How Much Does Good Website Content Cost in the UK? - Research

Deciding how much to pay for your website content

With such a wide range of prices and options available for website content, it’s important to be able to decide how much you want to pay for yours. Ask yourself these seven questions and use the answers to narrow down the range of  providers, quotes and prices. Remember to double-check with the one you choose that you will definitely get everything you want.

1.      How long do you want the pages to be?

2.      How much involvement and work do you want on your plate?

3.      Do you want descriptions including?

4.      Format can be important where websites are concerned. How much attention do you want paying to it?

5.      How much experience and knowledge do you want your writer to have?

6.      Optimisation – Do you want to get found on search engines, convert people (sell) or ensure they use your site right?

7.      How many edits and how much after-care do you want?

Tip: Be exact in what you ask for and get multiple quotes from reliable writers

1.      How long do you want the pages to be?

Whether length is an issue depends on the provider. Try to keep promotional and functional pages short

Most content writers will set an upper limit on the length of a page, averaging around 400 words. This isn’t a big problem though, as most pages on your average site come to between 200 and 300 and the limits are usually transferable. Some charge by the word, but not many.

2.      How much involvement and work do you want on your plate?

A good content creator should take on most of the process while fully representing you and your brief.

In this area, every minute of work your content writer doesn’t do is one you will have to. Are you expected to research, write up and provide all the information to your writer piecemeal? Do they have a system of data gathering? Are they committed to minimising the time you have to dedicate to the job? Some writers will send you a list of every bit of information they need and wait for a reply. Some on the other hand will make your life easy by taking charge of briefing, research and information gathering and making contact easy, quick and painless for you. For example, we use a structured interview format to gather briefings from our clients and do the research and data gathering legwork ourselves as far as possible to minimise client stress. Every provider has a different approach though and ours isn't necessarily best.

3.      Do you want descriptions including?

You almost always do. This is often called metadata.

This is the page title and a short description of what it contains. There’s an art to creating these as word limits are severe and you really need to sell your page to the right people in the tiny gap. This is a core part of the page, so expect it to be included.

4.      Format can be important where websites are concerned. How much attention do you want paying to it?

A good content creator will be able to do as much or as little as you want. You may have to pay more for full formatting, but some should be included.

Things can vary a lot here. Some writers will format your page fully while some will just provide a tract of text. It’s worth asking about what you will get though, as formatting is a core part of website content that can make or break a site. If you don’t get it included, not only are you getting less for your money, you’re probably working with a content writer who doesn’t truly understand the user experience or the delicate link between text and format. This means the site you end up with will not be as friendly to the user or the marketing manager. Don’t be afraid to ask for a sample of the raw work the content creator provides.

Web content experts that charge a pretty penny should be able to go beyond fonts, alignments and white space to make content-related reccomendations to the web designer. These can include things like buttons, associated images, what links to what and more. It’s not a core part of website content writing, but it can add an extra 10% to the sites performance. Just ensure they’re tactful!

5.      How much experience and knowledge do you want your writer to have?

Experience is valuable and you often have to pay handsomely.

This question is important as it dictates the price, service and results of the work. You get what you pay for, but be careful, there are always wide boys and girls who will try and overcharge. Look at their portfolio, check out their testimonials, reviews and social media references and ask the people involved if they really are as good as they say.

Most websites exist for marketing. If yours does, make sure your content writer understands your objectives and comes up with a plan to achieve them. Let them know what you ultimately want your site users to do and make sure they have a plan to make that happen.

6.      Specialised optimisation – Do you want to make it search-engine, user-experience or conversion-rate friendly?

What is important for your site - getting found, creating a good experience, or selling? A specialist in these areas will cost more

Search engine optimisation usually means the writer will have included carefully planned keywords and followed particular rules when planning your site to ensure it gets noticed by search engines as often as possible. In terms of return on investment – it’s worth the extra 35-40% you will pay for it on average if you are actively promoting your page or aiming to sell something. On the other hand, it's not worth it if you're creating a page for a pre-defined set of people, like a social group, who will find out about the page in another way.

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) and user-experience optimisation (UX) may just sound like jargon (and they kind of are). However, having site text that raises your sales (CRO) and ensures users enjoy using your site (UX) can make a real difference. While these may not be advertised often, you can always ask about them and get an example of the writer’s previous optimised work. We’ll have more on this in future.

7.      How many edits and how much after-care do you want?

Two rounds of edits is usually enough, but extensive after-care is important.

As with most services, website content prices can vary hugely. Order a page of website content and you can feasibly end up with anything from a tract of unformatted text, to all-singing, all-dancing web-ready content. Some writers and businesses will even upload it to your website if that helps you – especially with blogs.

How much do professional blogs cost?

Average: £171 per 500 words

Low: £50 - High: £500

Blog costs vary even more than the cost of website content in proportional terms, starting from half the price that websites do and climbing up almost as high. That could be because blogs are widely considered to be less technically defined and specified than web page content - more subjective and artistic.

Summary

In general, you can pay a wide range of prices for website content, from peanuts to premiums. If you want your websites to get found by search engines, to market your site effectively and to be provided efficiently, you may have to pay more. On the other hand, if you want less effective content delivered in bulk, you can pay less. We mainly looked at the quality end of the spectrum and foun the following.

Average prices

• Webpage (SEO): £253.75   -   (range: £100 - £550)
• Webpage (Non-SEO) : £182.50   -   (£100 - £250)
• Price per hour = £57.60   -   (£35 - £75)
• 500-word blog = £171   -   (£50 - £500)

Questions to ask when costing web content

It's important to know what you want when you price up and commission website content, otherwise you can end up paying a lot for things you don't need or ending up with content that doesn't do what you want. Here are the seven most important questions to ask yourself when considering website content.

1.      How long do you want the pages to be?

2.      How much involvement and work do you want to do?

3.      Do you want descriptions including? (Yes)

4.      Website content format is important. How much attention do you want paying to it?

5.      How much experience and knowledge do you want your writer to have?

6.      Optimisation – Do you want to get found on search engines, convert people (sell) or ensure they enjoy your site?

7.      How many edits and how much after-care do you want?

Also, be exact in what you ask for and get multiple quotes from different providers for comparison.

If you ask all of these questions and use our average prices as a guide, you should end up with content that works for you and is not overpriced. Remember the clichés too: You get what you pay for, but don't get taken for a ride.

If you need any more help at all, just email mail@wireframe.uk.com and we'll be happy to give our two pence worth.