Editorial links: what they are, how to get them, and what they cost

An editorial link is a link an editor chose to place inside the body of a page that people read. The industry also uses the word as shorthand for a link nobody asked for, and Ahrefs and Moz both define it that way.

This page covers what the term means, how to earn editorial links, how to commission them, what they cost and how long they take. Across the market, a commissioned one-off placement typically costs $500–$1,250, per Siege Media, and in Andy Zhao's campaign data most links showed a ranking effect between two and eight weeks.

Quick answer

• The test: an editor placed the link, it sits in the body of the article, and the page has readers.
• Two ways to get one: earn it through research, digital PR, unlinked mentions or source requests, or commission it as a niche edit or guest post.
• What they cost: one-off placements typically run $500–$1,250 across the market, per Siege Media's figures from March 2026. Our Curated Links run from $60 to $210.
• How long: a niche edit on an established page shows in two to four weeks, a guest post in four to eight, per Andy Zhao's 50-campaign dataset from April 2026.
• What we check before one goes live: a traffic floor, a DR/DA cross-check, no PBNs or networks, in-body placement and a human sign-off, all set out in the checks we run before a placement goes live.

What people mean by "editorial link"

Ahrefs and Moz define an editorial link by what did not happen: nobody asked for it, and in Ahrefs' version nobody paid for it. Semrush and Search Engine Land define it by placement: where the link sits and the kind of site that carries it.

The Ahrefs glossary, unsigned and checked on 15 September 2026, gives the payment sense: "An editorial link is an organic inbound link that’s not traded for, asked for, or paid for." Ahrefs notes these are also known as earned links, and adds that they appear in content and in context to the source.

Moz's Beginner's Guide to Link Building, published 22 March 2021, heads its section "Editorial links (the ones that you don’t ask for)". Even so, Moz allows a middle case: pitch an industry survey to a journalist and the link the journalist then adds is "an editorially given link, but you’ve actively promoted the content to the journalist."

The placement sense comes from two other publishers. Tan Siew Ann on the Semrush blog, 24 April 2024: "Editorial backlinks are backlinks from publications. Meaning websites (like news sites and blogs) that produce content primarily to inform or educate." Search Engine Land, 26 May 2025 and updated 28 November 2025, defines the content itself: "Editorial content refers to articles and other long-form content that can appear on a website."

So there are two senses: one of payment, one of placement. The placement sense is the one a reader can check on the page, which is why the rest of this page uses it: an editor placed the link, the link sits in the body, and the page has readers.

The test we use: editor, in-body, readers

We apply that test to every Curated Link and Guest Post we deliver.

Take a Curated Link. When we place one, a publisher's editor adds the mention to an existing, indexed page that already has readers. Before the placement goes live we check a traffic floor, run a DR/DA cross-check that is not a gate, rule out PBNs and networks, require in-body placement, and give the link a human sign-off. After it goes live we run a post-publication check, and every link carries 12-month replacement cover if it drops. We run the same test on a Guest Post; the only difference is that the article is new rather than existing.

A sidebar link fails the test. A footer link fails it. A page with no readers fails it, because a farm is pages with no readers. A directory that accepts anything fails it. Each fails however it was obtained, requested or not, invoiced or not.

Charles Floate made the case for this placement type on X on 3 March 2026: "Niche edits (link insertions into existing content) are the most underrated link type in SEO right now.." His reason: "Why? Because the page is already indexed, already has its own backlinks, already ranks for something. Your link inherits ALL of that equity immediately."

That is the same shape as our test: an existing page, already indexed, with the link placed in its body. We have written separately about what a niche edit is and how the placement works. What makes any of these links editorial is the editor, the in-body sentence and the readers, not whether anyone was invoiced.

Why editorial links move rankings

Editorial links move rankings because links are a ranking input Google documents. Three passages in Google's own documentation say so.

