How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Content Writer?

by Maria Ansari · Published June 6, 2023 · Updated August 25, 2023

If your website or blog is starting to take off, you might be wondering: how much does it cost to hire a content writer?

Knowing how much it will cost to hire a content writer for your business can be hard, especially if this is your first time hiring one. However, it’s important to consider your business goals and the budget you’re willing to spend when estimating the cost to hire a content writer.

In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know before hiring a content writer and how much it costs to hire one for your business.

Types of Content Writers

According to the type of writer you hire and the skill level they possess, you will have to pay more or less depending on what each type of content writer will bring to the table.

Let’s take a look at the most common types of writers you’ll encounter in the space when looking to hire one for your business.

Low-end writers

Low-end writers are usually found on freelance sites and are the people who have just started or put minimal effort into their writing.

Hiring low-end writers is ideal if you want to create lower-quality articles but at a reasonable rate or without taking out a big chunk of your budget. Low-end writers will create blog posts with many grammatical and spelling errors, and plagiarized text. In addition to this, you shouldn’t expect such writers to have any expertise in SEO or know how to engage your audience.

Mid-level writers

At the mid-level, most writers will be experienced in what they do but that doesn’t mean all mid-level writers will create quality content. You have to look hard to find the right one according to your business and it can cost up to one hundred dollars for hiring a mid-tier professional writer.

Mid-level writers will be able to offer you some sort of SEO-optimized writing along with a solid post without any grammatical errors. However, you might feel that the content lacks creativity and uniqueness which doesn’t help your brand stand out from the rest of the competition.

High-end writers

High-end writers are the people who know and are familiar with the waters of the blogging world. Essentially, these are the people who are experts at writing content and optimizing it fully for your business’s audience.

High-end writers will be able to create highly SEO-optimized blog posts that can help grow your blog website. You should also expect a unique format and style of writing from such high-end writers as this can help your brand stand out. Clear, concise, and quality writing can help keep your readers fully engaged with your content and your business’s website.

5 Factors to Consider When Estimating the Cost of Hiring a Content Writer

Let’s go over some factors you should consider when estimating the cost of hiring a content writer for your business.

#1. The type of content you need

Depending on the type of content you require for your blog, you may have to hire an expert content writer. This means that if you decide to hire a new content writer and pay them less, you should expect lower-quality content to be handed over to you at the end. On the other hand, hiring an experienced content writer can help create high-quality blog posts that help attract new readers to your blog website.

You also want to consider the type of writing you might need a writer to do and whether they are fit for the job. You need to consider whether you want to create tutorials, how-tos, content upgrades, guides, roundups, or product reviews for your blog website. Since it can cost you different prices for the type of content you need, hiring the right person for the right job is needed so you don’t overpay and get less value than expected. For instance, if you hire a writer who is an expert in creating WordPress tutorials, they might not be the best fit for writing for your online magazine.

The length of the articles you want the writer to create will also impact the cost of hiring a content writer for your business. This means that if you’re going to ask the writer to create multiple 1,500-word blog posts, you should expect to pay them at least a hundred dollars for each article they output.

#2. Your business goals

The next most important thing to consider is your business goal and what exactly you want the writer to do for your business.

You need to consider whether you want to hire a content writer long-term or for a short-term project. For instance, if you need a writer short-term, you can hire freelance writers for projects which can cost you much less. On the other hand, hiring a content writer for a longer term can cost you much more as they have to dedicate their time and effort to a longer term with your business.

It’s also important to consider if you’re looking to hire a writer that’s local to your business or anyone will do. It can cost you much more to hire a local writer as there might be limited options available to choose from. However, you can find many expert writers online that can cater to your business needs at a competitive price.

Your business goals also play an important factor in deciding how much it can cost to hire a content writer for your business. For instance, if you’re looking for a writer to run your blog website full time by researching topics themselves as well as creating and publishing content on your blog post, it can cost you much more compared to hiring a content writer part-time to create 2 blog posts each week.

#3. Your brand’s guidelines

You also need to consider your brand’s guidelines when estimating the cost of hiring a content writer. This means that if you’re looking to hire an expert writer in your industry and produce higher-quality content, it can cost you more. An expert writer will also help you create SEO-optimized blog posts for your business, which again, will cost you more than hiring a new writer to create sub-par content.

