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Part of Website copywriting: what to ask before hiring
Website copywriting: what to ask before hiring
A practical UK checklist for website copywriting: questions on briefs, style, compliance, copyright, contracts, confidentiality, AI use and handover.
What to take away
- Ask for a brief that names the pages, the reader and the action each page drives.
- Fix British spelling and house style at the start, not after design sign-off.
- Agree the handover formata document, or copy entered into your content system.
- Decide who writes the privacy notice and other regulated wording.
- Agree the scope, revisions and commercial terms in writing before work starts.
- Ask who owns the copyright, how confidential information is handled and whether AI is used.
Start with the page list, not the portfolio
When choosing someone for website copywriting, pitches can look alike. The useful signal is what a writer asks for before producing a word.
A strong website copywriter will want a page list, a reader profile and any analytics you already hold. If nobody asks, expect generic copy.
A written brief covers each page's purpose, its main message, the proof you can supply and the action you want. To compare quotes fairly, follow our guide to how to write a copywriting brief that UK agencies can price from.
Set the language rules before drafting
Ask whether the writer works in British English by default. Terms such as organise, colour, centre and the noun licence are the usual flashpoints.
Language and compliance rules
- British Englishorganise, colour, centre, licence
- Decide we/you or company name/clients
- One-page style sheet for consistency
- Named owner for footer and legal pages
- True retention periods and named processors
- Qualify all advertising claims
Decide how the business refers to itself and to the reader. Do you write we and you, or the company name and clients? A one-page style sheet keeps writers consistent.
For a UK company, the Companies Act 2006 sets trading disclosure rules for business websites, including the registered name and number. Ask who checks that the footer and legal pages match its details on the Companies House register, starting with the Companies Act 2006.
Privacy copy works the same way. A notice must describe what the business really does with personal data, so the writer needs true retention periods and named processors, as the ICO guidance on UK GDPR sets out.
Claims carry risk too. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) administers the CAP advertising codes, which apply to statements on your own site, not only to paid advertising, so keep promises qualified.
What shapes a website copywriting quote
Quotes for website copywriting services in the UK vary widely for what looks like the same five pages. Scope explains most of the gap.
What each project shape includes
Project
- Single landing page
- One page, one offer
- Core site pages
- Five to ten pages
- SEO page set
- Keyword per URL
- Ecommerce
- Templates plus variants
- Refresh live copy
- Rewrite ranking pages
Shape
- Single landing page
- Wireframe supplied?
- Core site pages
- Who supplies proof?
- SEO page set
- Work from our plan?
- Ecommerce
- Hundreds of SKUs?
- Refresh live copy
- Keep what ranks?
Ask
- Single landing page
- Core site pages
- SEO page set
- Ecommerce
- Refresh live copy
Per-word pricing suits blog and article work. Website copy is usually priced per page or per project, because the thinking outweighs the typing.
Quotes for website content writing services bundle strategy, drafting and revisions into one figure, which is why a cheap page rate rarely survives the first call.
Typical project shape
- Single landing page
- One page, one offer, light research
- Core site pages, five to ten
- Home, about, services, contact
- SEO page set
- Keyword mapped to each URL
- Ecommerce categories and products
- Templates plus product variants
- Refresh of live copy
- Rewrite and edit of ranking pages
Question to ask
- Single landing page
- Is a wireframe or layout note supplied?
- Core site pages, five to ten
- Who supplies proof points and testimonials?
- SEO page set
- Do you work from our keyword plan?
- Ecommerce categories and products
- How do you handle hundreds of SKUs?
- Refresh of live copy
- Do you keep what already ranks?
Before you compare figures, ask what each quote includes. Our breakdown of UK copywriting rates per word shows why freelance and agency pricing differ.
Questions to put on the call
- Which pages are in scope, and how many words does each need?
- What do you need from us before you start, and when?
- Will you map keywords to pages, or work from our existing plan?
- How many revision rounds are included, and what starts a new round?
- Will you load the copy into our CMS, or hand over a document?
- How do you work with our web design agency on page length and character counts?
- Who will own the copyright in the finished copy, and will any assignment be in writing and signed as required by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988?
- What contract sets out the scope, payment dates, any deposit, cancellation terms and any kill fee?
- How will you handle confidential information, and will you sign an NDA if needed?
- Do you use AI, and what checks do you make for originality, plagiarism and factual accuracy?
- Is VAT included in the quote, if applicable?
Briefs from London and Manchester teams
A London brief often arrives through a design agency, with a tone-of-voice guide and a content calendar attached. The writer slots into a wider team and a fixed review chain.
A Manchester brief more often comes straight from a founder, with a short page list and one message to land. The word count is lower, but the decisions are the same.
Either way, the writer needs the reader, the promise and the proof. Handover is where value leaks, as copy pasted into a rigid template loses its force.
Common questions
What should a UK web copywriting brief include?
A page list, the reader, the action per page, the proof you can supply and a deadline. Add your style sheet and keyword plan, and name who signs off.
What drives web copywriter costs in the UK?
Scope more than word count. Research, interviews, keyword mapping and revision rounds move a quote far more than page length does.
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency?
A freelancer suits a small site with one decision-maker and a short deadline. An agency suits projects with several stakeholders, because someone else manages the review chain.
Do I need SEO copywriting as well as website copy?
If the pages need to earn search traffic, yes. Where a page already ranks and only converts poorly, a conversion rewrite may be enough.
