How to Calculate Link-Building ROI and Justify Your SEO Investment

Link building can take up around 40% of an SEO budget, and sometimes even more in industries with strong competition. But there’s one big issue: many businesses start building links without checking the return on investment (ROI). This can lead to spending a lot of money without knowing what you’re getting in return.

If we are spending $5,000, $10,000, or even $50,000 every month on link building, we should have a clear idea of what results to expect.

This simple guide explains how to figure out link-building ROI before even sending your first outreach email. It covers how to check a page’s potential to make money, what link building might cost, and how to know if it’s worth the money.

By the end, we will be able to plan better, avoid spending too much, and choose the right pages to invest in.

Let’s begin with the most important part of the strategy.

Why Page Value Comes First in Link Building

Before we think about how many links a page needs, we must first ask: Is this page worth building links to? A good ROI starts with a page that can bring in real income.

First, check how many people search for your target keywords each month using tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. Then, guess how many clicks you might get based on your ranking. After that, multiply the number of visitors by your conversion rate and the value of each sale or lead.

For example:

If a page ranks in the top 3 spots, it could get 1,000 visits every month. If 3% of visitors turn into leads, and each lead is worth $500, that’s $15,000 in possible monthly income.

This gives a clear picture of the value. If a page doesn’t show good earning potential, building backlinks won’t be worth it.

How to Know If a Page Needs Links

Once we know a page can earn money, the next step is to look at how strong the competition is. This will help us know how many good backlinks we’ll need.

Here are the main things to check:

• How many websites are linking to the top-ranking pages?
• The strength of their domains is using tools like Moz (Domain Authority), Ahrefs (Domain Rating), or Majestic (Trust Flow).
• How closely related are those websites to your industry?
• Whether their anchor text (the clickable words) looks natural and varied.

Study the top 3 to 5 pages ranking for your keywords. Then we can guess how many links we need—and check if our content is as good or better than theirs.

How Many Links Do We Need?

There is no exact number of links that works for everyone, just like there’s no single best link-building service for all. It depends on how strong our website is now, how strong our competitors are, and how good our content is. But with the data we’ve collected, we can make a smart guess.

For example, if the top page has 50 links and our page has only 10, we might need 30 to 40 strong links to compete. If our website has more authority, we may need fewer links. If our content is new or not very strong, we’ll likely need more.

This kind of estimate, based on real data, is better than someone simply saying “you need 10 links a month” without any proof.

Building Links With a Plan, Not Just Quick Wins

Trying to get fast results or buying cheap links might work for a short time. But for real growth and good ROI, we need a smart plan. This means choosing the right pages to promote, using link text that matches what people search for, and getting links from trusted websites that fit our niche.

When we build links with a clear goal, it helps our business grow, not just tick a box in our SEO checklist.

Understanding Link Costs by Tier

Not all links are the same, and they don’t all cost the same. Here’s a simple look at link pricing based on quality:

• Tier 1: High authority (DA/DR 70+), from niche-related, trusted websites – around $750 to $1,250+
• Tier 2: Medium authority (DA/DR 50–69), somewhat relevant – about $400 to $600
• Tier 3: Lower authority (DA/DR 30–49), still relevant – usually $250 to $399

Most campaigns use a mix of these. We can use this to guess how much we might spend.

Let’s say we need 25 links:

• 5 from Tier 1 = $4,000
• 10 from Tier 2 = $3,500
• 10 from Tier 3 = $3,000

Total Cost = $10,500

Why Good-Quality Links Matter for ROI

When we calculate ROI, it’s not just about how many links others have—it’s about how good those links are. If we focus only on link numbers, we could waste money or build weak links that don’t help.

Here’s how we do it the smart way:

• Look at the top pages for our target keywords using tools like Ahrefs.
• Remove low-quality links, like spam, footer links, unrelated blogs, and low-trust sites.
• Don’t just look at DR scores. A DR 20 link from a local business might be useful if it fits our topic and area.
• Group the good links by strength and how relevant they are. This gives us a better idea of how much we’ll need to spend and what kind of links we should aim for.

This step is very important. It makes sure we’re only counting links that can really help our rankings.

Bad links give us wrong numbers and waste our money. Clean, well-checked links help us plan better, spend smarter, and reach our goals faster.

How to Calculate Link-Building ROI

Once the page’s value and total link costs are known, it’s time to do the math.

Use this formula:

ROI = (Yearly Page Value – Link Building Cost) / Link Building Cost

Example:

If a page can bring in $60,000 a year and the link cost is $10,000:

($60,000 – $10,000) / $10,000 = 5.0 or 500% ROI

Link building takes time. But done right, it can pay for itself in a few months and continue to bring value for years.

How to Get More ROI from Link Building

Once we know the return we can expect, the goal is to get even more from it, without spending more. Here’s how:

Improve Conversion Rate

Getting traffic is just the start. If more people take action on the page, we get better results. Simple changes like faster load time, better layout, clear buttons, and trust signs can help turn visitors into leads or buyers.

Make Content Better

If the content is weak or not well-structured, it will need more links to rank. But with clear, useful, and well-organized content, fewer links can go further.

Use Better Anchor Text

The words we use in links matter. Mixing branded, partial, and general terms helps links look natural and work better for search engines.

Use Helpful Content to Support the Main Pages

We don’t always need to build links straight to service pages. Helpful blogs, guides, or stats pages can attract links. These can then support the main pages with smart internal linking. It’s good for both SEO and conversions.

What to Look for in a Link-Building Agency

If you plan to invest in link building, make sure the agency you work with:

• Builds a custom plan for your site
• Carefully checks every link prospect
• Focuses on quality, not just numbers
• Can clearly explain why each link matters

This is how we work at Stellar SEO — with clear plans and strong links that help your site grow.

Mistakes that Hurt ROI

Most link campaigns fail not because of search engines, but because of poor planning. Avoid these:

• Not checking ROI before starting
• Buying links that are cheap or not related
• Linking to pages that don’t lead to sales
• Working with agencies that care more about quantity than results

If your agency can’t explain how the plan works or when it will pay off, it’s time to look for better help.

Why Domain Authority is Valuable

Good links help more than one page. Over time, your whole site becomes stronger. This means:

• New pages will rank quicker
• Your site is more stable during Google updates
• You can go after tougher keywords

The longer you invest in smart link building, the better your returns will be.

Link Building is a Smart Investment

Link building isn’t a guessing game. With the right numbers and a solid plan, we can make smart moves that bring strong results.

Before starting a campaign, ask:

• Is this page worth ranking?
• How many links do we need?
• What will the links cost?
• When will we break even?

If it’s hard to answer these, we’re here to help.