How to price sponsored posts on your blog

Most bloggers pick a number out of the air, then either feel underpaid or never hear back. Learning how to price sponsored posts properly means tying your rate to things a buyer can verify: real readers, niche, workload and terms. Below is a simple model you can apply in ten minutes, plus the add-ons and rules that keep your price rising instead of sliding.

Published: 2026-09-13 · Satelo

What a price should reflect

A buyer comparing two sites asks, in effect, "where will this article do more for me?" Your price should answer that question with evidence. Five factors explain most of the difference between a $20 post and a $400 post:

Notice what is missing: promises about rankings. Paid links should be marked rel="sponsored" under Google’s spam policies, so never price as if you were selling search engine influence. That also protects you if a buyer later complains.

Step 1: find your baseline

You need one number to start from. Two practical ways to get it:

Option A: a value-based reference

Satelo gives every site a value in points based on its Quality Score and verified traffic. A brand-new site with no traffic is worth 1 point, and the value grows with QS and visitors. The recommended marketplace price is $2.30 per point. Reference examples from our guest post cost guide:

• QS 25, no verified traffic: about $30
• QS 40, around 5k visits a month: about $105
• QS 55, around 20k visits a month: about $235
• QS 70, around 50k visits a month: about $420

These are reference points, not market statistics. They are useful because they are consistent: two sites with similar numbers get similar prices.

Option B: look at comparable sites

Find five blogs in your niche with similar traffic that publish their rates or list on marketplaces. Ignore the highest and lowest, and take the middle. Check those sites first with a tool like the free QS check so you are comparing like with like.

Step 2: adjust for niche and workload

Apply simple multipliers to your baseline. The exact percentages are your call; what matters is that you apply them consistently.

• High-value niche (finance, software, legal, B2B): add a premium.
• You write the article: add a writing fee or a fixed percentage. Good writing in your voice is worth more than publishing a supplied text.
• Extra links: price the first link into the base, charge for each additional one, and cap the total.
• Rush delivery within 48 hours: add a surcharge.

Step 3: package add-ons

Add-ons let buyers spend more without you lowering the base price. Common ones:

1. A post on your social channels or a mention in your newsletter.
2. Pinning the article on the homepage or in a category for a fixed period.
3. An update after six or twelve months to keep the article current.
4. Custom images or a short comparison table.

Each add-on should have its own line and price. Buyers like seeing exactly what they pay for.

A worked example

Imagine a home-coffee blog with QS 40 and around 5,000 monthly visitors. The reference price is about $105. The owner decides:

A buyer who wants the full package pays $240; a buyer who just needs the basic placement pays $105. Neither feels tricked, and the owner never has to negotiate the base.

Discounts that don’t hurt you

• Bundles: a small discount for three articles ordered at once, delivered over a few months so you keep your monthly limit.
• Returning clients: a loyalty discount for buyers who submit clean, relevant articles without revisions.
• Avoid: one-off "flash sales" and deep cuts for vague promises of future work. They train buyers to wait.

When and how to raise your price

Review prices every quarter. Raise them when:

• Verified traffic has grown noticeably since your last change.
• Your calendar is regularly full and you are turning buyers away.
• Your Quality Score has moved up a band.

Announce new prices a couple of weeks ahead and honour existing quotes. Raising price is also the cleanest way to protect your site: fewer, better articles keep the sponsored share low.

Common pricing mistakes

• Charging extra for removing the sponsored label. Never offer it; it creates legal and search risk.
• Pricing by a third-party "authority" number alone while traffic is near zero.
• Accepting every cheap order to fill the calendar.
• Forgetting marketplace fees. If a platform takes a cut from you, your real rate is lower than listed. On Satelo the publisher keeps 100% of their price and the 10% fee is paid by the buyer; other platforms differ, see the comparison.

How to present your price to buyers

The way you show a price matters almost as much as the number. A clear rate card reduces haggling and filters out buyers who were never going to fit.

• One page, three blocks: who reads your site (traffic, countries, audience), what a standard placement includes, and the add-ons with prices.
• State the rules next to the price: sponsored label, rel="sponsored" links, maximum number of links, topics you accept. Buyers who object will leave before wasting your time.
• Show examples: links to two or three past sponsored articles you are proud of.
• Give a validity date: "Prices valid until the end of the quarter." It makes later increases feel normal.

When a buyer asks for a discount, offer to remove something instead of cutting the base: no writing, one link instead of two, a slower deadline. That keeps your price consistent for everyone, which matters because buyers do compare notes on marketplaces and in communities.

Next steps

• Get your Quality Score at satelo.io/check and work out a baseline.
• Write a one-page rate card with your base price and add-ons.
• Read how to make money selling guest posts for house rules and where to find buyers.

FAQ

What is a fair price for a sponsored post on a small blog?

Tie it to verified traffic and niche. As a reference, Satelo’s model puts a QS 25 site with no verified traffic at about $30 and a QS 40 site with around 5,000 monthly visits at about $105. Publishers set their own prices.

Should I charge more for dofollow links?

No. Google’s spam policies ask that paid links use rel=sponsored or nofollow. Selling links as a way to pass ranking signals puts both your site and the buyer at risk.

Should I charge extra for writing the article?

Yes. Writing in your own voice takes time and is worth more to the buyer than publishing a supplied text, so price it as a separate line.

How often should I raise my sponsored post price?

Review it every quarter and raise it when verified traffic grows, your calendar is full or your quality score improves.

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