Reasonable Cost for Link Building Service
-
We need about 5-10 high quality links to our website created every month. We need the link targets researched and outreach done to these sites.
The sites most be legitimate and high quality; decent domain authority, real sites, not phony low quality sites. Sites that would show traffic in similarweb.com with decent metrics. We absolutely want to avoid any link building schemes that could get us penalized. I have been told that such a project would take a qualified SEO about 8-10 hours per months (more during the additional month of research, less afterward).
As such, what is a reasonable cost for these 5-10 links per month? $300, $500, $700, more? I only want to work with a highly experienced SEO, native english speaker with extensive experience. What is fair? I don't want to overpay or to under pay.
Thanks,
Alan
-
You should contact SEOs and get as much info about backlinks criteria as you can and then you have 2 options: outreach by yourself or hire the SEO specialist that you can trust. Here are some tools for outreach that can help:
https://moz.com/blog/14-easy-ways-to-find-any-email-address-in-10-minutes-or-less
And there is not fixing price for a link building per time. Backlinks differ in metrics and the price depends on the relevancy (niche) and quality of a website (outbound links, content, permanent links or not etc). Compare prices from different sellers and make up your decision.
-
I'm guessing text embedded is another way to verbalize the usage anchor text? What is to my understanding with anchor is that you want a variety, but realistically given the fact you shouldn't have control of the domain, under Google's guidelines it shouldn't be a huge deal with these high authority backlinks. So it's not an absolute must take what you can get.
Plus if you get hooked up by somebody, say for instance a journalist, you don't really want to anger them. I actually got a link from "The Guardian" because I got super lucky, and was in the right place at the right time, helping out slander victims with some Reputation Management. Long story short when I got the back link, she had anchor texted with "Search Engine Optimisation".
Well like an idiot I wrote a super polite email treading as carefully as I could indicating that it was Z instead of an S... "That's The British Spelling!" That was a very terrifying moment, thank goodness she wasn't to mad and all was well haha! But yeah, taking what you can get is no big deal on a big 94 DA like that.
If I was you, I'd go about like this. NY Times would be a nice payload. I would go onto hunter.io and grab me every email address they have listed for all their columnists and editors etc. Hit all of them up individually, go at their twitters, socially engineer your foot in the door, whether it's implicating you have a story, or that you need someone good at writing articles and particularly loved their work.
Once you go from not communicating don't know them, to rapport, and back and forth conversation, you go from there.
-
Hi Sean:
Makes a lot of sense. So what objective measures of quality can request when I hire an SEO firm to create links. I know there are page authority and domain authority but understand these can be manipulated as well.
My concern is that I will order 4-5 links for $2,000 and will be provided with 4-5 links purchased on FIVRR for $20.00.
How as a consumer can I protect myself from this scenario? Now I guess I can research potential links targets myself, but how do I ensure they are of decent quality? Should I ask the SEO to run initial research and then I can say what links I feel are OK?
Also, there will text embedded in links back to our site that the SEO will create. This text may contain a keyword, company name or other info. Should I specify text this should contain or leave it to the SEO?
-
On the business side of things @Kingalan1, I can totally understand looking at SEO from a consumer perspective it should be only reasonable that if you're paying a doctors wage that you could get at least a time estimate. The problem we face is that there are so many factors beyond not only the consumer, but the SEO strategists control.
I think what Chris Menke said, "you should be very, very well educated on the topic of link building before investing your company's money in it." is very crucial in the fact that the more research you put into SEO the better results plus the more money you'll save. In your position what I would probably do if you want VERY HIGH authority links is actually research into each one you want individually.
News Websites seem to be rather heavy hitters for example. So every News website has journalists that write articles which have email addresses to contact them. With some time and money invested you can very much expedite the link building process. I wouldn't go into setting goals of link quantity, but rather target quality. Because as I'm sure you know sometimes 1 link could be worth what 1000 others would provide you.
So if you hire a professional SEO strategist to do these things for you, I would research into the quality of their work, and their results. But I wouldn't go into it with a certain expectation or time frame for any particular result.
-
Hi Sean:
Apparently I may have misunderstand.
Keeping in mind that I as a business person I am trying to spend the least possible for the highest quality, how much do you think is reasonable to budget on a monthly basis for 4-5 decent quality links?
