According to Google, the answer is never. But unfortunately, that's not always realistic. The cost per backlink depends on the type of link (citation vs directory vs embedded map link vs guest post) as well as the quality of the site. I always look at the ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz domain authority scores as a blend to see how each research tool values the site (as each score is proprietary to each tool). Citation and directory links usually cost $2.50-$10. For low-quality guest post links, the typical range is $25-$50, but some high-quality guest post links could cost upwards of $700-$800. It also varies if you are purchasing the links through a vendor (saving you a lot of time in connecting with those sites) or if you are building them directly with each site. So, it depends.
The cost of an SEO backlink varies significantly between $100 - and $20,000 per month based on the volume and quality. You will be better off deciphering a price point per link in the long term while judging your charges for an SEO backlink. Based on the industry, an average cost per link is $250-$350, considered the low-end price range for brands in the gaming or charity industries. Moreover, the $350-$600 budget will be for mid-range competitive companies, such as real estate and tech. On the other hand, the $600-$1500+ budget for an SEO backlink is for the expensive end of link building for finance industries.
The right answer is: the less to achieve your goal, the better. More precisely, to judge whether the price for SEO backlink is favorable, you should consider some important factors. Domain Rating, URL Rating, the placement of your backlink, is it do or no-follow, and is it lifetime or time-limited are the primary ones. Ask for those information, create a sheet and write down all data. Benchmark them and choose five sites to test your link-building decision’s impact on your SEO. And, what’s important, don’t be afraid of bargaining!
You would be better served to find a talented thinker and writer, and train them to seek out backlink opportunities. Paying for backlinks is risky and time-consuming in itself. Hire and train a smart individual to add value where it is being sought. Platforms such as HARO & Terkel (the main two I use) have many opportunities to add value and the reward in many cases is a powerful backlink earnt in earnest.
If you’re hunting for quality backlinks for your website, how much to pay really falls on a sliding scale. In my opinion, there are two big factors on this scale: the website’s domain rating (DR) and organic traffic. These two things are more important than anything else. The higher the DR ad traffic score, the more you should be willing to pay. Likewise, a site with a low DR and no real traffic shouldn’t fetch much of a price. In my experience, for your run-of-the-mill site with a 50 DR and traffic above 1,000 per month, I’d expect to pay around $60-75. That seems to be a pretty good figure for a link insertion. But no matter what you do, never pay less than $40 for a link (that's a red flag) and never pay more than $100 (it’s just not worth it).
As anything else in marketing a fair price for a backlink depends on a lot of factors: DR, industry, your final goal, content, etc. However, let’s try to talk numbers, average price for a quality backlink is $300-$600 per link. It can be lower in some industries and much higher in SAAS, for example, where a reasonable price can hit $1,000. I would recommend going for one but quality link. If it\'s is a reputable site and it is relevant to your domain expect to spent at least $200, anything lower will probably either cause damage to your DR or simply be useless.
MD at Jae Pak MD Medical
Answered 4 years ago
The amount you pay for a backlink should fluctuate depending on the website's domain rating. If you land a backlink on a website like Forbes, that can do a lot for your online search credibility. To me, a link like that is well worth $1,000. However, if the website's domain rating is below $20, I wouldn't spend more than $100.
Marketing & Outreach Manager at ePassportPhoto
Answered 4 years ago
The cost of an SEO backlink can vary depending on a number of factors, including the quality of the website linking to your site, the relevancy of the link, and the number of links pointing to your site. In general, however, businesses should expect to pay anywhere from $100 to $1,000 for quality backlinks. Of course, this is just a ballpark estimate; the actual cost will depend on your specific situation and goals. I would say that paying over $300 for a single backlink is a bit of a waste. Paying for quality links is an investment that will pay off in the long run by helping you rank higher in search engine results pages and drive more traffic (and potential customers) to your website. However, ideally, you'll be able to mount an effective link-building strategy without having to recur to paid backlinks.