It’s also important to keep your brand’s style guide and tone of voice in mind when looking for a content writer for your business. For example, if you’re strictly looking to create content according to your brand, hiring an expert writer is recommended. This will cost you more but will produce premium, engaging content for your blog website.

But if you’re looking to create low-quality content but want to create a lot of it, hiring a new content writer is the ideal option as it can cost you much less since you don’t have to worry about the quality and all you need is content.

#4. Your budget

One important question to ask yourself when estimating the cost to hire a content writer for your business: How much are you willing to pay?

In simpler words, if you’re willing to dedicate a big part of your business’s budget to hiring a content writer, you can hire an expert who knows what they’re doing. As a result, it can help make your blog post profitable in return.

But if you’re limited on budget and just looking to post content on your blog post on the side, hiring a fairly new content writer can lower the business expenses while still creating unique content for your brand.

#5. Your audience

Depending on your brand’s audience, you need to think about the quality of content they’re used to seeing from your business.

For instance, if you’re hiring an expert who only creates WordPress content for you and your blog posts previously have content about food recipes, your audience will be very confused about what’s happening. As a result, it can cause them to lose interest and potentially bounce off your blog website for good. You may also overspend on hiring an expert for the content your audience doesn’t really want to see.

Wrapping Up

Depending on what kind of content you need for your website, you can estimate how much it costs to hire a content writer for your business. This essentially means that you will pay the content writer more or less depending on the quality of content you want them to create for your business.

An expert writer will charge you more but will help create SEO-friendly blog posts and keep your readers engaged with your content. On the other hand, hiring a new writer can cost you much less but in return, you can expect lower-quality content with no attention to high-priority keywords for attracting new readers.

What type of content writer are you looking to hire for your website or blog? Let us know in the comments box below.

FAQS – Cost to Hire a Content Writer

Here are some of the most common questions about hiring writers:

How much does it cost to hire a content writer?

The cost to hire a content writer depends on the type of writer you’re looking to hire, the required expertise, and the writer’s skill level. Low-end writers charge as little as $10 per article. Mid-level writers typically charge between $100 to $300 per article. High-end writers charge upwards of $350 per article. This largely depends on factors like the writer’s expertise, industry mastery, and the type of content you need them to produce.

How much does it cost to hire a blog writer?

How much you should expect to pay to hire a blog writer depends on the scope of your writing project. This includes the length of the blog post, the research required for it, and any media (screenshots) that goes into it. If, for instance, you’re looking for a technical content piece between 1,000 to 2,000 words, you can expect to pay anywhere from $150 to $300 for it.

How much is it to hire a writer for your website?

If you’re looking to hire a writer for your website, you will need to plan out the different content pieces they will work on. Short blog posts and product reviews (for e-commerce sites) will cost you $100 to $200 per post. Standard blog posts ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 words will cost you $150 to $500. Long-form content (guides, e-books, in-depth comparisons) will cost $500 to $1,000 per post.

How does content writer pricing work?

Content writer pricing depends on different factors including the scope of the project, industry knowledge, your audience (B2B/B2C, C-level executives, marketing heads, etc…), writer’s topic expertise, writer’s experience, and how the writer charges (per word, per content piece, or per hour).

How much does it cost to hire a freelance writer?

Freelance writers on sites like Upwork and Fiverr charge between $10 per hour to $150 per hour.

How do you hire a freelance writer?

Hiring a freelance writer is a simple 5-step process. Check out our blog post for step-by-step instructions and actionable advice on how to hire a freelance writer for your business.

How do you outsource content writing?

Instead of writing content yourself, you can outsource content writing to experts. Start by defining your goals, deciding on a budget, defining content requirements, creating a content calendar, and finding the right expert for the job. It’s also important to validate the writer’s work. Once you do all this, you can start creating high-quality content for your website or blog!

Check out this article on How to Outsource Content Writing for more information.

Where can I find good writers to hire?

There are tons of great places to find writers for your website or blog. Check out our handpicked list of the best places to find good writers along with tips on how to find, vet, and hire qualified writers.

What to look for when hiring a writer?

The most important things to consider are the skill level that’s required for your writing project and your content goals. Are you looking for a writer with excellent industry knowledge and topic mastery? Do you need the writer to have a good understanding of SEO best practices? Ask for writing samples and read their content to determine if they’re a good fit for your writing project.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Content Writer?