Own-data study · November 2026
How much do backlinks cost by authority and traffic?
The price of 38,968 outlets in 147 countries against their DR and their visits: what each point of authority costs, what each reader costs, and how many high-DR outlets have no traffic.
See the data- 38,968
- outlets with price, DR and traffic
- 118×
- dearer per reader on a small outlet
- 33.1%
- of blogs with DR 40+ get under 1,000 visits
- 48.4%
- of €250-350 news outlets get under 1,000 visits
What the data says
- A reader costs 118 times more on a small outlet. On news outlets, 1,000 monthly visits cost €0.90 on outlets with over a million visits and €106 on those with 1,000 to 10,000. Price rises with size, but far more slowly than the audience.
- One in three blogs with a DR of 40 or more has no real traffic. 33.1% get under 1,000 search visits a month (18.2% of news outlets). They cost a median of €252, against €766 for those with over 10,000 visits.
- The same money buys very different audiences. Among news outlets priced between €250 and €350, 48.4% get under 1,000 visits a month and one in ten gets over 19,104.
- At the same DR, traffic multiplies the price. A news outlet with DR 60-79 costs €449 with under 1,000 visits and €2,700 with over a million. Outlets do charge for their audience: the mistake is buying on DR alone.
- The cheapest DR point sits in the middle. On news outlets, each DR point costs €7.80 at DR 40-59, against €24 at DR 0-19 and €21 at DR 80-100.
Price per 1,000 visits
Median of the price divided by monthly organic visits, by outlet size.
- 1,000 to 10,000 2,285 outlets · median €294
- €106
- 10,000 to 100,000 1,194 outlets · median €468
- €20
- 100,000 to 1 million 370 outlets · median €1,246
- €4.70
- Over 1 million 88 outlets · median €3,600
- €0.90
- 1,000 to 10,000 6,669 outlets · median €360
- €125
- 10,000 to 100,000 3,262 outlets · median €620
- €25
- 100,000 to 1 million 701 outlets · median €949
- €3.90
- Over 1 million 116 outlets · median €1,075
- €0.50
Authority without an audience
Outlets with DR 40 or more that get under 1,000 visits a month.
- Blogs 3,145 of 9,502 outlets with DR 40+
- 33.1%
- News outlets 516 of 2,834 outlets with DR 40+
- 18.2%
- Spain (news and blogs) 309 of 1,143 outlets with DR 40+
- 27%
Price by DR and traffic together
Median price of a post on a news outlet. Each row is a DR tier and each column a monthly traffic tier.
| DR \ visits | Under 1,000 visits | 1,000 to 10,000 | 10,000 to 100,000 | 100,000 to 1 million | Over 1 million |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR 0-19 | €178 | €227 | €263 | < 30 | < 30 |
| DR 20-39 | €235 | €271 | €351 | < 30 | < 30 |
| DR 40-59 | €324 | €343 | €441 | €746 | < 30 |
| DR 60-79 | €449 | €608 | €775 | €1,280 | €2,700 |
| DR 80-100 | < 30 | < 30 | €846 | €2,128 | €4,900 |
Cells with fewer than 30 outlets are left blank.
- DR 0-19 2,112 outlets · median €178
- €24
- DR 20-39 2,811 outlets · median €253
- €8.80
- DR 40-59 1,811 outlets · median €374
- €7.80
- DR 60-79 849 outlets · median €840
- €12
- DR 80-100 174 outlets · median €1,807
- €21
Price per 1,000 visits by country
The 16 countries with the most outlets in the catalogue, news and blogs together. Every country with 30 outlets or more is in the CSV.
