Planning a link-building budget is one of the most common tasks assigned to SEO specialists. One effective, data-driven method is to analyze the backlink profiles of your top competitors in the target region and mathematically determine the required budget based on this analysis.
The average time required to set the budget using the guide below is 12 minutes.
1. Identify the Main Competitors in Your Niche
You can use popular SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, MOZ, Majestic, or Serpstat to find your competitors. We’ll demonstrate the process using our website, LinkBuilder.com, and the Ahrefs tool.
Enter your website into the Ahrefs search bar and navigate the Organic Competitors section from the left-hand menu. Select 5-10 direct niche competitors from the list. We recommend you steer clear of general-topic websites that may also appear.
Make sure you select the correct region at the top of the page.
2. Download Your Competitors’ Backlinks
To download the backlinks, click the arrow next to a competitor’s domain in the list and select Referring domains from the dropdown menu.
Then click the Export button in the upper right corner, choose CSV (UTF-8) as the file format, and start the export.
Repeat this for each competitor you’re analyzing.
3. Identify Websites Where You Can Purchase Backlink Articles Using LinkBuilder.com
Log in to your account at https://app.linkbuilder.com.
Not registered yet? Sign up for a free account here.
Create a new project or use the default one.
Navigate to the project dashboard and go to the White list section.
Click Add and upload all competitors’ backlink files on the white list page. You can upload files in bulk from your computer or simply drag and drop them into the Drag-n-Drop window. After uploading, click Add.
Please wait about 15 seconds, then hit Update. Once the process is complete, you’ll see a list of the uploaded domains.
Next, navigate back to the project page using the breadcrumb trail.
Here, you’ll find a filtered list of websites where you can purchase guest posts with backlinks, showing only those that match your White List.
Export the filtered data in your preferred format, such as CSV for Excel.
Before exporting, you can further refine your selection with filters based on price range, website traffic, domain authority, and dozens of other SEO metrics.
The file download will start automatically. Additionally, a download link will be sent to your email.
4. Calculate the Budget in Excel (or Any Spreadsheet Tool)
Open the exported CSV file using Excel or your preferred spreadsheet software.
Locate The cheapest price column and and calculate the total sum required to buy backlink articles from the same websites as your competitors.
In our case, we found 215 sites where you can buy backlink articles for a total of $72,465, with an average placement cost of $338.
You can spread your budget over different time periods, such as 12, 24, 36, or any other number of months, calculating the required budget for link building to achieve results comparable to your main competitors within the specified timeframe. For example, if you aim to match your competitors’ link profiles within 2 years, you will need a budget of $3,020 per month for link building.
