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So what is an article worth?

by BKenn01
41 replies
I ask because the pricing ranges from Ridiculously cheap to $50 or more for short articles. I know the old saying you get what you pay for and am not judging anyone based on how cheap or how expensive they are. That is their choice.

But....the market determines everything. What can a good article earn? At $50 a pop you would have to get a return that would make it worth your while. I know it depends on a lot of things but in general you have to be able to get your money back from content you put on your site.

I am still learning so forgive me if my question is confusing.
#article #worth
  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    An expensive article will be well written and informative. This means that it will attract many readers, besides getting organic traffic, since the author will use the right keywords.

    A good article helps you convert your visitors into customers. They feel they can trust the valuable information you are giving them.

    However, you still have to promote the right products to the right audience if you want to be successful. Good articles will help you in the process.
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  • Profile picture of the author ReferralCandy
    A great article is priceless. You can't measure an article's value in advance, though. So all you can count on is a probablistic assessment of future article value based on past article value.

    So if you've written a bunch of amazing things in the past, you can charge more. I wouldn't be surprised if some writers charge several hundred dollars or more per article.

    Some writers (my favourite kind) are "priceless" and cannot be bought unless they truly agree with what you want them to write about.
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  • Profile picture of the author internalsoul
    It depends on who is writing for you and whats your need. High price doesn't always mean high quality articles, have seen folks charging 3 times than avg writers and deliver shits. You should always invest more for your moneysite's content, as that's where your visitors will convert. You can always use, normal article from cheap writers for your avg, seo work.
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  • Profile picture of the author onlineworkers
    Even I have seen lot of variations in the prices for an article. Mainly it depends on the quality how the article is written. Consider a 300 words article and you can see the prices start for $2 in some forums and micro niche sites upto $20 in some specialized writers website. For my office needs we order content from a website called "writeraccess" and they deliver a good quality of articles with a very fast turnaround time.

    So the value of the article depends on where it is gonna be posted or why it is used.. But a content with good quality words and mainly unique content catches lot of eyes...

    Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      It varies far too widely for an "average" to mean anything.

      I've used occasional articles which (as far as I know) have barely earned me a penny, but I've also used occasional articles which have effectively brought me a few hundred dollars per month, regularly and consistently over many years. And it isn't always predictable which will be which, when you're publishing/submitting them.

      Mostly - obviously enough - it depends on the largely-quality-related issue of where you manage to get them published (i.e. on "who reads them") ... "duh".

      But even that (i.e. where you'll be able to get them published) isn't always easy to judge.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bucciamarcia
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        It varies far too widely for an "average" to mean anything.
        This. It can range from $5 to $100 depending on its quality and how the website is planning to use it. On my blog I focus heavily on quality articles, so they're all worth over $100 to me.

        It also depends on the popularity of the website: an article that will be sent to a 5,000+ mailing list is worth a lot more than a post on a new blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyTorrents
    It depends on how the article is written.

    In a nutshell, a "good" article will inspire readers to do something. Either share the content, leave a comment, or buy a product from you. Great articles will bring in a lot of traffic and potentially convert to sales. Low quality articles will bring in very little traffic which won't convert to anything.

    It is very difficult to place a price value on articles unless you leave it on a page and monitor your web stats. Did it increase your conversions? Did it bring in more traffic? Did people share it (because they genuinely liked it)? Did your readers enjoy reading it?

    And of course, like Alexa said, everything is unstable.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      If the article you paid two cents for doesn't make you at least two cents back, or worse, harms your reputation, is a very expensive article indeed.

      On the other hand, if you pay $50 or $100 for an article that expands your reach and generates many times that amount, you got a bargain in my eyes...
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      • Profile picture of the author talfighel
        Paying $50 for an article is way too much but....

        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        if you pay $50 or $100 for an article that expands your reach and generates many times that amount, you got a bargain in my eyes...
        That would make a lot of sense.

        But with so much competition out there for quality articles, you can get it for cheaper prices.

        Long term, I would learn how to write an article myself without paying anyone to write it for me. It is a skill that you can master. Whether you want to or not, that is a choice you will have to make.

        It is cheaper when you write your own.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

          Paying $50 for an article is way too much
          And yet, "strangely", there are writers here charging $200 for articles, quietly fulfilling all the orders of their regularly returning clients who know what they're earning from those articles, and making their full-time livings that way.

