What IGN requires
IGN maintains formal editorial separation from commercial teams. As IGN states, “IGN’s editorial and content creation teams operate independently, maintaining an editorial separation from our sister publications, parent companies Ziff Davis and J2 Global, and our internal sales team.” This policy underscores that editorial links are controlled by editorial staff and not sold. IGN Editorial Standards
Typical ways to earn an editorial link from IGN include placing a newsworthy tip with editorial contacts, pitching freelance articles where openings exist, or producing original reporting or exclusive assets that match IGN’s audience and standards.
Typical costs for premium editorial links
Industry benchmarking provides context. “Our research shows that $508.95 is the average price SEOs consider acceptable for acquiring one high-quality backlink.” That figure functions as a market reference for single-link acquisition budgets. Editorial.Link — Link Building Pricing
Real procurement costs vary widely. Expect PR or agency-driven campaigns that target top publishers to run from several hundred to multiple thousands of US dollars per placement, depending on the agency, creative assets, and relationships required. Lead time commonly spans weeks to months.
What an IGN backlink delivers
A link from a major publisher yields referral traffic from a targeted entertainment and gaming audience, brand credibility for press monitoring and investor or partner materials, and an indexing and discovery signal to search engines. Google has stated: “For crawling and indexing purposes, nofollow will become a hint as of March 1, 2020.” That change means publisher link attributes may be used as signals for crawling and indexing. Google Search Central — Evolving “nofollow”
Expect reputational and discovery value even when rel attributes limit direct PageRank transfer.
The expired-domain + 301 redirect alternative
Mechanic in brief:
- Identify an expired domain that still receives an IGN backlink (live check plus Wayback snapshots).
- Audit the domain for spam signals, penalties, and topical fit.
- Acquire the domain.
- Implement a permanent 301 redirect to your target site and set proper canonical headers.
- Monitor indexing, referral traffic, and ranking signals for 8–12 weeks.
Industry commentary on redirects is cautious. “Redirecting expired domains was a tried-and-true tactic in the old days SEO. But here’s why you shouldn’t count on it as an SEO tactic nowadays.” That assessment captures prevailing uncertainty; outcomes depend on domain history and relevancy. Search Engine Journal — Should You Buy & Redirect Expired Domains?
Evidence from search advocates
Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller has noted expired domains offer no inherent ranking bonus: “So if the content was gone for a couple of years, probably we need to figure out what this site is, kind of essentially starting over fresh.” This remark signals that redirects do not guarantee preserved authority. Search Engine Journal — Expired Domains and Google
Cost comparison and risk assessment
Traditional editorial outreach and PR typically require budgets ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars per placement; use the $508.95 benchmark as a reference point. Editorial.Link — Link Building Pricing
Expired-domain acquisition costs vary. Many useful expired domains trade for modest sums; premium auctions fetch higher prices. Technical vetting and a clean 301 add cost but can still be substantially lower than bespoke editorial campaigns if appropriate targets are available.
Actionable checklist
- Confirm IGN’s link exists; capture live and archived evidence.
- Run a backlink audit focused on referring-domain trust, anchor diversity, and penalty indicators.
- Evaluate topical alignment between historical content and your target site.
- Acquire the domain and implement a single-step 301 (avoid redirect chains).
- Set canonical headers and verify HTTP responses.
- Track traffic, index status, and keyword movements for at least 8 weeks.
Final Considerations
This is where we come in. We offer domain research, vetting, acquisition and 301 setup as a packaged service for $150 per domain. Our deliverable is a vetted shortlist with metrics and a completed permanent redirect to your target. We do not provide content creation, editorial outreach to IGN, or guarantees of ranking changes. Outcomes depend on the expired domain’s historical link quality and search-engine behavior.
If you want, we will scan for candidate expired domains that retain IGN references and present metrics and acquisition estimates for your review.
