Does outreach save the budget? Spoiler: no. Outreach is not about saving money. And it’s not just about the cost of the placement itself. It is, first and foremost, the cost of the specialist’s time. Let’s break it down in detail.
How much does an hour of a link builder’s work cost
The logic is simple — a specialist’s time represents operational expenses. The more complex the search and communication process, the higher the costs and the final price of the link.
Calculation for Outreach
Average time calculation to obtain a link from one donor during outreach work:
- Search and domain check by technical characteristics = 0.5 h
- Contact search = 0.5 h
- Communication with the owner/webmaster, payments, placement check = 1 h
TOTAL per 1 link = 2 hours
Thus, if you have an outreach specialist on staff and their average rate is $5/hour, the cost of their work per 1 link is: $5/hour * 2 h = $10.
Outreach Risks
– Direct outreach involves operational risks that increase the total cost of the link.
– The link changes to noindex/nofollow after a month.
– The page is deleted prematurely without a refund.
– The resource changes its topic — relevance decreases.
All these points lead to additional communication with the resource owner, meaning higher costs.
Calculation for Exchange
Average time calculation to obtain a link from one donor when a specialist works on an exchange:
- Search and domain check by technical characteristics = 0.25 h
- Contact search = 0 h
- Communication with support, payments, placement check = 0.25 h
TOTAL per 1 link = 0.5 hours
The figure here will be different per 1 link: $5/hour * 0.5 h = $2.5.
Exchange Risks
If the platform does not have clear refund rules and purchase protection, these are financial risks.
Outreach VS Exchange: Which is more profitable
Comparing the total cost of a project if we need to purchase 2 links at $100 each.
Average time costs:
Exchange: 0.5 hours to process 1 link.
(0.5 h * 2 links) * $5 = $5 + $200 = $205
Outreach: 2 hours to process 1 link.
(2 h * 2 links) * $5 = $20 + $200 = $220
Difference = $15. That is, with a fixed placement price ($200), direct outreach is $15 more expensive. This is a direct consequence of a 4-fold increase in the specialist’s labor efforts.
Yes, we won’t argue and absolutely agree that there are tasks that are difficult, or even impossible, to handle using an exchange. However, by taking a strategic approach to planning and correctly distributing types of work between tools and the “manual approach,” you can significantly reduce operational costs in particular and expenses in general.
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