Guest posts: how to buy, sell and price them without hurting your site

A guest post is an article you write for someone else's site, usually with a mention of or a link to your own. Done well, it puts you in front of an audience that already trusts the host. Done as a link-buying scheme, it is exactly what search engines' spam rules describe. This hub covers both sides of the deal: buying placements and selling them.

What counts as a guest post today

The term now covers three different deals. An editorial guest post is written for free because the host wants good content and the author wants exposure. A sponsored post is paid for, with money or some other benefit, and has to be labelled as advertising. A link insertion adds a link to an article that already exists, which is the version most likely to look like plain link buying. Each has its own risks and prices. Start with what guest posting is and how it compares with link exchange.

What Google says about guest posting

Google's spam policies list large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links as an example of link spam. Guest posting as such is not banned. The trouble is volume, keyword-stuffed anchors and links that exist only to pass ranking credit. The same policies say that links bought for advertising or exchanged for a benefit should be qualified, and Google's page on qualifying outbound links recommends rel="sponsored" for them. If a host offers "dofollow links, no labels", what they are offering you is a policy violation.

If you are buying a placement

1. Start from the audience, not the metrics. Ask whether the host's readers could actually need what you offer. A smaller blog on your exact topic often sends more real visitors than a big generic one.
2. Check the site. Look for real traffic signals, a consistent topic, a domain that has existed for a while and no pages full of casino and pill links. Our checklist how to check a site before buying walks through it, and the free Quality Score checker shows traffic signals, links and domain age in one report.
3. Know the price range. Prices depend on the audience, the niche and who writes the article. See how much a guest post costs and how sponsored posts are priced.
4. Find sites and pitch well. How to find guest post sites and our outreach email templates cover search operators, lists and pitches that editors answer. If you'd rather use a marketplace, compare the guest post marketplaces.
5. Expect a labelled link. A sponsored placement with rel="sponsored" still brings readers, brand searches and a mention in your niche. It is the safe version and the only one we recommend.

If you are selling placements

Selling sponsored posts is a legitimate way to earn from a blog, as long as readers can tell what is paid. A few rules keep it sustainable:

• Keep editorial control. Publish only articles you would be happy for your readers to see, and turn down off-topic requests even when they pay well.
• Label both the article and the link. Mark the post as sponsored or partner content and use rel="sponsored". In the US, the FTC's native advertising guide and its Endorsement Guides FAQ explain that paid content must be clearly identifiable as advertising. Our article on sponsored content disclosure rules covers the US, the EU and Russia.
• Set a clear price and process. How to sell guest posts and making money from guest posts cover pricing, briefs and what to put in a media kit. If your traffic is modest, monetizing a low-traffic site is a realistic place to start.
• On WordPress, automate the boring parts. Accepting sponsored posts on WordPress shows how to set up submissions, labels and link attributes, and guest post plugins compares the tools.

Writing a guest post that works

The article has to be worth reading without the link. Answer one concrete question the host's audience has, bring something the host couldn't write alone (a process from your own work, a checklist, a worked example) and link to your site where it genuinely helps the reader, not inside a keyword anchor. How to write a sponsored article has a structure you can reuse.

Guest posts vs article exchange

Paying for every placement adds up quickly for a small site. The alternative is to exchange articles with sites of a similar level: you host a partner's article, and another site in the circle hosts yours. Satelo runs this in circles A→B→C→A, never as direct swaps. You earn satellites (◉) for hosting and spend them on articles about your site, and exchange links carry rel="sponsored". Satelo is in public beta and the network is still small, so if you need a placement on one specific site tomorrow, a direct pitch or a marketplace will be faster. More on the link exchange hub.

Check a site before you buy

Free tools: Sponsored link checker

Guest posting basics

If you're buying: finding and vetting sites

If you're selling: pricing and publishing

Writing, labelling and disclosure

FAQ

Are guest posts against Google's rules?

Not by themselves. Google's spam policies list large-scale guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links as link spam, and paid or exchanged links should be marked with rel="sponsored".

Should a paid guest post link be dofollow?

No. Google asks site owners to mark paid links and links given in exchange for a benefit with rel="sponsored". A host selling unlabelled "dofollow" links is breaking that guidance.

How much does a guest post cost?

There is no single market price. It depends on the site's real audience, the niche, and whether you or the host write the article. Compare several offers and judge them by audience, not by third-party scores alone.

How do I check a site before buying a guest post?

Look at traffic signals, topic consistency, outbound links on existing posts and domain age. The free Satelo checker shows these signals with their sources in one report.

Do I have to disclose sponsored posts?

In many countries, yes. In the US the FTC expects paid content to be clearly identifiable as advertising; Russia requires ad labelling under its advertising law. Check the rules for your audience's country.

Can I get guest posts without paying money?

Yes: pitch editorial guest posts to relevant blogs, or exchange articles. In Satelo you host partner articles, earn satellites and spend them on articles about your site. Satelo is in public beta.