How Much Does Link Building Cost in 2025?

Last Updated on 31/08/2025

You must be curious about the price of link building in 2025. You could wonder where to purchase backlinks and how much link building should cost.

You’re more interested in learning the typical price of outsourcing SEO link creation. These are typical questions that webmasters and SEO beginners frequently ask. This is because backlinks serve as a gauge of a website’s prominence.

With backlinks, you can improve your rankings and increase organic traffic. As a result, SEO specialists often utilize purchased backlinks as part of their link-building strategy.

We have written comprehensive advice on the price of link building. After reading this, you will understand the pricing variables and how to establish more connections without incurring additional costs.

What is Paid Link Building?

Paid link building is the practice of websites paying other websites for backlinks pointing to their domain. Although link building is a fundamental SEO strategy, purchasing links is prohibited by search engines and can result in severe penalties. The third-party domain will either provide you with no-follow or do-follow backlinks.

Although Google forbids the technique, receiving contextual backlinks is not necessarily a bad thing. Purchasing backlinks has become crucial for startups and new websites. You can purchase enduring backlinks from high domain authority (DA) websites to rank on SERPs.

You can obtain various kinds of backlinks. These are the most typical among them:

• Editorial links
• Guest post links
• Blog comments
• Forum posts

What is Natural Link Building?

The term “natural link building” refers to backlinks that appear spontaneously without the website owner needing to actively seek them out through guest posting or other link-building techniques.

Natural links, as the name suggests, are created when other webmasters, bloggers, or website owners link to your content (blogs, photographs, products, videos, etc.) because they believe it will be valuable to their readers and enhance the content of their websites or pages.

• Guest posting, link exchanges, or other link-building techniques are not part of natural link-building.

Google and other search engines favor this method. However, creating natural links takes time and requires a significant amount of work. It can take years for new websites to receive natural links. As a result, SEO experts often purchase link-building packages to enhance their off-page efforts.

Advantages of Paid Link Building

Depending on their marketing requirements, websites purchase backlinks for various reasons. The following list includes the most notable of these.

1. Time-Saving

Starting from scratch is difficult in the uncertain and time-consuming online market. As a result, buying backlinks is a popular business practice.

Many business owners are impatient for link-building to happen spontaneously because link-building is simply one component of developing a great online presence. By purchasing backlinks, you can gain a competitive advantage over other business owners who are relying solely on organic link-building to occur.

Developing links also takes time. It could take time and effort away from creating original content, improving your offerings, or enhancing your social media presence. So, yeah! Paid links can help you save a ton of time.

2. Boost Backlink Portfolio

You can enhance your portfolio of backlinks by investing in link building. You get to diversify your backlinks by creating a well-rounded backlink portfolio.

The many types of links that your website needs are listed below.

• Niche-relevant links
• Keyword-specific links
• Blog links
• Directories
• Local links
• Social links

3. Integrated Audience

Investing in backlinks on a popular website provides access to an existing audience. As a result, more people see your content and click to learn more.

In addition, Google will reward you with a higher ranking. It directly benefits your company. You could gain access to some of that site’s audience if your links appear on the correct websites.

4. Variety of Options

Links can be purchased in more ways than ever before. You can select the right choice based on your financial requirements, the size of your business, and your target market.

It’s not necessary to purchase backlinks from a dubious or fake blog. It involves paying a blogger to produce high-quality content that promotes your website more effectively.

What Factors Affect Link Cost?

1. Content

People will be far more likely to link to your website if it features outstanding content.

We’ve worked with customers who had truly outstanding content teams that produced rich, visually appealing, data-driven material with flawless design and genuinely original insights.

The response is great; the receivers are impressed, and our “win rate” (the number of emails we need to send to get a link) soars when we initiate outreach efforts and show people the material.

On the other hand, we’ve worked with clients who provide very little material. They rely on heavy commercial sales sites or landing pages. Finding websites that wish to connect with them is considerably more difficult, and earning each link takes much longer, thereby increasing the cost of links.

