Link building in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans
Central and Eastern Europe is the cheapest part of Europe for paid placements, with a regional median of $490 for a sponsored article. Prices range from $210 in Ukrainian to $1,040 in Slovak, and publisher habits differ sharply between the Czech and Slovak markets and the Balkans.
In short
- ESBO's September 2026 analysis of 16,625 publishers put the Central and Eastern European median sponsored article at $490, against $855 for Western European languages and $1,110 for the Nordics.
- Within the region the medians were $1,040 in Slovak, $525 in Bulgarian, $480 in Polish, $468 in Romanian and $210 in Ukrainian.
- ESBO published no median for Czech, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian or Slovenian, so budgets there have to be built from direct quotes.
- Ahrefs' 2023 guide to international link building described the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland as advanced markets, and the Balkans as a region where site owners have little link building knowledge.
- WhitePress lists Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Slovenian among its 36 languages, as checked on 4 October 2026.
Central and Eastern Europe is the cheapest part of Europe to buy placements in. ESBO’s September 2026 analysis of direct quotes from 16,625 publishers put the regional median sponsored article at $490. Western European languages came in at $855 and the Nordic languages at $1,110.
The region is not one market, though. The data covers five languages unevenly and leaves several countries out, and the way publishers sell differs between the north of the region and the Balkans. For the comparison across all countries, see international link building.
What links cost by language
| Language | Median sponsored article | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Slovak | $1,040 | ESBO, September 2026 |
| Bulgarian | $525 | ESBO, September 2026 |
| Central and Eastern Europe, combined | $490 | ESBO, September 2026 |
| Polish | $480 | ESBO, September 2026 |
| Romanian | $468 | ESBO, September 2026 |
| Ukrainian | $210 | ESBO, September 2026 |
ESBO only counted publishers with a Domain Rating above 30 and at least 2,000 organic visits a month, so these are prices for established sites. It did not publish how many publishers sit behind each of these language medians.
Three things stand out.
Slovakia is an outlier. At $1,040 the Slovak median matches the UK-audience English median and is roughly double the Polish and Romanian figures. ESBO gives no explanation. A small sample can produce a figure like this, so do not plan a Slovak budget on it without checking quotes yourself.
Most of the region clusters around $470 to $525. Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian medians sit within about $60 of each other. For these three, the regional figure of $490 is a fair planning number.
Ukraine is the cheapest European market in the data. At $210 it is less than half the regional median.
An older comparison points the same way on one detail. Ahrefs’ 2023 guide to international link building included a chart of average link prices across European countries and noted that no monitored country averaged below €100 per link. It also observed that the economic gap between countries was not fully reflected in link prices.
Countries with no data
ESBO published no median for Czech, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian or the Baltic languages. We found no other dated dataset for them either. Our working expectation is list prices near the regional median, but that is an assumption and not a measurement.
Where there is no data, the method is the same everywhere: ask ten to twenty local publishers for their rates, record each quote with the date, the link attribute and the label, and work out your own median. Our lesson on what link building costs shows how to turn that into a plan.
How publishers sell
The only cross-country description we found is Ahrefs’ 2023 guide, which drew on a link building team lead working across European markets. It is one practitioner’s account and it is more than three years old.
| Market | What the guide reported |
|---|---|
| Czech Republic and Slovakia | Advanced markets where many site owners are well versed in link building. A more casual tone is acceptable. Phone outreach has worked for Czech link builders |
| Poland | Advanced market. Negotiation is expected, and a followed link sometimes costs more |
| Balkans | Site owners often have little link building knowledge, so do not assume any SEO background. A formal tone is expected and prices are negotiated. Three-way link exchanges are relatively unheard of |
The guide did not name Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary or Ukraine.
The practical difference is in how you write the first message. In the Czech, Slovak and Polish markets, publishers know the product and you can ask directly for a price, an attribute and a term. In the Balkans the guide’s advice amounts to starting further back: say who you are, what you would like published, and that you will pay, without jargon.
Poland has enough material for its own page. See link building in Poland. Greece, at the southern end of the Balkans, has no dataset at all and works differently, which is covered in link building in Greece.
Small languages, shared sites
Most languages in this region have small publisher pools. We found no dataset on it, but the working assumption is the one that applies to any small market: every buyer ends up on the same few hundred sites, so competitors’ link profiles overlap and a bought pattern is easy to see.
Two habits reduce that risk:
- Do not buy only from the sites your competitors use. A link gap analysis shows which sites those are, and it is as useful for avoiding a crowded site as for finding one.
- Mix paid placements with links that are not for sale, such as partner and supplier links and local coverage.
Marketplaces that cover the region
When you do not speak the language, a marketplace is the practical way to find and pay publishers.
- WhitePress has Polish origins. When we checked on 4 October 2026 it listed more than 148,000 websites in 36 languages, including Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Slovenian and Lithuanian.
- Collaborator listed 44,996 sites across 158 countries and 52 languages on the same date.
A marketplace is a way to pay, not a way to judge. BuzzStream’s 2026 analysis of roughly 257,000 sites that sell guest posts rated 96.2% as low quality. Check every site with the steps in how to vet a publisher and confirm that the traffic comes from the country you are targeting. The marketplace comparison lists the platforms side by side.
What we could not confirm
We looked for regulator guidance on labelling paid articles in these countries and did not open any page we could cite, so this lesson makes no statement about national disclosure rules. If you buy placements here at scale, ask a local lawyer or agency how paid content must be marked.
Where to go next
Start with the language you need and collect quotes. Any term used here is defined in the glossary.
Common questions
How much does a backlink cost in Eastern Europe?
ESBO's September 2026 data shows a regional median of $490 for a sponsored article on an established site. By language it ranges from $210 in Ukrainian to $1,040 in Slovak.
Why is Slovakia so much more expensive than its neighbours?
ESBO does not explain it and did not publish the number of Slovak publishers in its sample. A small pool can push a median up, so treat the figure with care and collect your own quotes.
Are there prices for the Czech Republic or Hungary?
Not in any dataset we found. The method is to ask ten to twenty local publishers for their rates and build your own median.
How should I approach publishers in the Balkans?
Ahrefs' 2023 guide reported that a formal tone is expected, that negotiation is normal, and that you should not assume the site owner knows SEO. Explain plainly what you want and what you will pay.
Which marketplaces cover Central and Eastern Europe?
WhitePress has Polish origins and covers most of the region's languages. Collaborator listed 44,996 sites in 52 languages when we checked in October 2026.
