Copywriting quote that caps the edits

What a copywriting quotation should include

This copywriting quote template prices writing the way clients read it: by page or by piece, with research, edit rounds and SEO titles shown as their own lines. It also gives you a place to state usage rights and what counts as an edit, which is where most writing jobs go sideways. Change the sample online, or take the Word, Excel or PDF version.

A copywriting quotation should define the pieces, their rough length, how much research they need and how many edit rounds are included. Without those four, a short page can turn into a month of rewrites, and the client has no way to compare your price with another writer’s.

1. Pieces and lengthList each piece with a target length: a homepage of around 600 words, six service pages of around 400 words each. Length guides the client even when you price by piece.
2. Research and interviewsTime spent reading source material, interviewing the client or their staff, and reviewing competitors. Give it its own line when it is substantial.
3. Tone of voiceWhether you are writing to an existing style guide or creating one. Building a voice from nothing is extra work and deserves a price.
4. SEO elementsPage titles, meta descriptions and headings written around target phrases, and whether keyword research is supplied or included. A full search program belongs in a separate SEO quotation.
5. Edit roundsHow many rounds of changes the price covers, usually one or two, and a note that a round means one consolidated set of comments.
6. Usage rightsWhen copyright or usage passes to the client, normally on full payment, and whether you may show the work in your portfolio.
7. Kill feeWhat the client pays if they stop the job after writing starts, such as half the price of each piece in progress.
8. Delivery formatGoogle Docs or Word files, or pasted into the CMS. Uploading and formatting pages takes time, so give it a line, or leave it to whoever sends the web design quote.

Sample copywriting quote with example prices

Plainword Copy is quoting Cedar Dental for website copy. Every line sits in one Writing group: homepage copy at $650, six service pages at $220 each, seven page titles and descriptions at $25 each, and one edit round at $180. The subtotal is $2,325. Four blog posts at $180 each are an optional line the client can tick, and the quote asks for a 50% deposit. These are example rates.

Edit the Plainword Copy quote

5 lines are filled in, from homepage copy to blog posts. Put in your own copywriting rates, then download the PDF.

Open the copywriting sample

How to price copywriting

Copywriters price per word, per piece, per project or by the hour. Per piece is the usual choice for website and marketing copy, because the value sits in the thinking rather than the word count. Keep a per word or hourly figure in your head to sense check each project price.

1. Per piece or per pageA fixed price for a homepage, a service page, an email or an article. Clients understand it, and you are paid for research and structure, not just typing.
2. Per wordA rate per word, for example $0.20, for long, research light work such as articles. It undervalues short, high stakes copy like a headline or a product description.
3. Project feeOne price for a set of pieces with research, edits and SEO titles included. Suits a full website, where the pages share the same research.
4. HourlyUseful for editing, rewriting existing copy, or briefs where the amount of research is unknown. Quote an estimated range of hours.

Price the edit round as its own line, as the sample does, so any extra round has an obvious price. A freelance rate card lists your per piece prices for repeat clients, and the fixed price vs time and materials guide helps when the brief is vague.

Worked example: a five email welcome sequence

Short copy shows why per word pricing can mislead. Here is a welcome sequence of five emails of about 250 words each, at example rates.

1. Brief and researchA one hour call plus a review of the client’s product pages, at $70 an hour: $70.
2. WritingFive emails at $95 each: 5 × $95 = $475.
3. Subject linesTwo subject lines to test for each email at $7.50 each: 5 × 2 × $7.50 = $75.
4. Total$70 + $475 + $75 = $620, with one edit round included. A second round would be an optional $120.
5. Per word check5 × 250 = 1,250 words, and $620 ÷ 1,250 is about $0.50 a word, well above what the same writer might charge for a long article. That gap is why short copy is better priced per piece.

Research depth, a technical subject and the number of people who review drafts change the figures far more than the word count does.

What the writing fee covers

Copywriting quote mistakes

• Pricing a homepage by the word, then earning less than an hour’s rate for a day of work.
• Saying nothing about edit rounds, so a fourth set of changes arrives and is expected free.
• Writing before the client has supplied the facts, prices and services, then rewriting when they turn up.
• Letting a change of brief halfway through count as an edit rather than new work.
• Not stating when usage rights pass, so copy goes live before the final invoice is paid.
• Quoting a website project without asking how many people will review each draft.