bills and the number of articles you can comfortably research and write each day. For most freelancers, writing between three and five articles a day is perfectly doable. This means that you should be able to comfortably write between 60 and 100 500-word articles a month.
Next, you need to calculate your monthly bills. For this example, we’ll say you need $2,000 a month for all your bills and expenses and your estimated taxes. If you plan to write 60 articles a month, you need an average price of $33 an article. If you plan to write 100 a month, you need to earn an average price of $20 per article. Your answer is probably somewhere in the middle, like $26.50 per article. This ensures that if you get fewer than 60 articles a month, you can still reasonably expect to pay your bills, but if you get more than that, you may be able to save some money. As you grow in experience, you'll want to start charging more for your custom content.
