Editorial routes, editorial constraints and expected cost
The Los Angeles Times commissions exclusive opinion and contributed pieces and receives hundreds of unsolicited submissions weekly; their guidance states, “We commission exclusive articles from experts in countless fields. We also receive hundreds of unsolicited submissions every week.”
Common, legitimate ways to gain a mention include:
- Contributing an exclusive op-ed or expert column accepted by the editorial desk.
- Producing original reporting or data that Times reporters reference.
- Generating high-quality third-party coverage that the paper cites.
Market data gives a cost baseline for premium link acquisition. One industry study reports that “$508.95 is the average price SEOs consider acceptable for acquiring one high-quality backlink.” Editorial.Link — Link Building Pricing
Practical implications:
- Editorial placement often requires exclusivity, vetted credentials, or newsworthy material.
- Expect agency/PR costs to range from several hundred to several thousand USD per campaign, and lead time often spans weeks to months.
What a Los Angeles Times backlink actually delivers
A mention on the Times delivers several measurable benefits:
- Referral traffic from a large, local and national readership.
- Credibility for PR and stakeholder reporting.
- Discovery and indexing signals that help content surface in search.
Google altered how it treats link attributes: “For crawling and indexing purposes, nofollow will become a hint as of March 1, 2020.” That change means publisher link attributes can be used as hints for crawling and indexing, though ranking effects are not guaranteed. Google Search Central — Evolving “nofollow”
The expired-domain + 301 redirect alternative
The alternative we evaluate is operational: identify an expired domain that already receives a Los Angeles Times reference, acquire it, and implement a permanent 301 redirect to your site. Basic workflow:
- Confirm the Times reference exists and still resolves (live checks and Wayback snapshots).
- Audit the expired domain’s backlink profile, historical traffic and penalty signals.
- Purchase the domain and implement a single-step 301 redirect with correct canonical headers.
- Monitor indexing, referral traffic and ranking signals for 8–12 weeks.
Industry coverage is cautious about redirect expectations. “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 position summarizes prevailing uncertainty about consistent benefits from redirects. Search Engine Journal — Should You Buy & Redirect Expired Domains?
Cost comparison and trade-offs
– Traditional editorial route: plan for several hundred to multiple thousands USD per campaign. Use the $508.95 per-link benchmark as a reference point for single-link valuation. Editorial.Link — Link Building Pricing
– Expired-domain route: cost equals domain purchase price plus vetting and technical setup. Many useful expired domains trade for modest sums; premium domains command higher auction prices. If you can source a relevant expired domain for a low price, the effective per-link cash outlay can be well below typical editorial outreach costs—but outcomes vary.
Risk trade-offs:
- Editorial placement = higher certainty of editorial legitimacy, longer lead times, higher upfront cost.
- Redirects = faster execution and potentially lower outlay, but benefits are uncertain, and legacy penalties or topical mismatch can negate gains.
Practical checklist (actionable)
- Confirm Los Angeles Times reference and capture live and archived evidence.
- Run a full backlink audit: referring domains, anchor diversity, spam indicators.
- Confirm topical alignment between the expired domain’s historical content and your target site.
- Acquire the domain and implement a single-step 301 (avoid chains).
- Configure canonical headers and proper server responses.
- Track traffic, indexation, and keyword movement for at least 8 weeks before judging ROI.
Final Considerations
This is where we come in. We offer a focused expired-domain acquisition service that covers domain research, vetting, acquisition and 301 setup for $150 per domain. Our deliverable is a vetted shortlist with metrics and a completed permanent redirect to your chosen target. We do not provide content creation, editorial outreach to the Los Angeles Times, or guarantees of ranking changes—outcomes depend on historical link quality and search-engine behavior.
If you prefer editorial outreach, budget for PR or agency campaigns that commonly range from several hundred to several thousand dollars per target. If you prefer a lower-cost operational option, our $150 service provides rapid execution and transparent reporting so you can measure referral and indexing signals and compare results against editorial efforts. If you’d like, we can scan for expired domains that retain Los Angeles Times references and present acquisition estimates and metrics for your review.