2. Flexibility in creativity

Some businesses have incredibly specific criteria for how they want their firm to be regarded, and this can influence link-building. They don’t want to make opinionated material; they only want their firm to be mentioned in a specific way on specific issues.

Other firms are eager to be innovative with outreach emails and to put themselves out there. For example, we’ll employ cheeky and hilarious emails or a provocative viewpoint on some client projects to stimulate a reaction. Many companies choose to play it safe.

Because you’re restricting the individuals you can reach out to, the material you can offer them, and the creative angle you can take to convince them to link to you, these limitations unavoidably result in a rise in link cost. It’s an often-overlooked factor that can significantly impact your ability to establish a large number of links.

3. Link Quality

The quality of the link heavily influences the pricing. The simple reality is that obtaining connections from major magazines that have been operating for years is significantly more challenging. Getting a BBC or TechCrunch writer to connect with your website is daunting and challenging. We’re talking about hardened, internet-savvy individuals who are marketed daily.

In comparison, a writer/owner of a small, independent blog about learning the piano will be much more approachable and easier to earn a link from. While hardworking and honest bloggers like this are a fantastic source of links, they will be less valuable in Google’s eyes than a TechCrunch link. There are several ways to obtain backlinks, each providing a distinct level of quality.

4. Industry

The industry in which we operate can significantly impact the average cost of link creation. There are other niches, such as personal finance, where bloggers rarely connect on their own, and they rarely do so without charging a substantial fee.

On the other hand, other sectors allow bloggers to distribute links to anyone who shares their enthusiasm with ease and tremendous freedom.

Paying $500 for each high-quality link pointing to your website could be an excellent deal if you operate in a sector where most websites struggle to acquire connections naturally (such as payday loans or gambling) and others typically do not appreciate connecting with you.

However, if your sector (such as gaming or cars) has a high tendency for bloggers, journalists, and editors to link out, you’ll probably want to charge closer to $200 per link.

High Link Cost Industries

• Casino & Gambling: Only other casino and poker blogs may link to you for free, even if they have a business relationship with you (such as affiliates). Otherwise, you’ll have to pay more for connections.

• Loans: The market for online loans has increased, making it very difficult to obtain connections quickly unless you have outstanding content assets.

• Finance: Bloggers in this field are swamped with requests from financial businesses with large budgets. Consider insurance, lending services, and credit cards.

• Real estate: This is a highly competitive and challenging industry, especially for small, locally based real estate businesses with limited content. You’ll have to pay money for links, maybe through sponsorship arrangements.

Middle Link Cost Industries

• SaaS: There is definitely room to establish many links, as many SaaS businesses provide some of the best content available. Additionally, professionals in this field are typically receptive to email proposals for link development. The issue is that there are many talented people vying for backlinks in a crowded market.

• Technology is a vast industry with numerous sub-niches. This would include everything from web hosting to VPN services to cybersecurity solutions. There are several opportunities for collaboration in this field, and the demand for information is extremely strong. However, many knowledgeable individuals operating in this field, including bloggers, are aware of the potential financial benefits they may derive from collaborations with your company.

• Nutrition & Food: You’ll see why finding appropriate pricing in this market might be challenging when you consider the rise of Instagram influencers. Dozens of businesses are operating successfully in the market, offering a range of products from protein powders to programs designed to reduce body fat. In the end, linking to commercial pages will often require money and effort because you compete with hundreds of other businesses vying for the same consumers. However, brands with great items and content can accomplish a respectable cost per link.

• Legal: There is certainly a need for excellent legal information and material on the internet, but this sector is also viewed, and rightly so, as a high-end one that is pricey for consumers.

Low Link Cost Industries

• Video games: Video game material is in extremely high demand and is often shared on Reddit and other social media platforms. Earning links might be simple.

• Education: Companies in the education sector have a chance to succeed and establish connections at scale, as informative content has long been a key component of link building.

