There is no single top link building company; the right one depends on your budget and the kind of link you need. Among established agencies, uSERP and LinkBuilder.io sell managed monthly programmes from about $3,000 to $25,000, Editorial.link and FATJOE sell per-link placements from $72 to $375, and Page One Power and Rise at Seven run bespoke outreach and digital PR with pricing on request.
You are probably comparing three proposals that look nothing alike: one quotes per link, one quotes per month, one will not quote until a call. Here is how the well-known companies differ, using only what their own sites state, and the questions that sort them.
Disclosure: we make Backlinkster, a link exchange platform rather than an agency. It appears at the end so you can see where it does and does not fit.
Why there is no single top link building company
Agencies sell three different products under one name, and the top company for one is a poor fit for another. Managed programmes charge a monthly fee for a set number of outreach-earned links. Per-link marketplaces sell individual placements by authority band. Digital PR firms earn links from publications through campaigns and quote on scope. Ahrefs' survey of link building services (March 15, 2023) put the market at $250 to $400 per guest post link, $150 to $300 per niche edit, $2,500 to $10,000 a month for managed services and $4,000 to $15,000 a month for digital PR retainers. Judge each company against the band it is in.
Six link building companies compared
The table uses figures stated on each company's own site, checked on October 12, 2026. "Not stated" means the site gives no number.
| Company | Model | Stated pricing | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| uSERP | Managed editorial link building, digital PR | $5,000 to $25,000+ a month; 3-month initial commitment | Denver, Colorado |
| Page One Power | Managed custom outreach, link building only since 2010 | Not stated ("not the cheapest option") | Boise, Idaho |
| LinkBuilder.io | Managed monthly packages | $2,999 a month for 8 links up to $19,999 for 53+; 6-month contract, 90-day opt-out | Edinburgh and St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Editorial.link | Per-link placements and packages | $375 base per link; $1,750 for 5, $6,000 for 20 (DR 50 to 90 sites) | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| FATJOE | Per-link marketplace for agencies | Blogger outreach and niche edits from $72; 14-day delivery | Staffordshire, UK |
| Rise at Seven | Digital PR and search-first content | Not stated | Manchester, London, New York |
What each company is best for
Each of the six is strongest in one situation, and their own pages say which.
- uSERP states a team of 45 senior specialists, 575+ clients served and 42 published case studies, mostly SaaS. Best for a funded software company that wants links from publications and can commit $5,000 a month or more.
- Page One Power has done link building exclusively since 2010 with "100% manual outreach to publishers we've vetted" and names Healthline, Hyatt and QuickBooks among clients. Best for larger brands that want a US-based team and bespoke outreach, and can accept a quote on request.
- LinkBuilder.io publishes its packages and guarantees a minimum link volume per month, with a 6-month contract. Best for a business that wants predictable monthly volume and a fixed price.
- Editorial.link lets you order as few as one link, at $300 to $375 each, from sites it describes as DR 50 to 90 with 5,000+ traffic. Best for a small site testing a handful of placements before committing to a retainer.
- FATJOE is a white-label marketplace with starting prices of $72 for blogger outreach and niche edits. Best for agencies ordering in volume for clients, with the caveat below.
- Rise at Seven is a digital PR agency with offices in Manchester, London and New York; it claims 79 awards and case studies such as a 65% year-on-year click increase for JD Sports in three markets. Best for brands with a story to tell and a budget for campaigns rather than placements.
The question every proposal has to answer
Ask how the link is obtained, because that decides whether Google counts it. Google's spam policies (updated August 28, 2026) list "buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam and say paid placements are acceptable only when tagged rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". A company that pitches an editor and earns a followed link is selling labour. A company that pays a site owner for a followed placement is selling a policy violation, however reputable its brand. Per-link marketplaces are the segment where you must ask, and how to choose a link building agency has the seven checks to run on any answer, including asking for ten live placements and opening them yourself.
The other checks that separate reputable agencies from the rest: named clients you can verify, a sample of live links with the sites' real traffic, a written process, and no guarantees of rankings. How to tell if an SEO agency is legit covers the red flags.
A worked example: what $3,000 buys
Take a monthly budget of $3,000. At LinkBuilder.io's published Startup rate that is 8 managed links a month. At Editorial.link's package rate it is about 9 to 10 individual placements. At uSERP it is below the stated minimum, so not an option. At Ahrefs' market average of $250 to $400 per guest post, a freelancer would deliver 7 to 12. The point of the exercise is that at this budget you are buying roughly ten links a month from anyone, so the decision is which ten sites, not which logo.
Where Backlinkster fits, and when it is not the right fit
Backlinkster is not an agency and does not place links for you. It matches site owners in related niches to trade one in-content link for one: whoever starts a swap publishes the partner's article first, the link must sit in a real article on the member's own domain, one published link cannot be reused for two live swaps, and each swap is verified by API. The free plan covers 5 swaps a month, Pro is $19, the top plan $49, which is a different order of cost from the companies above because you supply the article and the reciprocal link yourself.
It is not the right fit if you need links from publications that would never trade, if you cannot publish articles linking to other businesses, if you want someone else to do the work, or if you need more than a handful of links a month. For those, the six companies above are the honest comparison, and link exchange vs buying backlinks sets out the trade-offs.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the top link building company for SEO growth? It depends on budget and link type. For managed programmes, uSERP ($5,000 to $25,000+ a month) and LinkBuilder.io ($2,999 a month for 8 links) publish their models; Page One Power quotes on request. For single placements, Editorial.link charges $300 to $375 per link. For digital PR, Rise at Seven works on campaigns.
What are the best link building agencies in the USA? Among US-based agencies that publish their model: uSERP (Denver), Page One Power (Boise, link building only since 2010), Editorial.link (St. Petersburg, Florida) and LinkBuilder.io (St. Petersburg and Edinburgh). "Best" depends on whether you want managed outreach or per-link placements.
How much do link building agencies charge? Ahrefs' 2023 survey found $250 to $400 per guest post link, $150 to $300 per niche edit, $2,500 to $10,000 a month for managed services and $4,000 to $15,000 a month for digital PR. The six companies above sit inside those bands, from $72 per link at FATJOE to $25,000+ a month at uSERP.
Are link building agencies worth it? They are worth it when the links are earned from relevant sites with readers and you lack the time to do the outreach yourself. They are not worth it when the links are paid placements that should carry a sponsored tag, because those pass no ranking credit under Google's policies.
How do I know if a link building agency is reputable? Ask how each link is obtained, request ten live placements and open them, verify named clients, and refuse any guarantee of rankings. Reputable agencies answer all four quickly; the rest change the subject to Domain Authority.
The bottom line
No company is the top link building company for everyone. uSERP, Page One Power and LinkBuilder.io sell managed outreach at monthly rates; Editorial.link and FATJOE sell placements per link; Rise at Seven sells digital PR. Pick the band that matches your budget, then ask the one question that matters: how is the link obtained. A reputable company earns it from an editor; anything else is a paid link with a nicer invoice.
Related: How to choose a link building agency · How to tell if an SEO agency is legit · How much does an SEO agency cost per month? · Link exchange vs buying backlinks · Is it worth paying for backlinks? · How to set a link building budget