How to price sponsored posts on your website: a practical method
Price a sponsored post by working out what the placement costs you and what it is worth to a relevant advertiser: your audience, the work involved, how long the post stays up and how many other sponsors share the page. There is no universal rate, so a method beats a number.
Step 1: know your audience
Use your own analytics as the source of truth: monthly visits, the topics your readers return for and where they come from. Third-party estimates are rough, so keep them as a cross-check rather than the basis of a price.
Step 2: count the real effort
- Writing or editing time if you produce the content yourself.
- Review time: checking the advertiser's text, links and claims against your editorial standards.
- Publishing, labeling and any follow-up checks during the paid term.
Step 3: set the terms that change the price
- Term: a placement that stays live for a year costs you more attention than one for a month.
- Exclusivity: whether you will run a competitor on the same page or topic.
- Position and format: a dedicated article, a mention inside an existing guide, or a short listing.
- Limits: a cap on how many sponsored links a page may carry keeps your content credible.
Step 4: set a floor, then let buyers come to you
Decide the lowest price you will accept per placement type and the categories you will refuse outright. Anything below the floor, or in a banned category, is declined automatically, which saves you from negotiating every offer.
Keep it honest
Whatever you charge, label the post as sponsored and mark the link rel="sponsored". Pricing a link as if it passed ranking credit is both a policy risk and a promise you cannot keep.