• Charities: People enjoy feeling like they are giving back to the community and those in need.

• Anything related to childcare or assisting people in need is simply explanatory. Even in this technologically advanced age, most individuals are kind-hearted and will connect with resources, essays, or movements that they perceive as working to benefit society.

How Is The Cost Of Link Building Determined?

There are important elements you need to be aware of before choosing to buy backlinks:

1. It Matters How Many Links You Need

To begin, you must determine how many backlinks you need to purchase. Getting what you need will require more linkages, which will cost you thousands of dollars.

To help you understand how the number of backlinks you want to build could correlate with how competitive your phrase is, I purposefully snuck the term “keyword difficulty” in here.

As I previously stated, you will undoubtedly need additional backlinks pointing to your generated content if the term is competitive. You must buy hundreds or thousands of backlinks to accomplish the required goals.

However, tremendous caution should also be exercised when doing this. You don’t want to waste your money on them without knowing how much return on investment they can provide.

Be prepared to invest if you want to get links of the highest caliber. High-quality links originate from reputable websites that receive substantial traffic. Pricing for link creation from a reliable, credible source would likely range from $100 to $ 1,000 or more.

2. The Sector In Which You Operate

Undoubtedly, operating in a highly competitive market incurs significant expenses. Simply put, it is expensive to discover a desirable traffic breakthrough for your website and optimize your website for search engines.

The business, SaaS, finance, development, and eCommerce niches are more competitive than those in real estate, fashion, and retail. Since many established companies already compete in these markets, if you’re just starting, you’ll need to put in more effort to outperform them.

Now, if you want to build backlinks using ethical techniques, you will need additional venues that permit activities like guest posting. You must contact other websites with high authority if you work in the technological niche. However, you should be aware that many of these platforms will charge you a significant sum for merely publishing. For such guest posts, link-building costs could range from $100 to more than $600.

3. The Standards Of Links

Building links that genuinely benefit your website, improving its search engine rankings, is crucial to maximizing your return on investment. There won’t be much of a price for low-quality link building. They range from a few dollars to more than $100.

Always keep in mind that bargains aren’t always what they seem to be. As you continue to establish links, the cost of cheap backlinks would rise, but over time, you’d probably recognize that they weren’t yielding the desired effects. Therefore, it’s crucial that you select high-quality backlinks.

Although purchasing expensive backlinks may initially seem impractical, you will eventually appreciate the return on investment you receive. Backlinks from high-authority domains, which Google considers to have high-quality content, are considered high-quality. These days, you can obtain these links through guest posts, niche edits, link exchanges, etc.

Pricing Scale for Link Building

Link-building costs vary depending on the quality and volume, but typically range from $100 to $20,000 per month. When estimating your costs, it is wise to establish a pricing point per link.

If you’re considering running an outsourced link-building campaign, below is a typical pricing scale for overall link-building fees.

1. Link Building Costs Based on Link Value

• An inferior backlink can cost between $60 and $100.
• A backlink of average quality might cost between $100 and $200.
• A good backlink can cost anything from $200 to $20,000.

2. Pricing for Link Building By Industry or Niche

It will probably cost you between $100 and $50,000 to obtain links from high-performing niches. The duration of the link and the traffic the referring site can provide may also be factors.

DR and DA Dependent Pricing Model

While the cost per link is one model you can evaluate, you might find that many vendors and organizations base their prices on DR (domain rating) or DA (domain authority). This system isn’t perfect because the scores are based on external measurements that don’t accurately reflect the genuine value of a website. Nevertheless, besides indicators like organic traffic, these scores are frequently used as a benchmark system to assess a website’s quality.

Depending on the quality of the links, the cost of link development under this scheme could range from $80 to $600 or more.

