Guest post guidelines: choose a publication with care.

Before ordering a guest post, decide who the article should help. A software company explaining invoice automation needs a publication read by people who manage business payments. A broad site with a higher authority score may be a weaker fit if its readers have no interest in that problem.

Use this checklist alongside the publication’s own guest post guidelines. Requirements differ, and the publisher has the final editorial decision.

1. Read the publication, not just its metrics

Open several recent articles in the relevant category. Look for clear explanations, identifiable authors where appropriate, useful sources and a consistent subject focus. Check whether articles are written for an audience or mainly exist to place unrelated commercial links.

• Does the proposed topic belong alongside the site’s recent content?
• Can readers find information about the publication and contact it?
• Are existing articles original and maintained, with working links?
• Does the likely audience match your language and market?

2. Treat DA, DR and traffic as screening tools

DA and DR come from different third-party models. Neither is a Google ranking score. A high DA guest post does not automatically deliver relevant visitors or better rankings. Traffic estimates also differ by provider and should not be treated as verified analytics.

Use the marketplace filters to narrow your options, then review the sites themselves. Missing metrics mean unknown, not zero. Read our metric definitions before comparing values across tools.

3. Prepare an original, specific brief

Give the editor a proposed title, intended reader, outline, target page and relevant factual sources. Explain what your article adds: a worked example, a practical checklist or an answer to a question the publication has not covered well. Do not reuse an unchanged article across multiple sites.

Only provide text and images you own or have permission to use. Cite factual claims, avoid invented experience or results, and remove unsupported statistics. Use natural link text that describes the destination rather than repeating the same commercial phrase.

4. Confirm paid-link treatment

Guest posting and sponsored publishing are not shortcuts to guaranteed ranking credit. Google’s link-spam policy requires paid links to be qualified with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". A visible sponsorship disclosure is useful for readers, but does not replace the link attribute.

Ask the publisher to confirm the actual treatment before ordering. A marketplace label describing a publisher’s reported link type is not proof that a particular paid placement meets those requirements. Avoid requests for concealed sponsorship, hidden links or guaranteed ranking gains.

5. Agree on scope before payment

• Confirm the publication, topic, price and whether writing or revisions are included.
• Check the estimated turnaround and any content restrictions.
• Read the delivery policy and refund policy.
• Keep your brief and order reference so you can report a specific delivery issue.

6. Review the delivered page

Open the live URL and check the article, destination link, factual accuracy and agreed disclosures. Publication is not the same as Google indexing. Measure relevant referral visits and enquiries where you have analytics, and do not interpret a changed domain score as proof that one placement caused a business result.