How Search Works explains that "one of the factors used to determine quality is understanding if other prominent websites link or refer to the content. This is generally a good sign that the information is trustworthy." Google's ranking systems guide says PageRank "continues to be part of our core ranking systems." And Google's link best practices state: "Google uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl."

Our position, from running link campaigns: followed links from relevant, indexed, read publications are one of the strongest ranking levers, and the one a campaign can move fastest once the page is ready.

How to earn editorial links

Earning editorial links means giving editors something worth citing, then putting it in front of the right people. There are four routes, and each has dated numbers behind it.

Publish something worth citing

Original research is the most reliable raw material for editorial links. Ahrefs reports that "four of the five most linked-to pages on our blog are studies on SEO and marketing."

Tim Soulo's 2023 Ahrefs study found that 96.55% of pages get zero traffic from Google, and reported a clear correlation between the number of websites linking to a page and its traffic. Soulo states himself that the finding is a correlation, not causation. The implication for an editorial link campaign: publish data others can cite.

Pitch it (digital PR)

A study of 12 million outreach emails across 3 million sites, run by Backlinko with Pitchbox and published 16 April 2019, found that 8.5% of outreach emails receive a response and 91.5% are ignored.

One extra follow-up lifts replies by 65.8%: cumulative reply rates were 8.5% after the first attempt, 14.1% after the second and 17.1% after the third, and emailing multiple contacts lifted replies by 93%. Emails on a guest post topic saw a 24.70% reply rate, though a reply is not a placement.

What you pitch matters as much as how. Ross Hudgens at Siege Media compared 100 SEO blog posts in a study last updated 27 June 2024: the 55 built on product-led data drew 34% more links than the 45 without, along with 51% more traffic and 83% more traffic value. We compared this earn path with the commission path in digital PR versus Curated Links.

Claim unlinked mentions

An unlinked mention is a page that names your brand without linking. Joshua Hardwick at Ahrefs, writing on 24 July 2018 with the piece updated 20 November 2020, put the value plainly: "With such mentions, you’re already halfway towards earning a link." Of 558 URLs he checked, 164, roughly 29%, contained unlinked mentions, and 329 of 393 pages he checked for Nike, about 84%, did not link to nike.com.

Current tools for finding unlinked mentions: Ahrefs Alerts tracks mentions, and Content Explorer can highlight unlinked mentions; Semrush tracks them in Brand Monitoring. We keep a fuller process in the importance of brand mentions. The ask itself is short: point the author to the mention and suggest the link.

Answer source requests

Journalists file requests for expert sources, and a quoted answer can carry an editorial link. The stack has changed hands: Cision permanently discontinued Connectively, formerly HARO, on 9 December 2024, and Featured acquired HARO on 16 April 2025. HARO remains free for journalists and sources, supported by newsletter ads, with a daily email; Featured's product page lists morning, afternoon and evening editions.

Qwoted Pro cost $1,188 a year for 35 pitches a month when we checked on 15 September 2026, and the #journorequest hashtag was still active on X that day. The implication: source requests are the cheapest earn path in cash terms, but they cost time every day.

How to commission an editorial placement

You can commission an editorial placement, and the market has settled names for it: a niche edit, link insertion or curated link goes into an existing page, while a guest post is a new article on a host publication.

Market prices, dated. Ross Hudgens at Siege Media, in a guide last updated 4 March 2026, puts one-off guest posts or paid placements at typically $500–$1,250 per link, depending on the site’s authority and relevance, with the wider market running from $100 to over $1,500 and competitive niches reaching around $2,000; a typical campaign runs $3,000–$25,000 a month. Hudgens also explains why the commissioned path exists at all: "For 95% of businesses, this is the only viable way to get links without a content component." Vince Nero at BuzzStream, in a study last updated 15 June 2026, found an average guest post price of $461 from a vendor against $295 bought direct from the site.

