SEO Firms: What Is the Highest rate per 500 words you will pay for content? (QUESTION)

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Hey guys and gals,

I want your honest opinion here.

I try to be accommodating and flexible when I give content creation quotes. Naturally, everyone wants to save as much money as they can. I also charge one rate on forums and another on my own site, like many writers do.

But I would like to know what the maximum is you will pay for high-quality, unique content.

Paying your content creator well is the #1 way to earn their loyalty. To be honest, $10/500 word clients are a dime a dozen, and writers don't really feel any particular need to wow them. That's not to say that I don't value those clients. They can really pad my pockets on slow days. On the other hand, they represent *much* more work and more of these clients have unrealistic expectations compared to say, $30/500 word clients. (Just keeping it real)
#search engine optimization #500 #content #firms #highest #pay #question #rate #seo #words
  • You have asked a very good question. Content creation is one of the most challenging fields for most marketers as you can never really get hold of someone reliable who will keep delivering over a long term. $1-2/100 word creators are dimes a dozen as you said, and to be very honest I think it is extremely tough for a decent writer to offer/create unique value at that range.

    I personally think $3-4/100 words is a good rate to charge, and I am sure that there are a lot of marketers who will comfortably buy at that range if you can provide quality and RELIABILITY. Turn around time is something content creators are never good with - and this could be your unique value proposition.

    Lastly, I have seen content creators charge premiums for faster turnaround time, research, etc etc. Overall, don't feel tempted to charge a low rate because everyone else is doing so. A lot of people (including me) are already buying at higher rates and I am pretty sure you will receive enough buyers too.

    My ceiling would be $4 per 100 words.
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    • Thanks for the great info .

      My rates are on the higher end of that spectrum. I don't lower my rates to compete, and I strongly encourage other writers not to do so. It's a race to the bottom. If you engage human readers, charge what you're worth.

      That said, I do occasionally work with people on price if I have the time to fill the orders, and if they order in bulk.

      Reliability is huge. Writers are people too, and sometimes things come up that we can't postpone. When this happens, we lose clients, and that's how it should be. It sucks, but it is what it is.

      Indeed, $10/500 word writers are everywhere, as are $10/500 word clients. And yes, it is exceptionally difficult to create compelling Web content at that price. It's almost impossible to crack the $100 level at that level. I did it a few times when I started out, but it takes a heavy toll.
  • Banned
    That is cause they are used to order 500 words for $3 to $5

    I also have high expectations when I order 500 words for $10,- after all I'm paying 2-3 times more so I expect the content to be of higher quality then I can get myself all day long, anywhere.

    And that's the problem with some writers, they feel underrated when working for $10/500 words and thus they start to outsource it to platforms like iWriter.

    Earn their loyalty? Most should be happy they get work.

    You're saying it yourself already, writers have no urge to WOW $10/500 words clients while they do have that urge for $30/500 word clients, so no wonder that the $10/500 word clients start to complain when they receive some basic article that is most likely outsourced.

    One thing I learned and that I want to give as advice to content buyers:

    "It doesn't matter whether you spend $1 or $2 for your content, you end up with the same basic crap (there are a few exceptions as is the case with everything). I have an excellent writer for $1,20/100 words right now which writers much better content then the $2/100 words writers that I tested."

    Personally I feel very uncomfortable spending $3-$4/100 words for website content, for a sales letter, ok why not, for a piece that I plan to use in a newsletter and also use for paid traffic, sure no problem.

    But for some website content, no definitely not, have to add that I launch dozens of sites at a time so you can imagine the costs involved with that.
  • I am not gonna write a article for a guy who will be paying $5/500 words. i am not of that level. So i would not write.
    I am not saying that i can't but if you can;t pay $15/500 words for unique article, i would neglect.
  • You shouldn't. $10/500 words is an extremely low rate. What exactly are you paying 2-3x more than? Fiverr? That's garbage.

    Yes, you can get lucky on Fiverr, but those writers will move on once they realize what they're worth.

    Finally, real writers don't feel grateful for work at the $10/500 word level. Don't kid yourself. For perspective: I charge $49 for 500 words on Constant Content and get steady sales. On my personal website, I charge $30 per 500 words. I charge more at CC because they take 30%. If you don't pay more than $10/500 words, you probably aren't even on the radar of most writers who can really make a difference to your site's metrics.

    I think you're being kind of short-sighted. Google is pushing the bar for quality ever higher. If you stick with low-rent writers, you're going to regret it. As mentioned, yes, you can get lucky from time to time. But any decent writer is going to leave you eventually if you're paying peanuts.

