Right now, having the best possible online presence is smart. With so many businesses working remotely your website is vital to ongoing communication and brand presence.

But just like the Forth Road Bridge, keeping your website in shape is a constant challenge. And that includes the copy.

Whether you’re creating a new website or looking to update an existing one, you’ll want to understand how much a website copywriter would charge.

So that’s what this post seeks to help you with.

Just add copy

Let’s first dispel a common myth. Your website copy doesn’t simply fill the white spaces in between images and graphics. It has a job to do. An important one.

Businesses will typically pay web designers and builders thousands of pounds to create a new website but often overlook the need for web copy. Only when the web builders ask for ‘content’ will they realise this oversight.

Ok, that’s extreme, but it can be the case.

And I totally endorse investing in the best design and build you can.

But copy isn’t icing on the cake. It IS the cake! At least, a core part of it.

What’s the value of great website copy?

So, just why should you hand over hard-earned cash for words? After all, we can all write them.

I agree.

Personally, I can play about with Photoshop. I’ve previously built a few websites too. But I know when to call in a designer or a web builder.

You see, web copy is not just words. Like weeds are not garden plants. That copy on your website must command attention from your target audience and meet them where they’re at. It must then engage, inform, and lead them to action.

Web copy is read differently too. It’s scanned as they scroll in earnest. Perhaps only for a minute. Will your headlines and highlights hold them on the page for long enough?

Adding some carefully crafted personality to your web copy helps readers to connect with you on another level.

• It gives them a good feeling about you before they’re in touch
• It contributes to them learning to trust you.
• It helps to shorten your sales funnel.

In fact, great website copy can be priceless, just like finding new customers.

The process of creating website copy

A second myth to dispel: copywriters don’t just write your copy. You can’t say “Well, it’s only a few hundred words so it won’t take them more than an hour to write.”

You’ll find more detail about my own website copywriting process here, but let’s cover the main points in this post.

To write effective website copy your copywriter needs to:

1. Understand you and your business value
2. Understand your audience and what’s going on in their head
3. Be clear on your objectives for the website
4. Discover your keyword focus for SEO
5. Develop a structured plan for your copy
6. Draft the copy
7. Amend it once you’ve reviewed it
8. Possibly tweak it once incorporated into the design

Forgive me for being blunt, but that’s more than an hour’s work for a ‘few hundred words’!

Also, remember that writing less can actually be harder. Yes, more challenging. There’s no room for irrelevance. Every word counts.

Ask yourself: should a five-word company strapline cost less than a blog post? I think not.

So, what should your web copy cost?

Just like web designers and builders, you’ll have many options for website copywriters. Some will be fresh and eager on the scene whilst others will have *ahem* been round the block a few times.

Most will price for your project. Not by the hour. And certainly not by word. They’ll establish their fee based on an hourly rate for the estimated time required plus their value to your project. We’re not coming up with figures out of thin air, we have a system.

ProCopywriters creates a useful pricing survey each year. The 2020 survey states that the average copywriter charges £379 a day, with the range from £250 to over £2000, depending on experience and skillset.

From my perspective, you can expect to pay from £1600.00 for a modest seven-page website, knowing that I’ll work through all the points above (and more) to provide hard-working copy for you.

I’m a mid-level copywriter (in my humble opinion), so you’ll find lower prices from those with less experience and you’ll certainly find much higher prices from those with more expertise.

Contact a few copywriters to get a steer on their pricing, but most importantly, an understanding of their experience and skillset. Because simply deciding on price alone could lead to more weeds in your garden (so to speak). Finding someone you trust to create effective copy for your business – that’s more important.