Our prices, stated once. A Curated Link, a niche edit on an existing indexed page, costs from $60 per link in the RD 20–100 band up to $210 at RD 1,000 and above, delivered in 14–21 days, where RD is the count of domains linking to the site. A Guest Post on a vetted publication costs from $75 on DA10+ sites and $130 on DA30+ sites. Every delivered link carries 12-month replacement cover.

Commissioned editorial placements: market prices from Siege Media and BuzzStream dated March and June 2026, our prices, and typical times to ranking impact from Andy Zhao's own 50 campaigns, April 2026, not from our campaigns.

We apply the editorial test above to every placement we deliver. That is why a low price on an unread site is not the same product: the price buys the placement, and the test decides whether the placement is editorial.

How long until a new editorial link shows

In Andy Zhao's data, about two in three links showed a ranking effect within eight weeks, and the largest share, 38%, in weeks four to eight. Zhao published the distribution on 1 April 2026 after tracking 50 campaigns over two years:

• 0–2 weeks: 8% of links
• 2–4 weeks: 22%
• 4–8 weeks: 38%
• 8–12 weeks: 18%
• 12+ weeks: 8%
• Never: 6%

By placement type, Zhao puts a niche edit on an established page at two to four weeks to ranking impact and a guest post, which creates a new page, at four to eight. His digital PR or editorial category shows in two to five weeks.

Our own numbers measure something different. Across our 34 published case studies, 31 state a campaign duration: the median is 12 months, the mean 11.2, and the range 3–36. Those are campaign lengths at the time of the write-up, not time to first movement, and they are published successes, so read them as context rather than a promise. We keep a fuller breakdown in how long a new link takes to show.

After a placement goes live, track three things: confirm the referring page is indexed, confirm the link is live at the post-publication check, and watch the target query's position over the following eight weeks.

Frequently asked questions

What are editorial links?

An editorial link is a link an editor chose to place inside the body of a page that people read. Ahrefs also uses the term for a link nobody traded for, asked for or paid for, and Moz for a link you did not ask for. This page uses the placement sense: editor, in-body, readers.

What is a non-editorial link?

A non-editorial link is any link that fails the editor, in-body, readers test: a sidebar link, a footer link, a link on a page with no readers, or a listing in a directory that accepts anything. It fails the test however it was obtained.

Can I buy editorial links?

Yes. You can commission an in-body placement on a read publication, either as a niche edit on an existing page or as a Guest Post on a new one. What makes the result editorial is the editor, the in-body sentence and the readers, not the absence of an invoice. Before we deliver a placement we check a traffic floor, cross-check DR/DA, rule out PBNs and networks, require in-body placement and sign every link off by hand.

How much do editorial links cost?

Across the market, Siege Media's March 2026 figures put one-off placements at typically $500–$1,250, and BuzzStream's June 2026 review put the average vendor guest post at $461. Our Curated Links cost from $60 to $210 per link, and our Guest Posts from $75 to $130.

How long do editorial links take to work?

In Andy Zhao's 50-campaign dataset, the largest share of links, 38%, showed in weeks four to eight. A niche edit on an established page typically shows in two to four weeks and a guest post in four to eight.

What is the difference between a niche edit and an editorial link?

A niche edit is a placement type: a link inserted into an existing, indexed page. Editorial describes who placed a link and where it sits. A niche edit added by a publisher's editor, in the body of a page with readers, is an editorial link.

What is the difference between editorial links and acquired links?

The two words describe different things. Editorial describes who placed the link and where it sits. Acquired describes how you came by it, whether it was earned, pitched or commissioned. Moz itself calls a link "an editorially given link" when a journalist adds it after you pitched a survey, so a link can be both acquired and editorial at once.

Do editorial links help SEO?

Yes. Google's How Search Works page says one factor used to determine quality is whether other prominent websites link or refer to the content, which it calls generally a good sign that the information is trustworthy. Our position: followed links from relevant, indexed, read publications are one of the strongest ranking levers a campaign can pull.