An editorial backlink is a link a writer or journalist chose to include because your business, comment, data or story earned the mention. It sits inside the article's own copy, next to the point it supports. Search engines read the words around a link, and editorial context is good evidence that the link was given on merit.
Editorial links are what our campaigns produce. You send the pages you want to strengthen, our team builds stories around them and pitches those stories through our journalist relationships, and every link that goes live appears in your dashboard.
What makes a link editorial
A link is editorial when the writer added it freely because it helped their reader. In practice that means three things:
- It was earned. You gave a journalist a reason to cite you: new data, an expert view or a story worth telling. They added the link.
- It sits in the body copy. A link inside the article counts for more than one in a footer, sidebar or author bio.
- It would survive an edit. If the link helps a reader follow the story, it's there for a reason. A search quality reviewer applies a similar test.
Why context matters more than the domain score
Two links to the same page can be worth very different amounts. What separates them is usually relevance and context:
- Topical relevance. A mention in an article about your subject counts for more than the same link in an unrelated post on a strong domain.
- Readership. Coverage on a page people visit can send referral traffic. A page that exists only to host links can't.
- The words around the link. A link credited as a source reads very differently from an exact-match keyword wedged into a sentence.
- The publisher's standards. A title with bylines, an editorial process and a reputation to protect lends more credibility than an open submission site.
How a campaign works
- You send the pages you want to strengthen. That's usually all we need from you.
- We build the angle. Original data from public sources, surveys or FOI requests, or comment on a live story, written by our team.
- We pitch named journalists at titles where the topic fits, through our journalist relationships.
- We verify the coverage. We record the article, destination and link attribute exactly as published. We aim to complete each batch within 45 days.
- We report it. Publication, attribute, the sentence around the link and target page all go into your dashboard.
An example of an editorial link
Illustrative example, not a client result. A home-insurance comparison site wants links to its guide on flood cover. Our team sends FOI requests to councils about flood-defence spending and turns the answers into a regional table. A regional news site runs the story and writes: "Figures compiled by [the brand] show spending fell in 14 council areas", linking the brand name to the flood-cover guide. The link is editorial because the journalist used it to credit the source of the figures in their article.
Editorial links and AI search
Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, and assistants like ChatGPT, tend to draw on pages Google already trusts and on brands mentioned in news coverage. An editorial link gives you both in one article: the link itself and your brand named as the source. We can't promise an AI citation, and no one can.
Editorial links compared with the alternatives
| Link type | Who places it | Editorial? |
|---|---|---|
| Earned editorial link | The journalist or writer, on merit | Yes |
| Guest post | You, by writing the article yourself | Usually not |
| Niche edit or link insertion | You pay to add a link to an existing page | No |
| PBN or link network | A site built to sell links | No |
Guest posts can occasionally be editorial, but the format is easy to abuse, so we lead with earned press coverage. For the trade-offs, see guest posts vs PR backlinks.
What we commit to
We commit to the agreed number of live editorial placements in each batch, a 45-day target and a dashboard entry for every link. We don't use private blog networks or rented placements. The journalist decides the wording and where the link points, and publishers control their own articles, so we can't promise a named publication, the link attribute or rankings.
When editorial links aren't the priority
Editorial links take longer to earn than bulk alternatives, and they won't fix a weak site. If your commercial pages are thin or your technical SEO is broken, fix those first. If you need a lot of links fast on a tight budget, know the trade-off: cheaper links usually come with weaker context.
Pricing
Editorial backlinks are delivered through our backlink packages: £4,500 for 10 placements and £7,500 for 20, per campaign. See how much link building costs, book a call or email info@seobacklinks.co.uk.
Related
- Digital PR backlinks, our core service
- What makes a good backlink?
- High authority backlinks
- Dofollow vs nofollow backlinks
- White hat link building
FAQs
What is an editorial backlink?
It's a link inside article copy that the writer chose to add, usually to credit a source, a quote or a piece of data. Search engines treat links like this differently from links someone paid to place.
What makes a link editorial instead of paid?
Ask whether the writer would have included it anyway. An editorial link is there because your research or comment added something to the piece. A paid link is inserted to pass ranking credit whatever the fit.
Can you buy editorial backlinks?
Not the link itself. You can pay an agency for the work of earning coverage, which is legitimate. Once money changes hands for the link, it's a paid link that Google expects to be marked sponsored or nofollow. We earn placements; publishers are never paid for links.
Are editorial backlinks always dofollow?
No. Some national titles mark every outbound link nofollow as policy. A relevant nofollow link can still send readers and show your brand in a trusted article. We report the actual attribute for every placement.
How do you tell a strong editorial link from a weak one?
Read the paragraph around it. If the mention reads naturally, sits in the body of a relevant article and the page has readers, it's likely a strong link. If it's in a footer, an author bio or an off-topic post, it's weak however high the domain scores.