          You don't see them advertising so much, because unlike the people writing $10 articles, they don't need to replace their clients all the time because the clients' own businesses don't survive for the long term.

          Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

          It is cheaper when you write your own.
          That depends how long it takes you, and how much your time is worth.
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        • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
          Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

          Paying $50 for an article is way too much
          What if that article generated $1 every month for 10 years?
          What if it created 10 new subscribers every month for 5 to 10 years?
          What if it generated 50 quality links every month for years?
          What if it influenced a buyer to bid $10,000 on your website instead of 1000?

          The worth of an article has little to do with the actual cash you outlay for it today. Think bigger. Think longer term.
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  • Profile picture of the author Superstar88
    I write 500-word articles for several dental blogs at $7-10 each because I think that is the reasonable price for a high quality 500-word article.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Coutts
      Originally Posted by Superstar88 View Post

      I write 500-word articles for several dental blogs at $7-10 each because I think that is the reasonable price for a high quality 500-word article.
      Think again ...
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Superstar88 View Post

      I write 500-word articles for several dental blogs at $7-10 each because I think that is the reasonable price for a high quality 500-word article.
      You poor thing! Dental blogs as in for dentists? You are being taken advantage of, my friend.

      I write for some physicians and those pieces are among the highest paying content I write.

      However, if you are writing for dental blogs for say teeth whitening affiliate products, that's a different story. But even then, you are being taken advantage of, my friend.

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by Jill Carpenter View Post

        It's worth how ever much someone is willing to pay for it.
        If an article I buy is only worth what I pay for it, I feel disappointed.

        Right now, I'm my only client, and assign cost based on the time invested. If all I make back is that cost, I've either been unlucky or miscalculated greatly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry H
    Well written articles are worth what you pay as the return will add up in future revenue.

    You might try i Writer as I did a few months ago. I had a series of 350 word articles written for $70 bucks and I have received a lot of clicks from them...

    Good Luck,

    Terry
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  • Profile picture of the author RickCopy
    Paying $50 for an article is way too much but....
    paying $50 for your typical SEO keyword article is too much....because there are maybe a handful at most of writers in the SEO game that can justify even half that price for an article.

    that being said... a $50 article that makes $51 is still profitable.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by RickCopy View Post

      paying $50 for your typical SEO keyword article is too much
      Nobody can (sensibly) argue with that.

      I think paying $5 for "your typical SEO keyword article" is probably too much, but people do argue with that (needless to say they're people who don't appreciate that using articles to attract targeted traffic has nothing to do with SEO).

      Originally Posted by RickCopy View Post

      because there are maybe a handful at most of writers in the SEO game that can justify even half that price for an article.
      Not even a handful, I think: article marketing isn't part of the SEO game.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
    So what is an article worth?
    It's worth how ever much someone is willing to pay for it.
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    • Profile picture of the author BKenn01
      Originally Posted by Jill Carpenter View Post

      It's worth how ever much someone is willing to pay for it.
      I realize that but, in order to justify paying for it the article has to bring back or go along way with other content to pay for itself.

      Thanks for all the responses. I am just confused on what is a target price to shoot for. I am not about being cheap but I don't want to pay big bucks with little return. If an article returns $100 then it may well be worth paying $50 for. If it brings back $25, you are in the hole.

      Your investment has to pay itself back. The automakers figured out they couldn't pay a guy 100k per year, fund all his health care, pay him for 35 years and then have him live 35 years in retirement to build a car that they sell to the average person that makes 35k per year. It was a broken business model. That analogy is just meant at the business model, not what the article writer makes. I understand everyone has to make a living and it has to be a win win.

      I just don't want to invest a lot in content with high dollar "well written" articles if its not feasible that they will ever pay for themselves.

      I guess that question is, is there a way to guesstimate what an article will return? Again please forgive me if I am confusing anyone. I am confused myself on the whole content thing.
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      • Profile picture of the author andreas3
        Originally Posted by BKenn01 View Post

        If an article returns $100 then it may well be worth paying $50 for. If it brings back $25, you are in the hole.[...]

        I guess that question is, is there a way to guesstimate what an article will return? Again please forgive me if I am confusing anyone. I am confused myself on the whole content thing.
        The question isn't whether ONE $50 article will return $100... but whether 10 or 100 $50 articles will return more than $50 on average.

