Choosing the Right Websites for Guest Posting (Domain Authority, Relevance, Traffic)

You should choose guest post websites by balancing relevance, real traffic/engagement, and credible authority metrics—not just DA alone. Use DA/DR as a filter, then validate with niche fit, organic traffic, and audience quality.

Below is a practical, metric‑driven way to do it.

1. Start with niche relevance (non‑negotiable)

Only consider sites that are:

• In your niche or a closely related niche
• Publishing content your ideal customers would naturally read

Quick checks:

• Read the last 5–10 posts: are topics tightly aligned with your offers?
• Would your best blog article fit in naturally on this site?
• Is your link likely to be in‑content (not buried only in a tiny author box)?

If relevance is weak, skip it, regardless of DA.

2. Use Domain Authority / Domain Rating as a first filter

Tools you can use: Moz DA, Ahrefs DR, Semrush Authority Score.

Reasonable working thresholds (you can adjust by your industry):

• Below DA/DR 20

  • Often not worth the effort unless:
    • It’s hyper‑relevant to your niche and/or
    • It has a small but very targeted, engaged audience.

• DA/DR 20–40

  • Good for most brands if:
    • There is real organic traffic and
    • Content quality is strong.

• DA/DR 40+

  • Aim for these when possible, as they typically have:
    • Stronger backlink value
    • Greater chance of referral traffic

Example rule of thumb from agencies:

• For DA/DR ~20, look for ≥150 organic visitors/month
• For DA/DR 40+, look for ≥500 organic visitors/month

These aren't hard rules, but solid benchmarks.

3. Confirm real organic traffic (avoid “fake authority”)

Authority scores can be manipulated. Always cross‑check with traffic:

Use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or similar to see:

• Estimated organic traffic (not just total visits)
• Traffic trend over 6–12 months
  • Upward or stable = good
  • Sharp spike + drop, or long decline = risk

Minimums (flexible):

• Small niche / new brand:
  • 1k–5k+ organic visits/month is often good enough if highly relevant.
• Broader markets:
  • Prefer 10k+ organic visits/month, or at least strong growth.

Avoid sites that:

• Have high DA/DR but almost no organic traffic
• Rank mainly for irrelevant or spammy keywords

4. Check editorial standards & E‑E‑A‑T

Google values Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E‑E‑A‑T) for guest posts.

Look for:

• Clear guest post / contributor guidelines with quality standards
• Real author bios with credentials, LinkedIn, or other verifiable profiles
• Articles that are:
  • Well‑structured, edited, and free of obvious grammar issues
  • Not stuffed with exact‑match anchor links
• Signs it’s not a “post anything for a fee” link farm:
  • Not every article is from a guest author
  • Outbound links look natural and relevant

These indicate a site Google is more likely to trust.

5. Evaluate engagement and audience fit

A “high DA” site with no real readers will not help much.

Check:

• Engagement:

  • Comments, social shares, likes on recent posts
  • Are posts getting any visible interaction at all?

• Audience alignment:

  • From media kit, About page, or content:
    • Demographics, interests, level of expertise
  • Is there a meaningful overlap with your target buyers?

If almost no posts get engagement, treat authority metrics cautiously.

6. Quick checklist: accept or reject a site

Before pitching, confirm most of these:

• Relevance

  • In your niche or tightly related
  • Their readers could realistically become your leads or customers

• Authority

  • DA/DR ≥20 (ideally 40+ for stronger SEO impact)

• Traffic

  • Organic traffic above your minimum threshold (e.g. 150+ for DA20 sites, 500+ for DA40+)
  • No obvious penalty patterns or massive traffic crashes

• Quality & E‑E‑A‑T

  • Strong, recent, in‑depth content
  • Clear editorial guidelines and real author profiles
  • No obvious spam or over‑optimised outbound links

• Engagement

  • At least some posts with comments, shares, or social activity

If a site clears all of these, it’s usually worth pitching.

7. How to find these sites efficiently

Use Google and SEO tools to pre‑qualify:

• Google search operators for relevance + intent:

  • "your niche" + "write for us"
  • "your niche" + "guest post"
  • "your niche" + "submit an article"

• Tools like Ahrefs / Semrush:

  • Check DA/DR / Authority Score + organic traffic in one place
  • Use Content Explorer or similar to:
    • Search your niche topics
    • Filter by DR and traffic to find strong prospects

• Competitor backlink analysis:

  • See where competitors have guest posts and evaluate those domains (but don’t copy blindly)

8. How to prioritise when you have a list

If you have many potential sites, prioritise:

1. Tier 1 (Top priority)

   • High relevance
   • DA/DR 40+
   • Strong, growing organic traffic
   • Good engagement and editorial standards

2. Tier 2 (Still good)

   • Strong relevance
   • DA/DR 20–40 with real organic traffic
   • Decent content quality

3. Tier 3 (Selective)

   • Very high relevance but weaker authority or traffic
   • Use for brand exposure, relationships, or topical authority building, not just backlinks

If you share your niche and current DA/DR, I can suggest more specific threshold ranges and a step‑by‑step prospecting workflow tailored to your situation.