Understanding link building pricing helps you budget effectively and evaluate services fairly. This guide covers current market rates, pricing models, and factors that influence cost.
Link Building Pricing Overview
The Wide Range
Link building costs vary dramatically:
- Low end: £20-50 per link (low quality, often risky)
- Mid range: £150-500 per link (decent quality, manual outreach)
- High end: £500-2,000+ per link (premium placements, digital PR)
This range reflects differences in quality, tactics, and risk levels—not just market positioning.
What Determines Price
Link quality factors:
- Authority of linking site
- Relevance to your industry
- Editorial nature of placement
- Traffic to linking page
Effort factors:
- Outreach required
- Content creation needs
- Relationship building time
- Competition for placements
Risk factors:
- Compliance with guidelines
- Transparency of methods
- Sustainability of links
Pricing Models
Per-Link Pricing
Pay for each link acquired.
Typical rates:
| Link Quality | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Low DA (< 30) blogs | £50-150 |
| Medium DA (30-50) | £150-400 |
| High DA (50-70) | £400-800 |
| Premium (70+ DA) | £800-2,000+ |
| Major publications | £1,500-5,000+ |
Pros:
- Clear deliverable
- Predictable cost per outcome
- Easy to measure ROI
Cons:
- May incentivise quantity over quality
- Harder to control quality at scale
- Can limit creative approaches
Best for: Companies wanting specific volume with clear accountability.
Monthly Retainer
Ongoing relationship with monthly fee.
Typical rates:
| Service Level | Monthly Range |
|---|---|
| Freelancer | £1,000-3,000 |
| Small agency | £2,500-7,500 |
| Mid-size agency | £5,000-15,000 |
| Large/premium agency | £15,000-50,000+ |
What's typically included:
- Strategy development
- Prospect research
- Content creation (sometimes)
- Outreach execution
- Reporting and analysis
Expected link volumes (rough guide):
- £2,500/month: 5-15 links
- £5,000/month: 10-25 links
- £10,000/month: 20-50 links
Note: These are estimates—quality varies significantly.
Pros:
- Ongoing relationship and learning
- Strategy refinement over time
- Often includes strategic guidance
Cons:
- Less predictable outcomes
- Harder to evaluate if underperforming
- Requires longer commitment
Best for: Companies seeking comprehensive, ongoing link building with strategic support.
Project-Based Pricing
Fixed fee for defined scope.
Example projects:
- Linkable asset creation + outreach: £5,000-20,000
- Digital PR campaign: £3,000-15,000
- Link reclamation project: £2,000-8,000
- Competitor analysis: £1,000-5,000
Pros:
- Clear scope and deliverables
- Defined timeline
- Budget certainty
Cons:
- Less flexibility
- May not include ongoing optimization
- Results can vary
Best for: Specific campaigns or companies testing new partners.
Performance-Based Pricing
Pay based on results achieved.
How it works:
- Set targets (traffic, rankings, links)
- Payment tied to achievement
- Often combined with base retainer
Caution: Purely performance-based models can:
- Incentivise risky tactics
- Focus on vanity metrics
- Neglect sustainable practices
Best for: Only with highly trusted partners who share risk appropriately.
Cost by Tactic
Different link building tactics carry different costs.
Content-Based Link Building
Original Research
- Content creation: £2,000-10,000
- Outreach and promotion: £1,000-5,000
- Total investment: £3,000-15,000
- Expected links: 20-100+
- Effective cost per link: £100-500
Comprehensive Guides
- Content creation: £1,000-5,000
- Outreach: £500-2,000
- Total investment: £1,500-7,000
- Expected links: 10-50
- Effective cost per link: £100-300
Outreach-Based Link Building
Guest Posting (quality)
- Content creation: £100-500
- Outreach and placement: £100-400
- Total cost: £200-900 per placement
- Links per placement: 1-2
Resource Page Outreach
- Prospecting and outreach: £50-150 per link
- Requires existing content
- Success rate: 2-5%
- Effective cost per link: £50-150
Broken Link Building
- Research and outreach: £50-200 per link
- Requires content creation or existing alternatives
- Effective cost per link: £75-200
Digital PR
Full Campaign
- Campaign development: £2,000-10,000
- Media outreach: £1,000-5,000
- Total investment: £3,000-15,000
- Expected links: 10-50 (highly variable)
- Effective cost per link: £200-1,000
HARO/Journalist Queries
- Monitoring and response: £500-2,000/month
- Expected links: 2-10/month
- Effective cost per link: £100-500
Technical Link Building
Unlinked Mention Reclamation
- Monitoring and outreach: £50-150 per link
- High success rate (20-40%)
- Effective cost per link: £50-150
Link Reclamation (404s)
- Identification and outreach: £50-150 per link
- Variable success rate
- Effective cost per link: £75-200
Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House
Agency Pricing
Small agencies (2-10 people):
- Monthly retainers: £2,500-10,000
- Per-link pricing: £200-600
- Often specialised in specific tactics
Mid-size agencies (10-50 people):
- Monthly retainers: £5,000-25,000
- Per-link pricing: £300-1,000
- Broader capabilities
Large agencies (50+ people):
- Monthly retainers: £15,000-100,000+
- Enterprise relationships
- Full-service offerings
Freelancer Pricing
Junior freelancers:
- Hourly: £25-50
- Monthly: £1,000-2,500
- Per-link: £50-200
- Limited experience, needs direction
Experienced freelancers:
- Hourly: £50-100
- Monthly: £2,500-7,500
- Per-link: £150-500
- Can work independently
Expert freelancers:
- Hourly: £100-200+
- Monthly: £5,000-15,000
- Per-link: £300-1,000
- Strategic guidance included
In-House Costs
Dedicated link building hire:
- Salary: £30,000-60,000 (UK)
- With benefits/overhead: £40,000-80,000
- Tools and subscriptions: £5,000-15,000/year
- Total annual cost: £45,000-95,000
Output expectations:
- Quality links per month: 15-40
- Effective cost per link: £100-500
See: Agency vs In-House
Red Flags in Pricing
Too Cheap
Warning signs:
- DA 50+ links for £50
- "Unlimited links" offers
- Bulk pricing for quality placements
- Too-good-to-be-true rates
What's actually happening:
- PBN or link farm placements
- Low-quality sites with inflated metrics
- Temporary placements
- Paid links on marked "write for us" sites
Risk: Wasted money at best, penalties at worst.
