Guest posts are usually sold by Domain Rating (DR), a 0 to 100 score from Ahrefs that estimates the strength of a website’s backlink profile. A higher DR often means a stronger link and a higher price. DR is useful, but it is not the whole story.
What DR does and does not tell you
DR measures links pointing to a site, not its traffic, relevance or editorial standards. A site can have a high DR and almost no real readers, especially if it sells many links. That is why we look at more than one metric.
Match the tier to your site
| Your situation | Sensible starting tier |
|---|---|
| New site, few or no links | DR 10+ to DR 20+, plus citations and profile links |
| Established local or niche site | DR 30+ to DR 40+ |
| Competitive national keywords | DR 50+ and above, mixed with lower tiers |
| Launch or news story | Press release plus one or two strong posts |
A natural link profile has a range of strengths. Jumping straight to only high-DR links on a brand-new site looks unusual and is a poor use of budget.
Five quality checks beyond DR
- Real organic traffic: the site should receive visitors from search, not just have a high score.
- Topical relevance: a link from a site in your field is worth more than a random general blog.
- Editorial standards: real articles with real authors, not pages stuffed with “write for us” posts.
- Outbound link volume: sites linking out to dozens of unrelated businesses every day pass less value.
- Disclosure: reputable publishers label sponsored content. That is normal and keeps everyone within search engine guidelines.
Paid links and Google’s rules
Google’s spam policies say links that are paid for should be qualified, for example with rel="sponsored". Many publishers handle this themselves. Avoid anyone selling “guaranteed dofollow, permanent, undisclosed” links, because that is exactly the pattern Google looks for.
A simple buying plan
- Start with foundations: citations and profile links.
- Add one or two posts at a tier that matches your site.
- Point links at your most useful pages, not only the homepage.
- Review progress after a few months before buying more.
See our Premium Links packages, with guest posts from DR 10+ to DR 70+ and a live-URL report on publication.