How to Get a Backlink from Forbes

What a Forbes backlink usually costs and why prices are high

Forbes offers paid native placements through BrandVoice and related commercial programs. Industry reporting and media-kit materials indicate BrandVoice and comparable sponsored/native packages run at enterprise scale; some public estimates place entry packages in the tens of thousands of dollars. See Forbes’ media kit for product descriptions and a historical discussion of sponsored opportunities: Forbes Media Kit. Historical marketplace commentary about BrandVoice pricing is available here: Horses for Sources — BrandVoice pricing commentary.

What you actually get when Forbes links to you

• Authority: Forbes is widely measured as a high-authority domain in link-metrics tools. For a representative domain overview consult Moz’s domain analysis for forbes.com: Moz — forbes.com domain analysis.
• Link attributes: Many large editorial platforms apply link attributes such as rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored" to external links. Resources that explain how nofollow/sponsored work include Semrush and Backlinko: Semrush — Nofollow Links, Backlinko — What Is a Nofollow Link?.

The traditional acquisition paths: effort, timing, and cost

Common approaches include:

• BrandVoice / paid native: formal program, large budgets, multi-week onboarding and content development; entry-level commercial commitments are reported at enterprise price points. Refer to Forbes’ media kit above for product details.
• PR and journalist pitching: agency fees or retainer models, variable success and lead times measured in weeks.
• Contributor/guest programs: editorial standards limit opportunities; link attributes and placement vary by program.

Market evidence shows backlink price ranges vary widely by niche, placement, and the publisher’s policies. Some premium editorial placements are treated as substantial marketing investments.

Expired-domain + 301 redirect: mechanics and practical steps

The method is:

1. Locate an expired domain that historically received links from Forbes or equivalent high-authority sources.
2. Vet the domain for a clean history, relevant topical profile, and acceptable backlink attributes.
3. Acquire the domain and configure a server-side 301 redirect to your target site or a tightly topical destination URL.
4. Request or wait for recrawling so search engines can re-evaluate incoming links against the redirect.

Search practitioners document that modern 301 redirects, when implemented correctly and without long redirect chains, are a primary mechanism to transfer indexing and link signals. See technical summaries and commentary here: Search Engine Journal — 301 Redirects and PageRank, and a practitioner guide: PracticalEcommerce — The Right Way to Pass PageRank.

Risks, limits, and mitigation

• If the referring link on the original site used rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored", it likely did not pass ranking equity originally; a redirect will not convert a nofollow into a follow link. See Google’s discussion of link attributes and practical guidance from SEO resources listed above.
• Google’s guidelines explicitly prohibit buying and selling links that manipulate rankings. The official Developer Blog notes that “Google’s Webmaster guidelines ban buying links just to pump search rankings.” See Google’s guidance: Developers — Information about buying and selling links, and the current spam policy: Google Search Spam Policies.
• Domains with spammy histories, redirect chains, or irrelevant topical signals reduce potential value. Our vetting focuses on backlink audits, archive checks, and topical fit to reduce those risks.

Cost comparison: traditional vs. expired-domain route

Representative market figures:

• BrandVoice and similar sponsored/native packages: industry reporting places some BrandVoice-scale commitments in the tens of thousands to enterprise ranges (see Forbes media kit and marketplace commentary linked above).
• PR-driven mentions or agency-brokered placements: costs vary from low thousands to higher figures depending on scope and relationships.
• Expired-domain acquisition plus 301 setup (the alternative described): an affordable, lower-entry way to test redirected signals when a qualifying domain exists; the price we offer for the service described below is stated in the final section.

How we operate (brief)

• Research: historical backlink checks and capture of referring link attributes.
• Vetting: spam checks, archive lookups, backlink profile review, and topical-fit assessment.
• Acquisition: purchase of the domain when it meets criteria.
• 301 setup: server-side permanent redirect to your chosen destination; validation of redirect and crawlability.

We provide the technical acquisition and redirect setup; we do not produce editorial content or guarantee editorial link behavior on third-party sites.

Final Considerations

A Forbes link through official channels is a high-cost, high-effort acquisition with editorial and audience benefits but variable link-attribute outcomes. For teams with limited budgets, acquiring a well-vetted expired domain that carries historical links and implementing a clean 301 redirect may offer an economical way to capture residual link signals and referral traffic when the original referring links are follow-style and the domain history is clean. Detailed vetting is essential to avoid spam signals or redirect chains that reduce value.

This is where we come in: we offer domain research, vetting, acquisition and server-side 301 setup for $150 per domain. The service includes backlink audits, archive checks, purchase, and redirect implementation only; it does not include content creation or guarantees about editorial follow links on third-party sites. If you want our standard vetting checklist or a sample candidate-domain report, we can provide that on request.