What a link building agency does for you
A good link building agency runs a simple loop. It studies your site and your competitors, builds a list of pages that might link to you, finds the right person at each site, writes a pitch, follows up, and handles the back and forth. When a link goes live, it adds it to your report.
That loop is real work, and it is why agencies cost what they do. Agencies often charge a few hundred dollars per link, and retainers often start around $3,000 a month. The work itself, though, is mostly research, writing and follow-up. Software can now do most of it.
Agency and BacklinksBot side by side
The table compares a typical agency with BacklinksBot. Agencies vary a lot, so treat the agency column as common practice, not a rule.
| Question | Typical agency | BacklinksBot |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Per link or monthly retainer | Flat $199, $499 or $1,499 a month, half that per month billed yearly |
| Who sends the emails | The agency, often from its own domains | Your connected mailbox, under your name |
| What you see | A report of finished links | Prospects, Contacted, Replies, Negotiating and Links live, updated as it happens |
| Approval | Usually none per email | Approval mode, or autopilot on Growth and Agency |
| Paid placements | Often bundled into the price | Paid by you directly to the publisher, only if you approve, with rel="sponsored" |
| Link checks | At delivery | Checked live on the page, then monitored weekly or daily |
| Contract | Often 3 to 6 months | Cancel anytime, access to the end of the paid period |
One analysis, no signup. The first five targets with DR, strategy and why they fit.
Find my link gapsWhy the per-link model is hard to trust
When you pay per link, the agency earns more by delivering more links, not better ones. That can push vendors toward sites that sell placements to anyone. Google's spam policies call links bought to pass ranking credit a link scheme, and since 2019 Google has asked for rel="sponsored" on paid links.
A flat subscription removes that pull. BacklinksBot earns the same whether a link costs a publisher fee or not, so the bot aims for earned links first. When a publisher does ask for money, the bot proposes rel="sponsored" and tells you the risk of bought links before you approve anything. You can read the full policy on our white hat link building page.
What you keep control of
- Your mailbox and your name. Outreach goes out from your connected mailbox with daily sending caps, so you own the relationships after the link is live.
- Every email. In approval mode, nothing is sent until you click OK. On Growth and Agency you can switch to autopilot when you trust the drafts.
- The budget. Each campaign has a budget cap for any publisher fees. The bot cannot go over it.
- The data. Every link record shows the page, anchor, rel value and the date it was first seen live. Growth and Agency export to CSV.
- The exit. Cancel anytime. Your history stays readable to the end of the paid period.
When an agency is still the right call
Some work needs people. If you want a big creative campaign with original research, design, press releases and journalist calls, a strong digital PR agency is worth the money. If your brand needs relationships with a few top publications, a senior consultant may open doors a bot cannot.
BacklinksBot is built for the steady part of link building: resource pages, listicle inclusion, broken links, unlinked mentions, competitor link copying, link insertions, guest posts and journalist requests, every month, at a known cost. Many teams use both, with an agency for one big campaign and the bot for the monthly base.
Questions to ask your current agency
If you already work with an agency, these questions help you compare it fairly with any alternative, including ours.
- Can you share the outreach emails that earned each link?
- Which links involved a payment, and do those links carry rel="sponsored"?
- How many of last quarter’s links are still live today?
- Which pages on our site do the links point to, and with what anchors?
- Whose mailbox and domain sends the outreach, and who keeps the relationships if we leave?
- What notice period applies if we stop?
Switching from an agency in four steps
You can start from the link gap demo right now, or compare plans on the pricing page.
- 1 Run the link gap demo on your domain to see which pages link to your competitors but not to you.
- 2 Pick a plan and connect your mailbox. Growth adds goal mode, so you can enter a target like ten DR50+ links a month under $2,000.
- 3 Start in approval mode for the first weeks. Read the drafts, edit the tone, and approve the ones you like.
- 4 Compare cost per link on the board with what your agency charged, then decide whether to switch on autopilot.
Questions people ask
How much does a link building agency cost?
Agencies often charge a few hundred dollars per link, with higher prices for high authority sites. Retainers often start around $3,000 a month. BacklinksBot is a flat $199, $499 or $1,499 a month, or half that per month on yearly billing.
Is software as good as a link building agency?
For steady outreach work, yes, because most agency work is research, writing and follow-up. For large creative PR campaigns with custom research and design, a human agency still adds value.
Do I pay per link with BacklinksBot?
No. We never charge per link. If a publisher asks for a fee and you approve it, you pay the publisher directly, capped by your campaign budget.
Will the outreach come from my domain?
Yes. Emails go out from the mailbox you connect, under your name, with your postal address and a one-click opt-out in every message.
Can I cancel like I would cancel an agency?
You can cancel anytime from your account, with no notice period. Access lasts to the end of the paid period.