    People are starting to expect more from websites. Typos and illogical article structure aren't as tolerated anymore.

    And, to be blunt, your business costs are irreverent to us. Every business has costs, including ours. If you can't afford to scale up, don't scale up.
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    • Banned
      If writers don't want to give all they got they shouldn't accept $2/100 word writing jobs, simple as that but no they are probably short on work but their egos get in the way.

      Don't pretend like you know anything about Google, you're as clueless as they come, Google has no way to determine the quality of an article besides checking it for grammar / spelling.

      I already outlined why I would hire a more expensive writer, and that's defnitely not for Google.
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  • just want to share, I'm paying $5 for 500 words content with my VA

    $30 per 500 words is pretty much big.
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  • Ghoster must write all those "Tweet your way to the top of Google" WSO sales letters. He is clearly able to take pie in the sky theories, and turn them into believable hype spin that almost sounds credible.

    But 99% of what he has said is total fabrication.

    He's an excellent writer, as you can see.

    If I find the time later, when I have less important things to do. I may take the time to explain, with citations from Google - not some random websites opinion like Moz. Why they "Don't" and more to the point "Can't" use social signals as a ranking factor. I shouldn't need to, as this topic has been beaten over the head for over a year now. But maybe for the amusement of the masses.

    To summarize, the problems are more focused around concerns of:

    Server Access To Social Sites
    Server Bandwidth Resources
    And Privacy Laws
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    • I don't know anything about this so I ask with genuine curiosity.

      Let's say you had an article on a site that had no SEO done for it. The article is about Kim Kardahian's butt implant and it ends up getting spread around Facebook and Twitter, millions of people spread it, doing whatever you do on those social websites.

      All of those millions of shares and likes and whatever else happens wouldn't help the ranking of that article at all?
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  • This pretty much ends the discussion.

    Are pages from social media sites ranked differently? - YouTube
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  • SEO section is getting very angry today.

    Someone might even give you an infraction and report your post for being a meanie...

    Apparently skin is much thinner these days.
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    • Banned
      Lol who gives a **** about infractions these days or any days, it's not like the WF is that profitable (like it used to be).

      Don't get me wrong, without the WF I would still be a nobody, it allowed me to make a great small fortune, on the other hand if the WF wasn't here there would most likely be another forum as things always even their selves out.

      I'm quite exceptional I guess, I've received at least a handful final warnings and a dozen perm bans for being direct and it really doesn't change me in any way.

      Don't get me wrong, I love this forum, but I can't stand bullshit.

      That;s just me, I'm 38 now, and I read that it's very hard if not impossible to change someone once he reached 25+ or something, even when some one wants to change at that age it's hardly possible.
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  • We happily pay $40 per article all day long.

    I know of other business owners that pay $400 per article.
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    • Thanks for your reply. It blows my mind when people come on claiming that no one pays above $10-$20 for content.

      Bottom line is, there's content, and then there's content.
  • Wow, this thread blew up.

    Even if the search engines don't use social yet, they will in the near future, so it's a moot point. Same goes with grading content for quality.

    Cutts:

    A benefit of corporate compartmentalization is that you can have one spokesman say something and be wrong. Later they can just say, "It wasn't my department."

    Just sayin'.

    As to how they would get the data, they're Google. If something like Buzzsumo exists, they can get the data.

    BTW, Google Authorship.

    Sounds pretty social.
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  • I guess you are just going to keep ignoring the part where he says that the big problem with considering social signals is that they could be blocked from crawling social sites at any moment, and it has happened before.

    It's okay to admit that you were wrong, but if you just want to keep arguing a point that has been proven over and over again to be false, so be it.

    And BTW, Google dropped authorship.
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    • Didn't see your posts above.

      I was probably thinking schema.org and rich snippets. Just get back to me in 5 years about whether social signals aren't fully integrated . They don't need direct access to Twitter or Facebook. Fuzzy data = estimate, and an estimate is all they need if they're giving it a low weight in the overall scheme of things.

      Too tired to go line-by-line, but I'm sure I'm wrong about some things. No one's knowledge is perfect.

      Not sure what you're problem is with the statement about 100% do-follow links. That is a horrible idea. Unless I misunderstood you. Link diversity is hugely important, and no-follow links are powerful if you engage in content marketing correctly. You can convert them into do-follow links, but more importantly, they can build immense brand awareness.

      I guess if all you care about is ranking in Google, this doesn't mean much to you. I think a brand's overall online surface area is much more important, myself.

      awareness+engagement=profit.

