Cheap Backlinks: What Low-Cost Links Really Buy You

Search for "buy cheap backlinks" and you will find pages promising hundreds of links for the price of a lunch. I will not point you to any of them, and this article explains why. It also covers what cheap links usually are, what Google says about them, and the cheaper (or free) ways to earn links that actually count.

I have built links since 2016, and I run a community where selling links is banned. So I have seen both sides: the packages people regret buying, and the free exchanges that quietly worked. Here is the honest version.

What "cheap backlinks" usually are

A real, editorial link takes a person's time. Someone researches a site, writes or adapts content, pitches an editor, and waits. When a package offers dozens or hundreds of links for a small fee, there is no room for that work. The links come from automation or from sites set up to sell them. The usual suspects:

Private blog networks (PBNs)

A PBN is a group of sites, often built on expired domains, created only to link out to paying customers. They look like blogs but have no real audience. Several link-building vendors describe large bundles of cheap links as a telltale sign of PBN use, and Google can find these patterns.

Link farms and directories

Link farms are pages that exist to link to other pages. Spammy directories and profile sites fall in the same bucket. You get a link, but it sits among hundreds of unrelated outbound links on a page nobody reads.

Marketplace "packages"

Gig-style listings on freelance marketplaces often bundle forum profiles, comment links, directory submissions and low-grade guest posts. These can come from compromised or abandoned sites. I am not going to name sellers, because none of them are worth your rankings.

What Google says about buying links

Google's spam policies list link spam, including buying or selling links that pass ranking credit, and "excessive link exchanges ('Link to me and I'll link to you') or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking." The consequences range from the links simply being ignored to a manual action against your site.

Google's stance is not a surprise, but the practical effect matters more than the rule. If the links are ignored, you paid for nothing. If they are penalized, you paid for a problem you must clean up.

Cheap links fail two ways. Either Google discounts them and you gain nothing, or it flags the pattern and you lose more than you paid.

What real links cost, and why cheap is a red flag

According to Ahrefs, the average cost of buying a guest post link is about $77.80, which Ahrefs notes is much lower than niche edits. Those prices usually exclude the content itself, and they cover only sites that sell placements, which is the thing Google's policy targets. I am quoting the number to show the market, not to suggest you buy.

The point is this: if even the low end of the legitimate-looking market sits near that figure per link, a hypothetical "100 backlinks for $20" offer cannot be funded by real editorial work. The math forces the seller to use automation or throwaway sites.

Why links matter, and why cheap ones do not deliver

Links do correlate with rankings. In Backlinko's study of 11.8 million Google results, the #1 result had 3.8x more backlinks than positions #2 to #10. That is a correlation, not proof that links alone cause rankings, but it explains why people shop for them.

But the study is about naturally earned links on sites with real content. A link on a page built only to sell links is not the same asset. And the odds are tough anyway: Ahrefs' study of about 14 billion pages found 96.55% get no organic Google traffic. Spending your budget on links Google ignores does not change that.

Cheaper alternatives that work

You pay with value instead of cash. Each option below costs time, not link fees.

Link exchanges

Two relevant sites link to each other where it helps readers. Ahrefs found that 73.6% of domains with 10K+ monthly visits have reciprocal links, so they are common. Keep them few and relevant; our guide to link exchange in 2026 explains how.

ABC (three-way) swaps

Site A links to B, B links to C, C links to A, so no two sites trade directly. See how ABC link exchange works.

Guest post swaps

You write for their blog and they write for yours, each with one contextual link. Read the guest post exchange guide for the steps.

Resource links and broken-link replacement

Find resource pages in your niche and suggest your guide if it fits. Offering a replacement for a dead link is a favor, not a favor request.

Digital PR and expert quotes

Answer journalist requests and earn editorial mentions for free. See HARO alternatives that work.

A community of link partners

This is where we come in. In the Free Backlinks Slack community, members post what they offer. One member runs Black Friday roundups on sites rated DR 57 to 85 and asks for one backlink per feature, with no placement fee. Another offers link placements on SaaS domains. Nobody pays for a link, and selling links is banned. You can join Free Backlinks for a one-time $99, or use the free methods above on your own. We list other places to meet partners in our community roundup.

How to tell a cheap link from a safe one

Before you accept any link, ask these questions.

• Does the site have real readers? Check traffic in a free tool (see free backlink checker tools).
• Is the page topically related to yours?
• Is it one of many outbound links to unrelated sites?
• Would the site exist without its link business?
• Did anyone pay for it?

If the answer to the last two is "no" and "yes", walk away, whatever the price.

Template for a free swap

Hi Maria, I read your piece on email deliverability and liked the section on warm-up. We published a benchmark report on cold email that your readers might use. If it fits, I would link to your article from our post on inbox placement as a thank-you. No obligation either way.

If you already bought cheap links

It happens, often before the owner learned how links work. Do not panic and do not buy more to "dilute" them. A calm sequence:

1. Export your links from Search Console and Ahrefs Free and list the ones you paid for.
2. Ask the sellers to remove links where they can. Many will not reply, but some do.
3. Check Search Console's Manual actions report. If there is no action, your main risk is wasted money.
4. If you have a manual action or a clear pattern of paid links you cannot remove, Google offers a disavow tool. Use it sparingly and only for links you are sure are paid or spammy.
5. Stop the spending and move the budget into content and outreach.

A $0 link budget plan for the next 30 days

If you were about to spend a few hundred dollars on cheap links, here is how I would spend the same month on free work instead.

• Week 1: Pick your best two pages. Ask yourself why a stranger would cite them. Improve them with original data, a template or a clear example.
• Week 2: Find 20 relevant sites using the methods in how to get backlinks for free. Send short, personal pitches.
• Week 3: Propose three exchanges or guest post swaps with sites at a similar level to yours. Be specific about the page and the anchor.
• Week 4: Answer journalist requests, follow up on pitches and log your results in a sheet.

You may land five good links in a month rather than 500 weak ones. The five are the ones that will still be there next year, and they carry real referral traffic, which a farm link never will.

Bottom line

Cheap backlinks are cheap because they skip the work that makes links valuable. If you have budget, spend it on content other sites want to cite. If you do not, spend time on exchanges and outreach. See also our guide to 17 ways to get quality links without paying.

Sources

• Google Search Central – Spam policies
• Ahrefs – Should You Buy Backlinks? It Depends
• Backlinko – Google search ranking factors study (11.8M results)
• Ahrefs – Search traffic study
• Ahrefs – Reciprocal links study
• Google – Disavow links to your site, Search Console Help
• The HOTH – Buying backlinks (vendor view on PBN bundles)