Thanks,
Alan -
Hi NgEF:
So from what you say for about 4 for to 5 decent quality links around $800 to $1,000/month would be reasonable. But this would not include articles, infographics, content which I could either create or pay for. It would also not include featured blog posts which could run anywhere up to $1,000.
OK, so maybe $2,000/month is not that far off.
Do I understand this correctly?
Thanks, Alan -
5-10 links in 8-10 hours of work high authority domains? When I'm rich I'm hiring that guy because I've been trying to hustle a 2000 word blog with 2 custom infographics and a field study and I can't get any biters for a week now
-
Just wanted to chip in on this topic as it's pretty close to heart for me as I've dealt with several similar questions just recently.
@Kingalan1, One thing to keep in mind is that a good link building program can include several variables which might increase the overall cost of the engagement. For example, is content creation part of the link building program? If so, is the content creation handled by the SEO agency or by your in-house team? Content creation is typically the most expensive cost involved for the agency as it means paying writers, paying for images, paying for the creation of video content, paying for infographic tools etc.
Also keep in mind that while outreach is one of the ways to get good and well researched backlinks, there are many other ways that might also include a cost to the SEO agency. A great example here would be if it makes sense for your business or website to look for a guest post or a featured blog by a prominent blogger that is also in your niche. I've seen reputable bloggers charge upwards of USD$1,000 per featured post. That cost should also be taken into account.
Ideally, I typically arrange for a set monthly charge for a backlink research program, then also have a fixed monthly budget for any additional costs. Of course, there needs to be full transparency on the SEO agency's end to provide invoices for any usage of the fixed monthly budgets. Also, if there are any other opportunities spotted by the SEO agency, they should also bring it to you and request for additional budget if necessary.
Just to provide some context, for a small to medium ecommerce website, I would charge about USD$300 for the backlink research hours (typically 4 to 5 hours monthly), and request for a USD$500 monthly budget for content creation, with monthly deliverables such as articles, infographics as discussed with the client.
Hope this helps!
-
I simply want to understand what I am paying for. If a vendor takes 15 minutes a month and uses an automated systems to create links I would like to know. If the hourly rate the vendor is charging me is $4,000/hour I think I am entitled to know.
I am not fixated on $500, $1,000 or $2,000 per month. I am fixated on getting fair value. When one party (vendor) has more information than the customer, the customer is in a vulnerable position and apt to overpay. That is why I am asking.
It seems reasonable to pay an SEO what a CPA, a decent attorney or other professional earns on an hourly basis. But an hourly rate equivalent to a Fortune 500 executive or a neuro-surgeon seems excessive.
I am simply trying to determine what is fair and customary.
Thanks, Alan
-
Alan,
I have feeling that if you have to ask that question and your thinking starts off in the under $500 range, you may have a hard time understanding or recognizing why the actual cost for what you're looking for is going to be so much higher--and what you will actually be getting for your money. In any case, you should be prepared to sign a year agreement that binds you to pay a total yearly sum and that stipulates exactly what your contractor is going to achieve for you. Absent that, one or both parties is very likely back out early because of misunderstandings of what is being provided and/or what is required.
Linkbuilding is by no means a causal engagement--the future of your company/website is at stake. Just as you would educate yourself for any major investment by your company, you should be very, very well educated on the topic of linkbuilding before investing your company's money in it.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Links from a penalised site.
Hey Mozzers, Recently we have had a series of agencies in to pitch for work, one group mentioned that due to our association with a possibly penalised product review website, any links and activity associated with the brand would hinder our SEO. We currently have a good rating, but we are now no longer pushing our customers to the site as we move to a new platform. The current link back from this website is also no-followed. Any thoughts on how this could impact us? And how the agencies determined the site was penalised and causing us problems. Cheers Tim
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | TimHolmes0 -
Value of EDU Links?
Greetings: We are considering hiring a firm specializes in developing .EDU links. Is the ROI on EDU links better than non EDU backlinks from reputable domains? Will obtaining EDU links results in greater domain authority and improved ranking for search engine results? Thanks, Alan
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kingalan10 -
How Many Natural Links Do You Earn?
