How Much Do Expert SEO Content Writers Make? (Real Stats + Data)
See how much you could be earning as an SEO content writer, based on the data.
Have you seen our free SEO training video? Watch now!
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Becoming an SEO expert writer is a faster path than a formal college education.
Various sources indicate that the ideal “goal rate” for high-quality SEO content is in the $1-$2 per word range.
Expert SEO content writers with years of experience are charging $1+ per word OR $100+ per hour.
50% of writers who have been working for 6-10 years make more than $100K per year.
Want to know what you could be making as an experienced SEO content writer?
Whether you’ve already done some SEO writing work or you’re considering getting into SEO, understanding your true earning potential can help you make decisions about where to find SEO writing training, job security and more.
In this article, we’ve put together some data about how much SEO content writers make once they’re considered a mid-level or expert SEO writer.
When Are SEO Content Writers Considered “Experts?”
Compared to going to college, earning a degree, getting an entry-level job and climbing an industry ladder, getting into SEO – and making great money from it – is a much simpler and much faster process.
Yes, you need to know what you’re doing. And yes, the fastest way to learn SEO content writing is through a comprehensive course. Speaking of, watch our free SEO training video for writers!
However, once you know how to write high-performing SEO content and have several samples to share, you’re an expert! And you can then ask for work at expert rates.
How Much Do SEO Content Writers Charge as Experts?
What are “expert rates” for SEO content writers? Let’s take a look at some data about what SEO content writers make (based on experience, project type and other factors).
Once you take a look at the data, we hope this will give you a much better idea about how much you can earn in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and beyond. As you move forward and get into SEO content writing, you’ll have a reference about how much to charge based on your skills and experience level.
How SEO Content Writer Rates Are Determined
As you would imagine, SEO content writing rates vary based on the type of project, the turnaround time, your ability to deliver and perform well and so many other factors. Not to mention, “expert rates” might look different from one person to another.
However, pricing your SEO content writing projects is very similar to other types of writing projects. Once we look at the data below, you’ll have a better idea about how other writers (mid-level and expert SEO writers) are doing it.
For more information about how freelance writing rates are determined, check out this post: How to Price Your Freelance Writing Projects
How Much SEO Content Writers Earn (Stats + Data)
There are several common ways in which SEO content writers price their projects. In the next few sections, we’ve attempted to organize the data in the most logical way possible.
One issue is that many sources measure SEO content writing rates differently, but having all of this information in your arsenal will be helpful as you move further into SEO writing.
What Is Considered “Expert” SEO Content Writer Rates? (Our Opinion)
First, let’s just state the standard Ambitious Writer Society opinion. You can take this or leave this, since it’s not actual data.
However, we want to share our opinion in order to give you a “ballpark number.” But again, we will look at some other – more objective – stats and data on this as well.
In our opinion, the Ambitious Writer Society team considers “expert” SEO content writer rates to start at $0.75 per word. That’s like getting $1125 on a 1500-word article. And if it took a grand total of 8 hours to complete, you would be working at about $140 per hour. Sweet, right?
You can calculate your SEO writing rates per hour, but many writers often find themselves calculating per word, especially for long-form blog content.
Read this! Are Blog Posts All That SEO Writers Do? Additional High-Profit Mini Projects to Consider
If you’re a new expert, $0.75 per word is a great place to start. However, as you continue to thrive in your awesome expert-ness, we’d consider shooting for $0.90 per word or $1+ per word rates.
Mid-Level and Expert SEO Content Writer Rates (Additional Sources)
Now, let’s look at what some other sources have to say about the expert rates of SEO writers. It’s hard to really nail down a price point – because it’s so varied and different sources track different metrics – but here’s a list of several sources who are focusing on similar things.
In Summary: Various sources indicate that the ideal “goal rate” for high-quality SEO content is in the $1-$2 per word range.
Heck yeah! That’s like making $1000-$2000 per 1000-word article. That is absolutely amazing, especially if you can land consistent work with a couple clients.
Want to learn more about finding consistent work – including low-competition SEO writing jobs that companies haven’t even published online yet? Watch our free SEO training video now: “How to Land Tons of Exciting, Stress-Free SEO Writing Work - without the Low Rates, Tough Competition and Burnout”
Expert SEO content writers with years of experience are charging $1+ per word OR $100+ per hour. (Source: The Content Panel)
While we may not totally understand how many years of experience, in general, you hit senior writer status about 7-10 years into your career – especially if you’ve been working solely within that speciality.
50% of writers who have been working for 6-10 years make more than $100K per year. (Source: SmartBlogger)
Pretty impressive! We’ve even seen many writers hit 6-figures in less than 4 years of writing their first professional piece. To help speed up that process, successful SEO writers have a few key traits like organization and adaptability.
Read this! 5 Key Traits of High-Paid SEO Content Writers
25% of blog writers charge at least $600 for a 1500-word blog post. (Source: Peak Freelance)
That equates to $0.40 per word. Not an “expert” SEO content writer rate, but rather a “mid-level” rate.
What this data does not convey is if these blog posts are search engine optimized. If you’re going to provide SEO content, you can and should be charging way more. After all, SEO content will make businesses money!
When polling 6-figure writers, 50% of them charge $1000+ for a 1500-word blog post. (Source: Peak Freelance)
That equates to about $0.66 per word, which is similar to the Ambitious Writer Society opinion you read about above ($0.75 per word).
Let’s extrapolate this information a little further. Since these writers make 6-figures per year (according to the data), they need to be making at least $8333.33 per month. ($8333.33 x 12 months = $100,000)
So theoretically, every month they could be doing about nine 1000-word articles. Or, maybe they have a few 2000-word articles at a rate of $0.66.
When looking at the math, hitting these 6-figure rates doesn’t require excessive amounts of work, especially compared to a typical 9-5 job.
How to Actually Land Jobs at Expert SEO Content Writer Rates
We hope this article gives you a little more perspective about what kind of rates you can charge your clients. However, you can’t just demand expert SEO content writing rates without justification.
Be ready to justify why you deserve to be paid those rates. This is where you need to talk to clients about the ROI of your content, how it will impact their business, previous experience and more. We actually talk about what you need to demand higher rates in our free SEO writing training video, so check it out.
Remember: You should not lie to clients about your abilities. You’ll either anger your clients when they realize you’re not an actual high-performing SEO expert. Or, they’ll be able to tell you’re an amateur in their initial discovery call with you. Either way, these are not good situations to be in!
To determine how much of an expert (or novice) you are, we encourage you to see how well you can answer some common SEO writer interview questions. Linked below!
