In-house link building hits $94 cost per link vs $220 agency — past month 9

In-house link building hits $94 cost per link vs $220 agency — past month 9

We modeled fully-loaded cost (salary, tools, donor spend) across 14 programs (n=14).

— Agency blended cost per link: $220
— In-house, months 1-3: $310 (ramp)
— In-house, months 9+: $94

The crossover sits around month 5. Before that, agency wins on cost because you are paying a junior to learn. After ramp, in-house wins decisively — the agency margin and account-management overhead disappear.

The tradeoff: in-house carries fixed cost during slow quarters; agencies flex to zero.

Agency for spiky or sub-12-month campaigns; build in-house only if you need 30+ links/month past a year.