Hello Mozzers, This is a bit of an open ended question and I don't think any one person is going to be the same. I have recently seen the light in my link building practices and I am trying to get a feel for what to expect in terms of natural link acquisition in an effective content marketing strategy. My question is how many natural links do you generally find yourself earning after the first 12 months of content creation/placement with a new website/industry? I know this is going to be a question with a multitude of different answers. I look forward to your valuable insight as always!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ChoChauRice1 -
Relevancy of link profile
Hi! I'm doing an audit of http://www.stevesims.com/ at the moment, who has had rankings for 'website designers' plummet recently. Looking at the site, there a few things to do with on-page and on-site optimisation, but nothing major. Instead, I think the link profile is the issue. There's a lot of site wide links from non-relevant sites, but I'm struggling to see anything else. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Blink-SEO0 -
My Link Building Strategy Good or Bad?
Okay I am new to SEO and I have read a few SEO beginner guides and have been practicing SEO over time now. I am trying to do SEO for a new clients site that is a completely new site with no MR and MT and here is my current link building strategy. Can you please review my link building plan and help me out with suggestions and corrections 1. Directory Submissions- From what I understand since the new google penguin updates this isn't as effective of a method but I am trying get high PR directory list, but a lot of them require paid standard submission reviews, otherwise it takes 2-3 months 2. Local Directory Submissions- Such as yelp, angee's list, whitepages, and other local directories. 3. Social Bookmarking- submit links to social bookmarking sites with target keyword(s) as anchor 4. Article Writing & Submission: create articles and submit to high pr article directories with different article titles and also wanted to see different submissions I can make with each article 5. Press Releases- submit to high pagerank press release directories, also wanted to see how many submissions is generally the rule of thumb for press releases. 6. Blog Outreach for Product Reviews: Submit products to blogs with PR 2+ to get review and backlinks 7. Forum Profile Creation- create forum profiles and engage in topics with signature with a link, I understand that since the penguin update this isn't something I should emphasis on 8. Blog Commenting- comment on relevant blogs that have dofollow links and nofollow links for link diversity 9. Guest Blogging- Write unique content and outreach to related blogs for guest posting opportunities 10. .edu & .gov links- How do I gain .edu & .gov links I have read several articles and I am having a hard time understanding this concept, would commenting on .edu & .gov blogs and profiles be an effective method or the correct method for gaining these types of links?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | azokaei0 -
Link Anchor Text
As I keep studing SEO I reach to the conclusion that the Anchor Text from other site is crucial to get more positive results for our website and for the link-building strategy. My question is - Is it better to have an Anchor Text to my main link our should I ask for a determine targeted keyword? Tks in advance! Pedro M Pereira
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PedroM0 -
Links to Facebook pages
I would like to ask if anyone has any knowledge regarding linking to a company's facebook page. I have built a few links to a client's facebook page in an effort to have it rank better in SERPs. I just learned that unlike twitter and linkedin, it is apparently not possibly to directly link to facebook pages. At least it is not possible from a search engine's perspective. If you follow any facebook page link while you are not logged into facebook, you are redirected to the facebook home page. I can't think of any way around this obstacle. I'd love some clever solution such as providing a URL which includes a basic dummy facebook login but there is nothing I am aware of to achieve this result. Does anyone have any ideas on this topic?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | RyanKent0 -
First Link Priority question - image/logo in header links to homepage
I have not found a clear answer to this particular aspect of the "first link priority" discussion, so wanted to ask here. Noble Samurai (makers of Market Samurai seo software) just posted a video discussing this topic and referencing specifically a use case example where when you disable all the css and view the page the way google sees it, many times companies use an image/logo in their header which links to their homepage. In my case, if you visit our site you can see the logo linking back to the homepage, which is present on every page within the site. When you disable the styling and view the site in a linear path, the logo is the first link. I'd love for our first link to our homepage include a primary keyword phrase anchor text. Noble Samurai (presumably seo experts) posted a video explaining this specifically http://www.noblesamurai.com/blog/market-samurai/website-optimization-first-link-priority-2306 and their suggested code implementations to "fix" it http://www.noblesamurai.com/first-link-priority-templates which use CSS and/or javascript to alter the way it is presented to the spiders. My web developer referred me to google's webmaster central: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66353 where they seem to indicate that this would be attempting to hide text / links. Is this a good or bad thing to do?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | dcutt0