Early Google algorithms used basic metrics such as website traffic to determine SEO, however, today, authority through backlinks is one of its main factors, however there are effective ways to acquire those without payment. Over 90% of all websites do not receive any traffic from Google searches because they lack backlinks, yet the most effective ways to gain them are through organic methods that are available if one makes a concerted effort. Offering your expertise to newsletters, blogs, or synergistic websites can be done without payment. In addition, joining reporter outreach sites such as Terkel and HARO, can give you the ability to provide responses to journalists and receive backlinks for your contributions in those publications . By conducting research, and making yourself available to free resources, there is little need to pay for an SEO backlink.
It's always best to let your SEO strengthen organically. Consumers can usually tell the difference between organically acquired backlink and paid advertising, and oftentimes they're drawn to the ads that have clearly achieved their placements naturally. This can be an important factor of brand transparency and one that can help your business gain respect and loyalty from your customers.
A business should never pay for an SEO backlink. There are organic, free ways to receive links that will positively impact the company for long-term results. Use platforms such as HARO or Terkel to connect with journalists and use this as an opportunity be featured in their articles. It's a win-win for both parties-the journalist has sources for their article and you receive a backlink and digital PR.
The Domain Authority should be calculated for the price of a backlink. If the company's DA is above 50, then the backlink should be around $75-$100. If the DA is below 50, then it should be $45-$60 for the backlink. Do not work with a business whose domain authority is below 20, it will hurt your SEO instead of assist.
Although it’s technically against many search engines when people manipulate the SEO algorithm by buying backlinks, these links are an efficient marketing technique. Therefore, if you have quality content, you should pay nothing for backlinks since your content is what people should appreciate. As a marketing strategy, the quality of the link and the number of leads it can acquire will determine its cost because the more significant the backlink price, the better CTR/ROI it has. A quality backlink should cost between $1000 to $1500, and a standard link should be less than $1000 and must include sensible leads.
A correct response to this question is reliant on a variety of things. Fees might range from $0 if the website owner allows reciprocal linking to tens or hundreds of dollars for a link from a well-trafficked website. One method for determining how much to pay for a backlink is to use an SEO tool such as SemRush or Ahrefs to examine the backlink profile and traffic statistics of the website from which you are purchasing a link. Expect to pay less than a hundred dollars if the website has a good backlink profile and more than 20 to 80 thousand page visits per month. If the website has more than 100,000 page views each month, expect to spend $100 or more for that link.
The pay scale should be proportionate to the domain rating of the site doing the backlinking. For instance, a site with a domain rating of 95 should yield a certain rate while a site with a lesser domain rating should yield another. That said, top-tier publications are worth upwards of $1K while lesser know blogs producing backlinks should cost roughly a few hundred dollars (US). Ultimately, it is a performance metric in the public relations world and should be seen as a two-fold way to gain visibility while moving the needle.
The prices might range from anywhere between $100 – $600 + depending on quality. I think it’s only fair to reference other investigations and studies into what constitutes fair and average pricing in the link building game. Ahrefs finds the average cost of buying a backlink from a website is $361.44 (excluding labor and outreach costs) – See here.
The DR and DA pricing model: I think the most common way link building vendors and agencies set prices is to charge based on the DR (domain rating) or DA (domain authority) (domain authority). It's not perfect, because these are 3rd party metric scores that don't always show how good a website really is. These scores are used by people in the industry to figure out how good a website is, along with other things like how many people come to the site organically. The prices could be anywhere from $100 to $600 or more, depending on how good they are.
The cost of an SEO link depends on many factors, such as the type of link, the quality of the site, and the authority of the publication. The majority of businesses spend too much on their SEO links. They are unaware that there are different types of links and each has a different value. The most common type of link is an editorial link. This is a link that appears on a blog or other publication’s website. These links are the most valuable and have the highest authority. The next most valuable type of link is a hosted link. These are usually on websites that are relevant to your business. They are not as authoritative as editorial links, but they are still valuable. The least valuable link type is a nofollow link. This type of link provides little to no value for your business.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the amount a business should pay for an SEO backlink will vary depending on a number of factors, including the quality of the backlink, the relevance of the backlink to the business's website, and the quantity of backlinks the business already has. However, as a general rule of thumb, businesses should expect to pay between $50 and $500 per backlink.
Backlink gathered organically is more beneficial than paid. It help to build brand reputation as well as gain high DA. Mostly, google algorithm find pay link and this later impact website DA. So, try to gain link organically or through link exchange startegies.