Criteria For Guest Blogging and Buying Links

This post contains affiliate links.

When Michael over at CravingTech.com asked me about whether I think charging for guest posts is okay I had a rather long winded answer on Google+ on how I handle guest post requests and the deluge of advertisers who come in requesting paid links on existing articles.

My own policy is as such for the 7 WordPress blogs I run varying from PR0 to PR3 (used to have PR4 but was downgraded recently).

Guest Post from a Real Blogger

If person shows me they are linking to a true blog, not a sales page or company site, and their post is of value and unique (passes copyscape scan). They are allowed a free guest post with link in their author bio only (not in article).

Guest Posts from Link Buyers

If it is a blogger or hired person looking to build SEO links, then I automatically charge them a fee (depending on quality of article). My demands are “no fluff” article must inform, educate or entertain and be no less than 500 words. All guest posters must reply to all comments, and content must be 100% original (copyscape scan proof) the author byline must also pass copyscape scan.

My prices vary depending on the advertiser, quality of post and if I have worked with them before. In my case I only charge after I review and approve article, but I am can see why some people charge just to review as I get 4-6 guest post requests per day.

Still unless your site is a PR5+ or gets 100k plus visits per month I wouldn’t charge more than $5 to review. But honestly I charge between $25 and $50 for some of my sites depending on PR of site. Remember when guests want a link in article they don’t care about traffic, just PageRank of site. So charge more based on the PR of your site. I have seen these rates reasonable.

Recommended price for an in article link or what I call sponsored guest post:

  • PR2 = $25
  • PR3 = $35 – 50
  • PR4 = $75 – $100
  • PR5 = $150+

I can tell you I was getting anywhere from $75 to $150 per link in a post on DragonBlogger.com when it was a PR4 average. This dropped down quite a bit when I was slapped to a PR2, but the requests dropped off.

Also note, I would rather just embed a link in a new paragraph on an older article (which they are usually okay with and saves them time) than put a junk new article up on the site. This saves everyone time and this I always charge for.

Note, I am fully aware what I do is frowned upon by Google but hey a blogger has to try and earn something for putting effort into their sites. As I have no products to specifically sell, don’t market services that I perform I have to be creative in how I bring in money.

-Justin Germino

WPX Support

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Updated: August 12, 2011 — 10:02 pm