Editorial Link Building Specialist

We are an established U.S. e-commerce company specializing in swords, knives, axes, spears, and related historical weaponry. We are looking for an experienced link-building and digital outreach specialist who can acquire a small number of genuinely strong editorial backlinks. The primary objective of this project is to improve our traditional organic search rankings and our visibility in AI-powered search and answer platforms. Referral traffic, sales exposure, brand awareness, and publication prestige may be considered separately when they are supported by credible evidence, but they are not substitutes for SEO value. We are also specifically seeking inclusion in legitimate editorial gift guides, shopping features, product roundups, buyer’s guides, and relevant “best of” listicles. These may include holiday gift guides, gifts for men, gifts for collectors, gifts for history enthusiasts, medieval gifts, outdoor gifts, and articles recommending swords, knives, or other relevant products. This is not a bulk backlink project. We are interested in quality, relevance, and real authority—not simply meeting a monthly link quota. Our initial priorities are links to the following commercial collection pages: 1. Swords 2. Longswords 3. Gladius 4. Viking Swords Individual product pages may also be used for appropriate gift guides, product roundups, or shopping features. Target keyword themes include sword, swords, longsword, gladius, Viking sword, and swords for sale. Anchors must be natural and approved before publication. We are not requesting forced exact-match anchors on every placement. Ideal publishers include legitimate websites covering: * Swords, knives, and historical weapons * Military and medieval history * Martial arts and historical reenactment * Outdoors, survival, and collecting * Men’s lifestyle * Gifts, shopping, and product recommendations * Retail, e-commerce, or small business * Relevant news and general-interest topics General publications are acceptable when the article and link are genuinely relevant. Desired Placement Types We are interested in: * Editorial articles containing a natural contextual link * Holiday and evergreen gift guides * Product roundups and buyer’s guides * “Best swords,” “best gifts,” and similar researched listicles * Shopping and product recommendation features * Updates to legitimate existing articles and gift guides * Expert commentary and digital PR opportunities * Relevant editorial coverage of Battling Blades and its products Gift guides and listicles must be published by legitimate websites with real readership and editorial standards. We are not interested in mass-produced AI listicles, websites created primarily to sell placements, or articles containing unrelated collections of paid links. Minimum Placement Standards Each proposed placement must: * Be on a legitimate, indexed editorial website * Generally have a Domain Rating of 60 or higher * Have meaningful, stable organic search traffic * Serve a substantial U.S. or English-speaking audience * Contain a contextual, clickable editorial link * Allow us to approve the domain, topic, destination page, anchor, and total price before publication * Link directly to an approved commercial collection or product page when requested * Be intended as a permanent placement * Be newly acquired for Battling Blades rather than an existing link We will independently review every proposed domain using Ahrefs or similar tools. Metrics alone will not be sufficient. Relevance, traffic history, content quality, editorial legitimacy, outgoing-link patterns, likely SEO value, and potential AI-search value will all be evaluated. We Will Not Accept * PBNs or privately controlled site networks * Link farms or websites created primarily to sell links * Bulk backlink packages * Automated link building * Directories, profiles, forum links, comments, or social bookmarks * Redirected or cloaked links * Sites with artificial traffic or major unexplained traffic declines * Websites publishing large volumes of unrelated guest posts or AI-generated listicles * Sites heavily linking to gambling, adult, payday loan, or similarly questionable industries * Recycled spreadsheets of guest-post inventory * Links placed without our prior approval * Undisclosed subcontracting or publisher charges Strict Pay-Per-Placement Compensation This is strictly a pay-per-placement project. We will not pay hourly fees, monthly retainers, outreach fees, research fees, prospecting fees, management fees, or fees for unsuccessful pitches. Payment will only be made for an individual placement that: 1. Is presented to us in advance. 2. Is approved by us before publication. 3. Meets the agreed placement standards. 4. Goes live with the approved destination and link. 5. Is verified as live, crawlable, and correctly implemented. Before approval, you must disclose: * The proposed publication and specific placement opportunity * The placement type and proposed topic * The Battling Blades destination page * The proposed anchor or surrounding link language * Whether the link will be followed, nofollowed, sponsored, or affiliate * The complete price, including all publisher and placement fees Once an opportunity is approved, a separate fixed-price milestone will be established for that placement. Payment will be released after the placement is published and verified. The budget shown on this job is only a placeholder. It is not a guaranteed total contract value. Please quote your expected all-in price per successful placement. No approved live placement means no payment. We expect to begin with approximately two to four exceptional placements. If the quality and process are strong, this can become an ongoing pay-per-placement relationship. Application Requirements Please include the following: 1. Eight to ten live backlinks you personally acquired for clients during the past 12 months. 2. Examples of gift-guide, product-roundup, buyer’s-guide, or listicle inclusions you have secured. 3. The destination page and anchor used for each example, when disclosure is permitted. 4. A brief explanation of how those placements were obtained. 5. Whether any example sites are owned, controlled, represented, or regularly resold by you. 6. Your expected all-in price range per approved live placement. 7. Whether you have successfully built links directly to commercial collection, category, or product pages. 8. How you evaluate a website beyond Domain Rating. 9. Three examples of publications or website categories you would initially pursue for Battling Blades. 10. Whether you can pursue both evergreen placements and seasonal holiday gift guides. 11. Any evidence that your previous placements improved search rankings, organic visibility, or AI-search visibility. 12. Your replacement policy if an approved link is removed. Please begin your proposal with the word “EDITORIAL” so we know you have read the complete description. Do not apply with a generic SEO proposal or a spreadsheet containing hundreds of websites. We are looking for a specialist who can identify and secure a small number of excellent placements through genuine outreach, established relationships, or legitimate editorial opportunities.