1. Ahrefs Case Study

Ahrefs conducted a study on the cost of buying a link outright in 2018, and as per their study:

• The cost of purchasing the linkages varied greatly.
• The lowest estimate was $50. The domain rating (DR) for the link was 32 and came from a parenting blog.
• The highest quote was for £2,500 ($3,312) a year.
• That was taken from a DR56 travel website.
• The average price of acquiring a connection across all 54 sites was $361.44.For those keeping track, that represents an average increase of 2.4% ($8.51) from 2016.

In-House And Agency Pricing

In-house marketing relies on a team of internal marketers that your company keeps on staff to promote your enterprise. In contrast, agency marketing employs a paid external or outsourced marketing staff to promote your company.

1. In-house Costs

A strong in-house SEO team can consist of anywhere from 5 to 100 or more individuals. And they must all be fairly compensated to perform their duties as required.

• At the end of the month, you’ll realize that paying the salaries of your SEO crew alone is costing you tens of thousands of dollars.
• Relying solely on a team without the proper resources and platforms won’t yield the desired outcomes.
• This essentially means that you will need to provide for your team and design the proper steps to create the necessary linkages.

Below, we highlight the estimated annual cost of managing an internal link-building team.

a. Link Building Manager – $40,000–$80,000 – To do this correctly, you’ll need a full-time, seasoned link-building manager to manage and direct the business. Even if you successfully lure top people from abroad, this will cost you at least $30,000 annually in big US locations.

b. Link Building Assistant ✕ 2 – $ 30,000 – Prospecting, customization, and other outreach duties will require the assistance of assistants. Even if you can hire someone from a country with a cheaper cost of living, such as Southeast Asia, a quality employee will still cost you about $15,000. Therefore, that amounts to $30,000.

c. Guest Post Writer: $50,000– I am not aware of any effective link builders who have not had considerable assistance from outside writers. You’ll need a gifted writer on board who passes the sniff test of any editor if you want to secure contributions on top sites (like HubSpot, for example).

No one will accept your stuff if you don’t invest enough in quality. If a skilled and reliable writer from the US charges $0.20 per word (including planning, editing, and graphics), a 2,000-word guest article will cost you $400. Ten of those in a month would cost $4,000 per month. Because of this, I consider a monthly content budget of $4,000 to be realistic.

2. Agency Costs

Most publishers can simply employ a link-building company to handle everything for them. Comparing this to putting together a link-building team, it might be far simpler, less expensive, and more accessible.

Simply put, you need to locate a reliable SaaS digital marketing company to assist you in creating the finest strategy for acquiring high-quality backlinks without spending a fortune. The fact is that you need to consult with knowledgeable professionals to help you understand what you want.

Major Content Marketing Agencies: Offering an end-to-end service may cost between $15,000 and $30,000 for a single campaign, especially for top-tier businesses in locations such as New York. The typical link price ranges from $400 to $ 1,500, and we cannot guarantee the quality of the link.

Specialist Link-Building Agencies: These can vary significantly depending on the service and the quality of the links. However, depending on the scope of your needs, you may need to budget between $3,000 and $ 15,000 or more every month.

Freelancers – They’ll often charge you $50 to $100 per hour, but they’ll also demand that you pay for things like software, writers, and link fees. Additionally, most independent contractors lack the resources necessary for long-term success, particularly if you only pay them 10–20 hours per week. This isn’t enough time to conduct an effective campaign and acquire quality links.

How Much Does Link Building Cost in General?

The screenshot below gives an overview of the link-building costs at Marketing Lad.

Conclusion

Everyone is aware of the crucial role link building plays in SEO. However, it is a significant investment for any firm and may be expensive.

Therefore, developing an action plan before moving forward with purchased link building is crucial. This plan may include selecting the pages and keywords you want to target, establishing a prioritized list, and studying the competition.

Recall that not all backlinks are created equal. Even if Google frequently disapproves of the practice, a settlement can be reached, benefiting everyone, as long as link purchases are not made to game the Google algorithm.

Therefore, it is safe to claim that purchasing backlinks is advantageous if you follow a careful link selection procedure and a set of standards. Intelligent link building makes it impossible to distinguish between a sponsored and a natural link.

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