        If you spend $500 to get 10 articles, and make $600, you're in business! If you make $1000, you've got a great business.

        It doesn't matter whether one article only made $1... other articles made much more than expected and "made up for it."
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        • Profile picture of the author BKenn01
          Originally Posted by andreas3 View Post

          The question isn't whether ONE $50 article will return $100... but whether 10 or 100 $50 articles will return more than $50 on average.

          If you spend $500 to get 10 articles, and make $600, you're in business! If you make $1000, you've got a great business.

          It doesn't matter whether one article only made $1... other articles made much more than expected and "made up for it."
          Yes, that is a very valid point. If the group of work as a whole is profitable then yes its worth the price.
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      • Profile picture of the author Terry H
        So how much is your credibility worth??

        Article writing isn't just about SEO or money. The fact that you can be seen as an expert in your niche really can't be measured as a ROI.

        In the long term, having well written articles will result in traffic that see's you as the expert in your niche and will result in them having confidence in you and your products.

        Outsourcing is helpful to me simply because it's much better than staring at a blank piece of paper. When you outsource, you normally have the option to accept or make some changes. So, what you get is a good base for you to edit and put your own slant and personality to them.

        Great thread...
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        • Profile picture of the author andreas3
          Originally Posted by Terry H View Post

          So how much is your credibility worth??

          Article writing isn't just about SEO or money. The fact that you can be seen as an expert in your niche really can't be measured as a ROI.
          Hey, if you ever need any articles...

          Basically, yeah. This is the other side of article writing. Not nearly enough content marketers think this way (not meaning to ignore the incomparable Alexa here).Expertise counts for the long term.
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  • Profile picture of the author hsbinmarket
    Originally Posted by Casey Rybach View Post

    If you outsource your articles to the Philippines, I have seen deals where they write 100 fully optimized articles fairly cheap. I was able to garner a deal for 100 articles for $100. A $1 per article deal is hard to find from an experienced writer.
    Philipines are realy cheap !!
    They are needy and their poverty is serving u also.
    U should think about what u pay to ur countrymen for the same standard article.
    I hope you will pay them on their writing standard.
    Dont hire them in cheap only for they are needy and dont bid higher in fear to lose the work.
    Its your duty to encourage them, sir. Its your duty to teach them to bid reasonably for his quality.
    You are not committing crime. But you should be moral.
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    • Profile picture of the author hsbinmarket
      You should pay according to your budget and contract with the writer.

      But to be moral, u should pay some extra incentive to the writer if the article works lot for u.

      I mean, contractual payment is not the worth. U should pay higher if your return is higher.
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      • Profile picture of the author lionak69
        Originally Posted by hsbinmarket View Post

        You should pay according to your budget and contract with the writer.

        But to be moral, u should pay some extra incentive to the writer if the article works lot for u.

        I mean, contractual payment is not the worth. U should pay higher if your return is higher.

        Sorry if my question is foolish - but how would you calculate the return from an article? So far, whatever I have got written - does add value to my sites but I have never been able to quantify the RoI for them... Is there a way to do so?
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    • Profile picture of the author Willie Crawford
      Originally Posted by hsbinmarket View Post

      Philipines are realy cheap !!
      They are needy and their poverty is serving u also.
      U should think about what u pay to ur countrymen for the same standard article.
      I hope you will pay them on their writing standard.
      Dont hire them in cheap only for they are needy and dont bid higher in fear to lose the work.
      Its your duty to encourage them, sir. Its your duty to teach them to bid reasonably for his quality.
      You are not committing crime. But you should be moral.

      I love the Philippines and it's people. I have lived there and my
      wife is from there.

      ... and I have to disagree that there is anything immoral about paying
      a lower price for something because you can get it cheaper based
      upon local circumstances.

      Infact, that is often how businesses gain an edge in the marketplace,
      and survive while many of their competitors fail. For example,
      corporations often base where they are going to build factories based
      upon the cost of local labor, local government friendliness to their
      type of business, the cost of real estate, etc.

      People who live in big cities in many countries often have higher costs
      of living than those living out in the countryside, and consequently
      you can often hire rural workers cheaper. That in no way means that
      you should feel that there is something wrong with paying the lower
      wage... and that you should pay the rural worker more than the
      going wage.

