Link Building Budget Calculator
Budget a link campaign three ways: in-house, agency, marketplace.
Inputs
Results
Adjust the inputs to see your forecast.
What this number means
Total campaign budget is links × cost per link on the agency route: 50 × $300 = $15,000. Monthly run-rate spreads that over the timeline: $15,000 ÷ 6 = $2,500/month.
The comparison table prices the same 50 links three ways. In-house costs 4 hours × $75 = $300/link ($15,000 total). The marketplace preset is $175/link ($8,750 total, $1,458/month) — cheaper, but with very different link quality, which the price alone does not capture.
The formula
In plain English: each route converts to a cost per link; multiplying by the link target gives the total, and dividing by the timeline gives the monthly run-rate.
- In-house cost per link = In-house hours per link x In-house hourly cost
- Route total = Cost per link x Links needed
- Monthly run-rate = Route total / Timeline months
- Marketplace cost per link = $175 fixed preset
Worked example
An e-commerce brand needs 50 links in 6 months. Its agency quotes $300/link: $15,000 total, $2,500/month. Building in-house takes 4 hours per link at a $75 loaded rate — also $300/link, so the agency is not overcharging relative to internal cost.
The marketplace route is $8,750 total ($1,458/month) — $6,250 cheaper. The honest question the table forces: is the quality gap worth $6,250? For a brand that will live with these links for years, the agency or in-house route usually wins on risk-adjusted value.
Assumptions and limitations
- Price is not quality. A $175 marketplace link and a $300 digital-PR link are different products — authority, relevance, and risk differ enormously. This calculator prices; it does not judge.
- Link velocity is simplified. Real campaigns ramp outreach gradually; the monthly run-rate is an average, not a schedule.
- Marketplace rate is a preset. Actual marketplace prices range widely by niche and metrics; treat $175 as a rough benchmark.
- No ranking outcome modeled. This sizes the investment. Pair it with the Traffic & Revenue Forecaster to model what the links might be worth.
- All figures are planning estimates.