Why a Guardian backlink matters and what it typically costs
A link from theguardian.com carries editorial weight and broad referral reach. The Guardian reports institutional scale and recent growth — “The Guardian is now supported by more than 1.3 million readers around the world.” See the Guardian Media Group announcement for context: The Guardian Media Group annual report. Independent traffic estimates reinforce the site’s reach and audience composition.
Brands seeking placement have two obvious commercial paths: paid branded content through Guardian Labs or agency-led PR that earns editorial mentions. Guardian Labs is the publisher’s in-house branded-content studio and handles sponsored storytelling and integrated campaigns. Branded campaigns are full-service and generally require significant budgets; Guardian advertising materials describe those opportunities: Guardian Labs.
Expect official studio or large sponsored programs to start in the tens of thousands of dollars when production, research and distribution are included. Agency-priced earned placements commonly range from a few thousand to multiple tens of thousands, depending on reach, creative work, and relationships.
Editorial links vs. paid disclosure: policy constraints
Search engines treat paid links and editorial links differently. Google’s Webmaster Blog states plainly: “Buying or selling links that pass PageRank violates our webmaster guidelines.” See Google’s official post for the exact wording and context: Information about buying and selling links that pass PageRank. Publishers therefore disclose paid arrangements and may mark links with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow".
We operate within that framework: paid media can buy attention and referral volume, while editorial citations (earned, unpaid) provide independent validation and the clearest editorial benefit.
The expired-domain + 301 redirect alternative: method and rationale
We offer a lower-cost, technical alternative that focuses on expired domains and clean 301 redirects. The approach is technical, measurable and repeatable:
- Identify expired domains that historically received editorial links from high-authority sources, including theguardian.com.
- Vet domain history, backlinks, archive snapshots and spam signals.
- Acquire the domain and configure server-side 301 redirects (no JavaScript redirects, avoid chains) to a topical page on your site.
- Monitor crawl behavior, referral traffic and organic signals over a 90–180 day window.
Google documents the behavior of redirects and how permanent 301s can act as a canonical signal: Google — Redirects. Technical primers on 301 redirects and PageRank transfer are available, for example: Search Engine Journal — 301 Redirects and PageRank.
What this tactic can realistically deliver — and its limits
A redirected expired domain can transfer residual link equity and deliver referral traffic when four conditions hold: the original referring link was follow-style, the expired domain’s backlink profile is clean, topical alignment between old and new content is close, and the redirect is a single server-side 301 without chains. If the original referring link was annotated with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored", it likely did not pass PageRank originally and a redirect will not retroactively create PageRank-bearing equity. Verify cached or live HTML before purchase; the Internet Archive is useful for snapshots: Internet Archive.
This is a tactical experiment rather than a guaranteed substitute for earned editorial coverage. It is best used when historical evidence supports the presence of valuable, dofollow citations pointing to the expired domain.
Risk controls and an actionable audit checklist
- Capture and archive the referring Guardian URL to confirm link attributes.
- Run multi-tool backlink audits (Ahrefs, Moz, Majestic) for anchor-text and root-domain quality: Ahrefs, Moz, Majestic.
- Inspect Internet Archive snapshots for prior content topicality and ownership flips.
- Screen for manual actions, penalty signals, and bad-neighborhood links.
- Acquire domain and implement 1:1 server-side 301s; validate HTTP status and monitor Search Console and server logs.
Cost comparison and recommended use cases
- Official Guardian Labs / branded campaigns: full-service work that typically begins in the tens of thousands and scales up with production and distribution. See Guardian Labs information: Guardian Labs.
- Agency/PR-driven placements: variable, often thousands to tens of thousands depending on scope and existing relationships.
- Expired-domain + 301 redirects (our service): $150 per domain for domain research, vetting, acquisition and server-side 301 setup. The fee covers technical acquisition and redirect only; it does not include content creation, outreach, editorial guarantees or changes to Guardian editorial behavior.
For teams that want controlled experiments and clear unit economics, the $150 model allows low-cost testing of redirected link signals where qualifying domains exist and pass strict vetting.
Final Considerations
A theguardian.com citation remains a high-value editorial signal that commonly requires notable budgets, relationships or newsworthy contribution. When historical link evidence is favorable and a candidate expired domain passes rigorous vetting, a properly implemented server-side 301 can transfer measurable, residual signals to your target pages. Respect search-engine policies on paid links, keep redirects technically correct and transparent, and measure outcomes quantitatively. See Google’s guidance on link schemes and redirects for policy and technical context: Google — Buying and selling links, Google — Redirects.
This is where we come in: we perform disciplined domain research, backlink vetting, acquisition and server-side 301 setup for $150 per domain. Our deliverable is an auditable acquisition and technical redirect implementation—no editorial promises, no content production—so you can test redirected link signals at scale with predictable cost and clear metrics. If you want a sample vetting report or our standard checklist, we will provide the data we use to make acquisition decisions.