      Joshua Unseth, YouMoz

      If all you ever seek is do-follow links, than you are focusing too tightly on SERPs, imho.
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  • Be cautious. Anything offered for less than $50 is questionable!

    Content = Online Experience

    "We are heading to a new paradigm in 2015 where content is KING."
    Content is the nuts and bolts its the basis of everything that you do online. If you don't have good content on your website, visitors will immediately bounce out of there and be on to someone else's site.

    We need content spreading throughout the web, your SEO and link building efforts can easily fail without content. And, if you don't have good social media content, nobody will share, re-tweet, or "Like" it and you will never be able to build up your brand.

    Why would anyone ever think that content should be cheap? Content holds the value of online success and if you think that it should be found at a black Friday special, you're crazy.

    My opinion, a piece of good, quality content is worth $50 to $225 and sometimes even more. Two things: Consider the "why" of the piece and the length of the piece.

    Obviously the cost of a few 500 word articles or press releases is different than the cost of creating a 20 page ebook. Businesses that don't GET THIS, will laugh and ignore the price. Make no mistakes in this area. Content is King.
  • OP, I went down swinging one time trying to claim that social sigs were the new black, but a year later I see zero evidence of this and I think it may be time to put the idea that social impacts rankings to bed.

    Of course it can send direct traffic to your site, traffic that hopefully doesn't bounce too soon, but even then expecting to get a link outta the deal is a reach.

    Just keep writing solid content and let people worry about their sites' rankings. Your job is to put pretty furniture and accents in the house, not house maintenance.
  • I've reread this thread and want to flip the original question on it's head.

    As a writer that says they are high quality and does appear capable of writing at least reasonable quality content (going on the way you've wrote in this thread), how much do you think you should be paid to generate high quality content?

    I'm interested in quality content that engages the reader, so not your average here's another 500 words on subject A just to fill a site with content or in a feeble attempt to create content to add backlinks from.

    I want content that I and my more savvy visitors won't suspect it's been paid for or quickly created with no passion for the subject.

    How much money do you expect so you care about what you write?

    David
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    • That would be $30 per 500 minimum, in general. I will gladly go to 800 or so for that price if the subject matter merits it. The writing comes naturally; it's the outline and research that take the most time. I don't add fluff, so if the subject matter merits 500 words, you're getting 500 words.

      I've worked for $100 per 500 and I've worked for $30 per 500 and I've worked for $10 per 500. Prices vary by a number of factors, but as a general rule, if the content requires special knowledge, the price goes up.

      Most good writers will work with you on price if they have time in their schedule, but they don't make a habit of working in the $10/500 bracket.

      Think of it this way: I can either do 4 articles in a day for $40, or I can do 4 for $120. Surely we can agree that that is a substantial gap.

      The latter customers will cost me more to acquire, but they are better "quality" clients. They don't fuss as much, and they don't have unrealistic expectations. They leave me alone and let me do my job. These clients recognize the difference between brand ambassadorship (which, when you get right down to it, is my job) and plain old Web content. They don't want to fill their domain with thousands of mediocre articles. They want to dominate their niche with articles that attract organic backlinks.This saves them time and money overall because it means their social marketing team doesn't have to spend hours promoting mediocre content that no one wants to link to.

      Naturally, they give better referrals, too.

      Scope-creep is a huge deal when working with lower-budget clients. I've had $10 clients who for whatever reason expected me to upload their content to WordPress or find images for them. Nope, not what we agreed on. Scope-creep is a bitch because it means that the $10 I'm earning is really $7 because I've got a guy goosing me for free work that I'm not billing for. It generally doesn't happen when dealing with $30+ clients.

      ______

      • It's perfectly OK to ask your prospective writer how they intend to make your content shareable or backlink worthy if you're paying a decent price. It's NOT ok to expect this if you're only paying $10. Sorry.

      • They should have a plan for this. If you've put down a deposit, ask them to send you their outline before they begin writing. You can tell a lot about their skill level by how they've structured the piece. The introduction shouldn't just pose a problem to the reader, it should offer hope of a solution and tease a bit.

      • Your writer should front-load the article with relevant and useful information to establish authority in the subject matter—without selling the farm.

      • A good writer will keep fluff to an absolute minimum while maintaining an authoritative yet friendly tone. To that end, they should keep adverbs (look for words that end in "ly") and vague words (also, like, etc) to a minimum. At the same time, they should use transitions (However, Moreover, Furthermore) frequently to establish flow and authority. Finally, they should vary their sentence length to keep the reader engaged.

