Costs and pricing
Part of How much do link building services cost in the UK?
How much do link building services cost in the UK?
What UK link building services cost: agency retainers, freelance day rates and typical per-link fees, with regional price benchmarks for England.
What to take away
- Freelance link building in the UK usually costs £150 to £400 per link, or £25 to £60 an hour.
- Agency retainers commonly sit between £1,000 and £5,000 a month. London agencies quote the highest bands.
- Digital PR is priced per project, often £3,000 to £8,000 for a single campaign.
- Ask for a breakdown of hours, named target sites and reporting before you agree a fee.
Typical price bands for UK link building
Suppliers generally price in one of three ways: a monthly retainer, a fee per placed link, or a fixed project fee. The table gives indicative bands for each model, so quotes can be compared on the same basis.
UK link building price bands
Freelance
- Monthly cost
- £300-£1,200
- Fee per link
- £150-£400
Small agency
- Monthly cost
- £1,000-£2,500
- Fee per link
- £200-£500
Regional agency
- Monthly cost
- £2,000-£4,000
- Fee per link
- £300-£650
London agency
- Monthly cost
- £4,000-£10,000
- Fee per link
- £500-£1,200
Typical price bands
Typical monthly cost
- Freelance outreach
- £300 to £1,200
- Small agency retainer
- £1,000 to £2,500
- Regional agency retainer
- £2,000 to £4,000
- London agency retainer
- £4,000 to £10,000
- Digital PR campaign
- £3,000 to £8,000
Typical fee per link
- Freelance outreach
- £150 to £400
- Small agency retainer
- £200 to £500
- Regional agency retainer
- £300 to £650
- London agency retainer
- £500 to £1,200
- Digital PR campaign
- £400 to £1,000
Why quotes vary across England
London rates sit highest because agencies there carry bigger overheads and compete for clients in finance and professional services. A retainer of £4,000 a month in Shoreditch is often quoted at £2,500 for similar scope in Manchester or Leeds.
London vs regional retainer costs
London
- Monthly retainer
- £4,000
- Main driver
- Overheads, finance clients
Manchester or Leeds
- Monthly retainer
- £2,500
- Main driver
- Lower overheads
Regional agencies also differ by specialism. A Bristol agency with media contacts across the south west may win a local news mention for less than the cost of one national placement. If you are shortlisting suppliers, our guide to comparing London agencies covers the questions worth asking.
What pushes a quote up or down
Authority, traffic and topical relevance do most of the work. A link from a national news site costs far more than one from a niche trade blog. Volume matters too: a supplier quoting £400 for a single link may drop to £250 per link on a six-month order.
Supplier rates also drift with inflation. Check the latest UK inflation and price indices from the ONS before accepting a two-year escalation clause.
How agencies and freelancers price their work
The structure of a quote tells you what you are buying. Ask which model applies before comparing headline numbers.
- Hourly retaineryou buy a block of outreach hours each month, typically 10 to 40, and the agency reports where those hours went.
- Per-link feeyou pay a set price for each live placement. It suits small campaigns but can encourage cheap, low-value sites.
- Project feecontent-led pushes and digital PR campaigns are scoped and priced as one-off pieces of work.
Every model involves handling contact data for journalists and bloggers. If a supplier runs outreach on your behalf, put the arrangement in writing; the ICO's UK GDPR guidance explains what a data processing agreement needs to cover.
A worked example: a 12-month campaign
Here is an illustrative budget for a mid-sized UK retailer aiming at 24 links in a year. The figures are examples, not a quotation.
A worked example
- £1,200a monthContent production
- £1,500Outreach and placement
- £2,500Quarterly digital PR
- £300Reporting and tools
- £46,000Total
If the digital PR work lands coverage links as well, the cost per link falls. Track that with the link building metrics that show whether the spend is working.
What to check before you sign
Cheap quotes usually cut corners that cost more later. Check four things before signing.
- Named targetsask for example sites before you pay, not after.
- Disclosurepaid placements must be identifiable, and the ASA's advertising codes set that requirement for UK advertising.
- Reportingmonthly placement lists with URLs and live dates.
- Exit termsnotice period, ownership of content, and whether links stay live if you leave.
Common questions
How much does link building cost per month in the UK?
Most UK businesses spend between £1,000 and £5,000 a month on a retainer, and London agencies sit at the upper end. Freelancers often start nearer £500 a month for a small, focused campaign.
Is per-link pricing cheaper than a retainer?
Rarely. A £200 link seldom includes the content, vetting and outreach time that protect your site, so cheap placements often get removed. Retainers force a supplier to account for its hours.
Do I need a long contract?
Three to six months is common, because outreach takes time to produce results. Anything longer should include a break clause and a clear set of targets.
What is a fair price for digital PR in the UK?
Expect £2,500 to £8,000 per campaign for a mid-market brand. National coverage costs more than regional press, and retainer clients usually pay less per campaign than one-off buyers.
