Start your online business · Copywriting & blogging · 3 min read
How Much to Charge for Website Copywriting
Short answer
Most website copywriters charge per page or per project rather than per word or hour. Calculate your price from the time a page really takes (research, writing, revisions, calls) and your target hourly income, then adjust upward for strategic pages like home and sales pages, complex industries and proven results. Beginners charge less; experienced specialists charge several times more.
Website copy is one of the most valuable things a copywriter produces. A homepage might be read by every visitor a business ever gets. Yet many writers price it like a blog post. Here's how to think about it.
What goes into website copy
Writing is only part of the job:
- Discovery call or questionnaire
- Research into the business, competitors and customers
- Messaging and positioning decisions
- Page structure and wireframe input
- Writing and editing
- SEO elements: title tags, meta descriptions, headings
- Revision rounds
- Coordination with designers or developers
Price the whole process, not just the words.
Common pricing models
Per page
Simple for clients to understand. Price varies by page type:
| Page | Relative effort |
|---|---|
| Homepage | Highest; sets the core message |
| Sales or landing page | High; must persuade on its own |
| About page | Medium; needs interviews and storytelling |
| Service or product category pages | Medium |
| Contact, FAQ, policy pages | Lower |
Don't charge the same for a homepage and a contact page.
Per project
A package price for a whole site or a defined set of pages. Clients like knowing the total; you benefit from efficiency. Define the scope tightly.
Hourly
Useful for edits, audits and consultations. Less suitable for full projects because it penalizes you for getting faster.
Value-based
Price based on the value to the client. A landing page for a high-ticket offer or a site supporting a large ad budget justifies more than a hobby site. Requires confidence and a track record.
How to set your number
- Pick a target hourly income that covers your living costs, taxes, software and unbillable time (sales, admin, learning).
- Track how long each page takes, including calls and revisions. Most writers underestimate this.
- Multiply to get your floor price per page.
- Adjust for complexity: technical or regulated industries, tight deadlines, multiple stakeholders.
- Adjust for value: how much the copy affects revenue.
What to include in your proposal
- List of pages and approximate length
- Research and interview steps
- Number of revision rounds (two is common)
- SEO deliverables
- Timeline and milestones
- What the client provides (access, brand guidelines, product info)
- Payment terms (many writers take a deposit upfront)
- Fee for extra revisions or pages
Beginner vs experienced pricing
Rates span a wide range. Beginners building a portfolio charge modest project fees. Specialists with strong results in lucrative niches charge many times more for the same number of pages. The difference is proof and positioning, not word count.
Raising your rates
- Raise prices for new clients first.
- Increase with each project until you occasionally hear "too expensive."
- Add strategy deliverables (messaging guides, customer research summaries) that justify higher fees.
- Collect testimonials and, with permission, measurable results.
Presenting your price
How you present a quote affects whether it's accepted. Lead with the outcome and scope, not the number. Offer two or three options, such as core pages only, core pages plus SEO elements, and a full package with messaging strategy, so the client chooses between ways of working with you rather than whether to hire you. Put timelines and revision rounds next to each option. Send proposals promptly after the discovery call while the conversation is fresh, and follow up once or twice. Clients often take a few days to decide, and a polite nudge is normal.
Common pricing mistakes
- Unlimited revisions
- No deposit
- Vague scope ("website copy")
- Matching the cheapest freelancers on marketplaces
- Forgetting to bill for strategy and research
If you're still building skills, see how to become a copywriter and what qualifications you need. Businesses on the other side of the table may find the best website copywriters useful for comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Should I charge per word for website copy?
Usually not. Good web copy is often shorter, and per-word pricing rewards padding. Per-page or per-project pricing reflects the thinking involved.
What should a website copywriting quote include?
The pages covered, research and interviews, number of revision rounds, SEO elements like meta titles, timeline, and what the client must provide.
How do I justify higher rates?
Show a strong portfolio, specialize, include strategy and research, and share results from past projects with permission.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.