Nearly half of teams spend $5k-$10k a month on links
Looking at uSERP's 2024 State of Backlinks report, the largest single budget cluster across surveyed SEO teams sits in the five-to-ten-thousand-dollars-per-month band, capturing roughly half of all teams. A further eighteen per cent spend more than ten thousand dollars monthly, and the long tail under five thousand dollars accounts for the rest. The $5k-$10k cluster is large enough that it functions as the practical industry baseline: at agency average prices, it covers roughly ten to twenty quality placements per month, which is the velocity required to maintain steady ranking pressure in mid-competitiveness niches without overshooting into diminishing returns.
Methodology: uSERP 2024 State of Backlinks survey of SEO teams; share of teams per monthly link spend band. About LinkPanda.
How much should your link building budget be?
In uSERP’s 2024 State of Backlinks report, the largest budget cluster sits at $5,000 to $10,000 per month, covering roughly half of surveyed teams, while a further 18% spend more than $10,000 monthly. That band works as the practical industry baseline for link building spend: at agency average prices it covers roughly ten to twenty quality placements per month. If you are deciding how much to spend on link building, treat the band as the monthly SEO budget reference point and scale by niche difficulty: see the competitive niche minimum and our pricing.
What does $5,000 to $10,000 a month buy?
At agency average prices the band covers roughly ten to twenty quality placements per month, the velocity the largest cluster of teams runs at.
Do smaller link building budgets work?
The long tail under $5,000 a month covers the remaining teams. The trade is velocity: fewer placements per month means slower authority growth against competitors in the bigger bands.