Unrealistic Guarantees
Warning signs:
- "Guaranteed links from [major publication]"
- "X links in 30 days guaranteed"
- "First page rankings in Y months"
Reality:
- Quality links require editorial approval
- Timing depends on outreach success
- Rankings depend on many factors
Hidden Costs
Watch for:
- Content creation billed separately
- Outreach tools as extra charges
- "Premium placement" fees
- Setup or strategy fees not mentioned initially
Ask upfront:
- What's included in the quoted price?
- What could cost extra?
- What happens if targets aren't met?
Budgeting for Link Building
Calculating Your Budget
Method 1: Competitor Parity
- Analyse competitor link profiles
- Estimate their link velocity
- Calculate cost to match or exceed
Example:
- Competitor gains ~20 quality links/month
- Average cost: £300 per link
- Monthly budget needed: £6,000
Method 2: Percentage of Marketing Budget
Typical allocation for SEO-focused companies:
- Link building: 10-30% of SEO budget
- SEO: 20-40% of digital marketing budget
Example:
- Total marketing budget: £100,000/year
- SEO allocation (25%): £25,000
- Link building (30% of SEO): £7,500/year or £625/month
Method 3: ROI Target
Work backwards from desired outcomes:
- Target traffic increase value
- Attribution to link building (30-50% of organic growth)
- Budget at 50-100% of first-year value
Minimum Viable Budgets
Startup/small business:
- Minimum monthly: £500-1,500
- Expected links: 2-8
- Focus: Highly targeted outreach, content leverage
Growing business:
- Minimum monthly: £2,500-5,000
- Expected links: 10-25
- Focus: Mixed tactics, some content creation
Established business:
- Minimum monthly: £5,000-15,000
- Expected links: 20-50
- Focus: Comprehensive strategy, premium placements
Budget Allocation
How to distribute budget:
| Budget | Strategy Focus |
|---|---|
| Under £2k | Outreach-heavy, leverage existing content |
| £2-5k | Mix of outreach + occasional content |
| £5-10k | Content creation + digital PR |
| £10-20k | Full-service: strategy, content, outreach, PR |
| £20k+ | Multi-channel, premium placements, scale |
Negotiating and Evaluating
Questions to Ask Providers
About methodology:
- What tactics do you use?
- Can you share example placements?
- How do you vet link prospects?
About pricing:
- What's included in this price?
- What would cost extra?
- How do you handle underperformance?
About results:
- What's realistic in 6/12 months?
- How do you measure success?
- Can I speak with current clients?
Contract Considerations
Minimum terms:
- Avoid long lock-ins (3 months initial is reasonable)
- Ensure exit clauses for underperformance
- Define what "success" means
Deliverable clarity:
- Specify link quality criteria
- Define reporting frequency
- Agree on content requirements
Risk allocation:
- What happens if links are lost?
- How are guideline violations handled?
- Is there any guarantee or makeright?
Evaluating Value
Compare providers on:
- Cost per quality link (not just total links)
- Link sustainability (do they stay?)
- Strategic value (beyond just links)
- Transparency (can you see exactly what's happening?)
- Relationship (are they a partner or vendor?)
Summary
Link building pricing varies based on quality, tactics, and approach:
Pricing models:
- Per-link: Clear outcomes, £150-2,000+ per link
- Retainer: Ongoing relationship, £2,500-50,000+/month
- Project: Defined scope, £3,000-20,000
- Performance: Results-based, requires trust
Cost by tactic:
- Original research: £100-500/link
- Guest posting: £200-900/placement
- Resource page outreach: £50-150/link
- Digital PR: £200-1,000/link
Red flags:
- Prices far below market
- Guaranteed results
- Hidden costs
Budgeting approach:
- Competitor parity analysis
- Percentage of marketing budget
- ROI-based calculation
Quality link building requires real investment. Cheap options typically deliver poor results or carry risks. Budget appropriately for sustainable growth.