An email lands offering money for a guest post. The article looks fine, the price is fair and they want it live this week. Most of these deals go smoothly. Some end with an article on your site and an invoice nobody answers.
You can’t tell which is which from the first email. You can tell a lot from five minutes of checking before you agree. Here is the routine we suggest.
1. Look up the sender’s email address
Start with the address itself, not the name in the signature. Paste it into the lookup on our home page and see whether other bloggers have rated them.
- A good record (four stars and up) means they have paid other bloggers on time or within the agreed terms.
- A mixed record means some bloggers had to chase. Ask for payment upfront.
- A poor record with “Not paid” ratings means evidence has been checked by a moderator. Think hard before you publish.
- No ratings does not mean a clean record. It only means nobody has rated them yet, so the rest of this list matters more.
2. Check who they are working for
Most buyers are agencies placing links for a client. Ask, or look at the links they want placed.
- Does the agency have a real website with a real address?
- Does the email domain match the agency, or is it a free Gmail or Outlook address?
- Is the client site a genuine business, or something you would not want linked from your blog?
A free email address is not proof of anything bad. Plenty of honest freelancers use Gmail. It does mean you have less to go on, so the payment terms in step 4 matter more.
3. Read the request carefully
Look at what they are actually asking for. Watch out for:
- requests to hide that the post is paid (no “sponsored” label) when your own policy or the law where you are says it should be labelled;
- links to gambling, loans, adult or pharmacy sites slipped into an otherwise ordinary article;
- articles that are clearly spun or written by a tool with no editing, which can hurt your site.
If the article itself is a problem, the payment question does not matter. Say no.
4. Agree how and when you will be paid, in writing
Before anything goes live, agree:
- the price, in which currency;
- how they pay (PayPal, Wise, bank transfer);
- when they pay: upfront, on publication, or within a set number of days;
- what happens if they do not pay on time.
Keep it in the email thread so there is no argument later. Our post on guest post payment terms has wording you can copy.
5. Decide based on what you found
- Good record, clear terms: go ahead.
- Mixed or no record: ask for some or all of the payment upfront.
- Poor record: walk away, or only publish after full payment.
None of this takes long once it is a habit, and it saves a lot of chasing.
Afterwards: rate them
When the deal is done, good or bad, rate the buyer. It takes a minute: pick how they paid and, if you like, add a short review. Every rating makes the next blogger’s check quicker. Ratings come from verified bloggers only, which keeps the record honest. Join free if you have not yet.
