Are you planning to write SEO articles for a living? Or just want to make some money on the side? And do you wonder how much do SEO copywriters make? Let me help you with some insider data.
Not A Yearly Salary
Let’s start with this. There might be some people who’s only job is to write SEO copy and who are being employed full time. But even if there exist such people, it’s a rare case.
SEO copywriters are most of the time freelancers or working for digital marketing or SEO agencies doing several different tasks.
So while I will give you an estimate below on how much money you can make yearly as an SEO copywriter, keep in mind that this job is mostly not paid with a yearly salary, rather on a project or article basis. That below is just a calculation based on the number of projects that can be done by an SEO writer.
SEO Copywriting Is Paid By Words
Most of the time this job is paid by words. That is, you have a per word rate and the actual money you get for an SEO article depends on the length of the article. More on this later.
So the question comes down to how much is the per word rate of an SEO copywriter. As you will see, this depends on your skills. The two major skills are 1. being a native writer; and 2. having experience in creating content that actually ranks.
- Native writer. This one is easy to decide. You can absolutely find SEO copywriting jobs even if English is only your second language, but as you will see, the rates are lower. On the other hand, native English speakers are really sought after as SEO copywriters, so if writing is your thing, this is how you can make some good money these days.
- Having experience with content that ranks. This one is trickier. Of course how much you charge depends on your deal with your employer. But in general what companies and websites are willing to pay more for is not the pure experience or time spent as an SEO copywriter. Rather what’s more important is the actual proof that your SEO copy can rank. So make sure to track at least some of your work, learn how to write SEO copy that ranks, and you’ll have the chance to make more money in this field.
SEO Copywriting Rates
Prices in USD per 1000 words.
| Level | Non-native | Native English |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | $10-25 | $20-35 |
| Experienced | $20-40 | $35-50 |
| With proven results or in a very special niche | $30-60 | $50-100 |
| Proven results in a special niche | $40-80 | $75-200 |
How Much Can You Make As An SEO Copywriter
Now that we know the rates, it’s time to calculate how much do SEO copywriters make.
The length of an SEO article can be very different depending on the client’s demands. But in general an 1500 words SEO article is pretty much the average.
In my experience, you can write 3-4 of these articles comfortably on any given day. And you’ll still have time to chase clients and live your life. Please note that I’m talking about the first two rows of the table above, general content.
That means that if you are an experienced native SEO writer, you can easily make $75 per article and $225-$300 per day.
With a 5 days workweek that’s about $4500-$6000 per month and equivalent to a roughly $54,000-$72,000 yearly salary.
Please note that this is just a theoretical calculation. This doesn’t take into consideration vacation and other things, and you still need to find your own clients and manage them in case you work as a freelancer SEO copywriter.
A Few Notes
- The SEO copywriting rates are for reference only. These are the rates that I find to be acceptable on this market, but of course you can have a very different deal.
- Prices as of 2022.
- For other languages the rates might be different, but the structure is very similar. I find that SEO copywriting rates correlate with the average income of the country, but for smaller languages the rates are generally comparatively higher.
- Special niches are niches that usually require some extra knowledge or degree other than writing skills, like medical articles.