- India 655 outlets · median €238
- €31
- Argentina 865 outlets · median €179
- €36
- Poland 718 outlets · median €259
- €39
- Mexico 1,105 outlets · median €231
- €52
- Spain 6,599 outlets · median €114
- €54
- Peru 253 outlets · median €176
- €54
- United States 6,177 outlets · median €252
- €57
- Colombia 334 outlets · median €262
- €57
- Brazil 2,585 outlets · median €297
- €59
- United Kingdom 3,487 outlets · median €280
- €64
- Italy 2,123 outlets · median €248
- €65
- France 5,374 outlets · median €216
- €66
- Chile 469 outlets · median €232
- €76
- Netherlands 1,569 outlets · median €365
- €102
- Germany 2,540 outlets · median €560
- €136
- Sweden 287 outlets · median €622
- €153
Price per 1,000 visits in Spain by topic
Spanish outlets, news and blogs, in every topic with 30 outlets or more.
- Psychology 172 outlets · median €70
- €30
- Relationships and weddings 277 outlets · median €63
- €30
- Pets and nature 328 outlets · median €81
- €37
- Sports 996 outlets · median €116
- €39
- Science and environment 476 outlets · median €99
- €40
- Education and languages 452 outlets · median €94
- €40
- Gaming 313 outlets · median €97
- €41
- Home and DIY 722 outlets · median €70
- €43
- Technology 1,184 outlets · median €92
- €44
- News and politics 1,768 outlets · median €125
- €47
- Beauty and fashion 676 outlets · median €83
- €48
- Health 795 outlets · median €84
- €50
- Humour and leisure 465 outlets · median €106
- €51
- Business and jobs 1,361 outlets · median €124
- €51
- Parenting 340 outlets · median €98
- €52
- Food and drink 702 outlets · median €104
- €52
- Transport and logistics 132 outlets · median €70
- €54
- Film, TV and music 488 outlets · median €98
- €54
- Motoring 451 outlets · median €81
- €55
- Art and design 362 outlets · median €90
- €55
- History 157 outlets · median €88
- €56
- Travel 1,066 outlets · median €124
- €58
- Legal 208 outlets · median €73
- €60
- Real estate 169 outlets · median €70
- €60
- Engineering and industry 131 outlets · median €81
- €64
- Marketing and SEO 602 outlets · median €104
- €75
What it means for your budget
- Check traffic before DR. A high DR without visits is the dearest way to buy authority: a third of blogs with DR 40 or more get under 1,000 visits a month.
- Compare the price per 1,000 visits. Divide the price by monthly traffic and multiply by 1,000. On news outlets with 10,000 to 100,000 visits, the median is €20.
- The middle pays off. DR 40-59 with real traffic gives the cheapest DR point and a real audience.
How much a sponsored article costs in online news outlets, by country and topic
How the study was done
The data is Growwer's catalogue as exported on 5 October 2026: 38,968 active outlets in 147 countries (7,757 news outlets and 31,211 blogs), each with its price, authority and traffic. The price is that of a new sponsored post with a DoFollow link, before VAT, as buyers see it. Authority is Domain Rating by Ahrefs; traffic is the estimated monthly organic visits the platform shows.
The price per 1,000 visits is the price divided by monthly traffic, times 1,000. It is only computed for outlets with 1,000 visits or more, because below that it explodes. We give medians; countries, topics and cross-tabs only show with 30 outlets or more, and sensitive topics (gambling, adult, cannabis, esoterism and dating) are left out of the topic breakdown.
On 9 November we checked the export against the live catalogue: of the 25 Spanish outlets with the most traffic that can be recommended today, 11 were in it, all with the same DR and 10 with the same price. The rest were added or reactivated later, so the over-a-million tier is the one most likely to move at the next refresh. No outlet is identified: only aggregates are published.
Frequently asked questions
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In Growwer's catalogue, a post with a DoFollow link costs a median of €252, usually between €74 and €917. On news outlets it goes from €210 for outlets with under 1,000 visits a month to €3,600 for those with over a million.
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Both, almost equally: on news outlets the price correlates 0.52 with DR and 0.47 with traffic. The catch is that DR and traffic do not always go together: at the same DR, an outlet with an audience costs several times more than one without.
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With a traffic tool. You can check a site's traffic for free or check its authority. On Growwer, every outlet shows its traffic and trend before you buy.
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Yes, with a link to this page. You can download the tables as CSV. For news prices by country and topic, see the press price index.