Memo template
Link building budget: what $100 and $1,000 buy
Your boss wants a number and a reason. Here are two sizes of request, built from the price range in the marketplace, with the objections each one will meet.
Every split below is hypothetical. Prices run from $1 to about $500 per link depending on authority, traffic and niche, so your own rows will differ.
The $100 request
A hundred dollars is a pilot. It buys a handful of mid-priced placements, or many cheap ones, and the aim is to test the process, not to move a keyword.
Hypothetical split: four links at about $15 each on relevant sites, plus a $40 reserve for one stronger row. The reserve exists so that you do not top up twice for the same test.
What you tell the boss: this is the cost of finding out whether ordering, delivery and acceptance work smoothly. If the answer is no, the loss is capped at $100.
Send one target URL only. With two or three URLs you cannot tell afterwards which placement did what.
The $1,000 request
A thousand dollars is a campaign, and finance will treat it as one. They will ask for a ceiling per link, a number of links and a date to review.
Hypothetical split: twenty links around $30, spread over three target pages, with $400 held back for the second month. Spreading over time also looks less like a sudden jump in your profile in Ahrefs or Search Console.
What you tell the boss: we are buying inputs, and we will report on them every month. We will not promise a position, because nobody serious can.
Hold a fixed share back. A bucket you can still say no to makes the approval easier.
Side by side
| Item | $100 pilot | $1,000 campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Test the process | Support three pages |
| Typical spread | 4 to 6 links | 15 to 25 links |
| Reserve | ~40% | ~40% |
| Review date | After acceptance check | End of month two |
| Risk to explain | Waste of $100 | Budget with no result |
Answering the question about return
- 1
Name the page
Each link has a target. Pick the one page that earns the business.
- 2
Record the baseline
Impressions and clicks from Search Console on the date of order, plus referring domains from your tool.
- 3
Wait for a fair window
Core updates such as March 2025 move everything, so avoid reading a result in the week of a rollout.
- 4
Report inputs and movements separately
Spend and links on one line, rankings on another, no causal arrow between them.
Objections you will hear, and replies
- Why not wait for organic growth?
- You can, if the content is winning without help. Links are for pages that deserve to rank but sit behind rivals with more referring domains. Show that gap using your tool of choice, Ahrefs or Semrush, before asking.
- What if Google ignores the links?
- It might. That risk is why the pilot is small and why we never promise outcomes. A capped loss is easier to approve than an open-ended retainer.
- Can we put the spend on the client's invoice?
- That depends on your contract with the client. Invoices and proforma invoices are available from the marketplace, so the paperwork side is covered. The commercial side is your agreement.
Finance will ask about agencies. Why not hire one instead? Sometimes you should: the vendor scorecard shows when a retainer is justified. For line-item buying, this approach has the advantage that every dollar is visible.
Before the money moves, check the red-flag list against whoever you are considering. It takes five minutes.