      • Stellar writers know how to create attention-grabbing headlines, and they know how to create content that stands apart in some way from everything else that's already out there. It's not just about getting a clean bill of health from CopyScape.

      • A high-rent writer will provide references to authoritative domains (not Wikipedia).

      • Grammar should be flawless, and you shouldn't find typos. They will know the difference between "its" and "it's," "affect and effect," etc, etc. I think I said this up-thread, but when your readers come across these typos, it's extremely off-putting. Your authority goes right out the window.

      • Ask your writer upfront if they farm out content. Obviously, you don't want this. For $30+, they should absolutely NOT be outsourcing your work.It's counter-intuitive, but the cheap writers are more likely to outsource.

      You can't really judge a writer based on their forum posts. I know some who just let it all hang out on forums, so to speak, but they turn in flawless copy.

      Last thing I can think of off the top of my head..if you want to be taken seriously by a real writer, be prepared to pay at least 50% up front. After a few transactions, I might let it slide. For other writers, this is a hard-and-fast rule. In a perfect world, we wouldn't ask for money up front. But it is what it is.

      Let the writer invoice you, and ask them to note the terms in the invoice. That way, if you get a bad apple, you won't have any problems winning a PayPal dispute.

      One final note: You absolutely CAN find great writers at the $10/500 price. The issue there is that writers tend to increase their prices as they gain confidence. There are a lot of hidden costs associated with working with these novice writers. I see the same people posting in the "Want To Hire" section for new writers like clockwork.

      A lot of business owners overlook these hidden costs. What do you pay yourself per hour? If you spend just 2 hours finding and hiring a $10 writer, the article had better make you a lot of money down the line. Time is money. On the other hand, if you hire a good writer, you're practically guaranteed backlinks if you know how content marketing works (Hint: stellar content + Reddit) Sure, it costs more upfront, but you will gain tangible benefits right away.


      Any other questions, let me know.
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  • I would personally pay up to $50 per 700 - 800 words article. But it has to be very unique and very very valuable!

    You always get what you pay for!

    I hope this helps!

    Keep up the great work!!

    I wish you the best of the best!

    Cheers!
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  • Back on topic for this post, I've paid writers over $100 for a single article before. Really depends on the niche and the type of expertise needed.

    I generally won't work with writers that charge per word though. I give them a topic with some very specific instructions and guidelines and they write it.

    I hate word counts. Too often a writer will be cutoff because of a word count and the article wraps up with a shitty finish or they inflate the article with a bunch of useless fluff to hit some artificial number. No thanks.
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    • The writer shouldn't take the word count literally. They are charging you for a minimum. If it goes over 100-200, it's no big deal.

      Fluff can be the result of you overestimating how many words your subject matter warrants.
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    • Ghost a couple things. i generally think you got slapped a bit too hard by others in this thread and said so earlier. You are far from the first to think social has ranking metrics so its no big deal to me .

      However part of the response is because you are assuming things that there really is no solid evidence for. I cut you some slack because this thread was about content and identify you as a writer. I don't expect you to know as much about SEO. Personally I wish we had just stuck to that as given the title and the OP this long discussion about social and SEO is hidden from those who might find it useful.

      We do get tired of people coming into our profession and thinking they know it all. SEOs don't normally go into the writing and copyright section and tell writers all about their profession. Its a little arrogant - but pretty common - that every one regardless of what their main thing is tends to think they have SEO down and can lecture even those whose main thing it is - but hey nowadays everyone is a SEO so thats hardly just you..

      You ARE off on social and sorry yes you ARE off on nofollow for SEO (No one is saying you should turn down or not seek links for traffic but nofollow diversity plays little to no part for SEO since its almost impossible to not get nofollowed links in your link portfolio. Why should I go looking for nofollow when they come naturally? - even some of my followed links will turn to no follow anyway).

      The discussion on content would have been more fruitful, as a writer would be heard more on content than trying to teach us about SEO. Just a suggestion and yes I still think its been a bit over the top against you.
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  • I don't get it. You people spend hours here, typing thousands of words, but
    you are debating how much to pay some clown for 500 lousy words?

    Paul
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    • I don't follow your point. What does the first part have to do with the second?

      I'm a member of dozens of different forums and have written hundreds of thousands of words across them. So what? I still suck at writing articles that people would want to read and share with others. If I could write those articles, there would be no such thing as a "writer".
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    • How dare we freely discuss things on a discussion board since it disqualifies us from talking about writing that we pay money for.

      Sometimes your shtick is just so illogical its humorous.
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