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In my opinion the question doesn't have a straightforward answer because the market is really fragmented.
What matters more than your hourly rate is understanding how much your work is actually worth to the client - that is, if the content you write delivers concrete results (sales, engagement, conversions), you can charge way more than if you're just calculating hours.
I'd lean towards proposing a fixed project fee rather than an hourly rate, especially if you know the value you're creating. The ones I've seen get paid well were the ones selling results, not time.
Man, it really depends on a ton of factors. like they said above, experience counts for a lot, but i'd add that the type of client makes a big difference too. a large company with solid budget pays way differently than a startup that wants to do everything on a shoestring. i've seen the same mechanism for years in music and sound.
if you're starting out, maybe 15-25€ per hour could be realistic, but honestly it's pretty low. after a couple years of a decent portfolio, you're talking 30-50€ for standard work, then if you're specialized in particular niches (finance, tech, whatever) you easily jump to 50-80€. well-known names in the field get 100-150€ per hour but they're a minority and have years of reputation behind them. the trick is not to undersell yourself at the beginning just because you don't have much experience, because after that it's hard to raise your rates.
one thing i see people get wrong a lot is quoting per-project rates when you don't really know your work times yet. better to ask for hourly until you've figured out how much time you actually need to complete different types of assignments. serious clients won't complain, the ones that contest every cent will probably give you grief anyway.
The thing nobody's mentioned yet is that you should never base yourself solely on an hourly rate when talking to clients. I've seen people get screwed because they accepted 25 euros an hour and then the project that seemed like it would take 10 hours turned into 20, and obviously the client wasn't happy about paying double. It's always better to set a fixed price for the specific project, describing clearly what you'll include (how many revisions, how many rounds of feedback, etc.). Hourly rate is fine as an internal calculation basis to figure out if it's worth taking on, but the client needs to get a clear quote.
That said, the range is pretty wide: it really depends on how good you are at what you do and who you're targeting. If you're just starting out and don't have a solid portfolio yet, maybe you're looking at 20-30 euros gross per hour. If you've got some experience and clients who already know you, you're easily at 40-50. If you write for big brands or agencies that resell your work, it can become 60+ or even more. The difference between a local SME client and a company that brings in millions is huge, not just in what they pay you but also in how complex the brief is and how much time they spend explaining what they want.
One thing I've learned over time is that clients who are "too quick to say yes" to your price are the ones who end up being a nightmare. If you throw out a number and they accept right away without even negotiating, you probably could've asked for double. It's not science, but negotiation kind of comes with the territory.
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