      "The market" and competition determines what is a fair price and
      morality is not a part of it.

      I'll get off my soapbox by admitting the I do often give workers located
      in empoverished locations bonuses from time to time just because I
      like doing that... but it's not based upon a sense of obligation. It's
      generally just a bonus for a job well done... and perhaps because it
      make me feel good!

      Willie
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  • Profile picture of the author ReferralCandy
    To guesstimate what an article will return, I think you need to look at the existing body of work of whichever writer you're hiring.

    Alternatively, start with whatever you're comfortable losing, and then see what kind of results you get with that.
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    • Profile picture of the author sfrewerd
      That's a hard one. I don't like the idea of paying anyone anything for an article, but that's because it's what I do. However, there will come a time when I won't have time to do all of my own writing and I'll need to outsource. Anyway...

      If you use an article in a number of different ways, such as rewriting and then using it in a blog, or as part of a short report, or maybe taking parts of it and posting on FB etc., then you're going to get a lot of use from one article. If your one article attracts traffic that builds your list and you make more money from the list...then it shouldn't matter what the article will 'return.' It's a long term investment; especially if it's in an evergreen niche. Hope that didn't just confuse the heck out of you. ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author cheddarben
    $50 article... nope.
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  • Profile picture of the author mshajid
    Seriously a great article is priceless. if you effort to write your own article it's make you an outstanding revenue or unleash traffics to your blog or website indeed without any doubt. Content is King always .
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  • Profile picture of the author Willie Crawford
    I have had individual articles, that I wrote myself, in as little as 10-15
    minutes make me thousands of dollars. Those were articles written
    using the problem-agitate-solution formula.

    I basically described a painful problem, pointed out why it really was
    a painful problem for my target readers, and then recommended a
    product that I was promoting as the obvious solution.

    If I were not a write, I would happily paid $100 or more for a similar
    article... one where the writer just used good copywriting psychology.

    I have had quality articles written for me inexpensively too, but I don't
    generally expect it.

    What I consider an article to be worth is based largely upon my
    anticipated ROI :-)

    Willie
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  • Profile picture of the author WebCod3r
    I think article length is not an issue. For me if my visitor or customer is satisfied in 300 words then it valuable most to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Coutts
    Originally Posted by Casey Rybach View Post

    A $1 per article deal is hard to find from an experienced writer.
    I hope so, I really hope so ... An experienced writer, I mean, a writer who has real experience and is presumably good at his or her craft, is rarely ever that stupid!
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  • Profile picture of the author frank07
    I think the good article must be useful for visitors and it should be good with Google's eye.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    The value of an article has everything to do with what it is selling.

    I used to write 600 word very specific scientific & testing equipment articles for $100, and gave that up because it just didn't pay enough for my time. Would take me 2-3 hours to put one together.

    The company would use them as original SEO magnets for those products. Every sale they'd make $100s. So how much was my article worth? Conversions/month X profit/sale = $1000s. That $100 was an easy investment for them.

    If you're writing content for your own blog, have you monetized your readership? What's the average value of something you sell from your blog that this article is bringing in leads for? And how many a month of those will you sell? Now you're getting somewhere.

    Niche down and develop a name for yourself in that niche if you want to earn more money. Anyone can write (badly). Not many can write accurate and correct technical articles on the use of FLIR infrared cameras.

    The abstract idea that the value of an article comes from the author trading time for dollars is wrong. The value comes from the results it brings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
    Originally Posted by BKenn01 View Post

    What can a good article earn?
    This depends entirely on your business model, and many other factors.

    If you are adding the article to a brand new website, it might not earn anything for a long time.

    If you are adding it to a website that already has authority status (ranks well in Google), then it might get ranked highly very fast and start attracting traffic within days.

    There are many factors at play that can't be summed up with a single number of so-called 'dollar value' of the article.
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  • Profile picture of the author mrdomains
    Content and articles are not always the same.. I rarely pay more than 10 - 15 bucks for content. Articles? That´s another story. I write most myself because they would cost me 50 - 200 bucks and I am comfortable investing this time in my own biz.

    About the roi per pop you mentioned.. depends how long the pop lasts. You would hope a 200 buck article will be profitable (cash or rep/branding) and make a popopopopopopcorn sound for a long time.
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