How We Vet SaaS Publishers: Our Checklist
Every site we suggest goes through the same checks before it reaches your list. Here is the full checklist, the page-level traffic checks, and the places we never use.
The publisher vetting checklist
A site has to pass all twelve checks. If it fails one, we drop it and find another.
The site still ranks
We look at the site's organic traffic trend over the last 12 months in an SEO tool. A steady or rising line is fine. If traffic fell by more than half and never came back, we skip the site, however good its authority score looks.
Its readers are your buyers
We open five recent posts and ask whether a product manager, a RevOps lead or a CTO at a company like yours would read them. If the latest posts cover crypto, casino reviews and recipes, the site writes for whoever pays.
Topic relevance
The site, and the section the article will sit in, must cover software, tech, marketing or B2B topics related to your product.
Normal outbound links
We count the links on three recent posts. A healthy post links to a few useful sources. A post with ten commercial links to unrelated companies is a link page, and we skip it.
No links to casino, adult or spam sites
We check where the site links out. One bad neighbourhood in recent posts is enough to rule it out.
Posts get indexed
We search Google for the exact title of a recent post. If recent posts are not indexed, a link from them is unlikely to be found or counted.
No "write for us" farm signals
A public price list, "do-follow guaranteed" wording, the same author on every topic, or a catch-all "general" category. One is a warning. Two or more and we move on.
A real editorial standard
Articles are edited, readable and written for people. Thin, spun or obviously machine-written posts mean the site is not a fit.
A clear link-attribute policy
Google expects paid links to carry rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". We ask the publisher which attribute the link will carry and tell you before you approve the site.
Domain strength in context
We record third-party scores such as DR, but they are tool estimates, not Google ranking factors. We never choose a site on one score alone.
The link sits in the article text
Your link must be placed in the body copy where it helps the reader. Never in a sidebar, footer, author box or comment.
One link per domain per campaign
We do not stack several links to you on the same site in one campaign.
Page-level traffic checks
A good domain is not enough. We also check the page your link will sit on.
Traffic to the exact page
For a link insertion, we check the organic traffic to the specific article, not just the domain. A strong domain with a page that gets no visits passes little value to your readers.
Where the traffic comes from
We check the traffic geography. If you sell to the US and UK, most of the page's visitors should be there too.
What the page ranks for
We look at the keywords the page ranks for. They should be real, topic-related queries, not unrelated terms or spam.
Trend over time
A page that is losing traffic month after month is a weaker home for a new link. We prefer pages that are stable or growing.
For new guest posts
There is no page traffic yet, so we look at how similar recent posts in the same section perform and whether they get indexed.
Places we never use
No matter the price or the metrics, we do not place links here.
- Private blog networks (PBNs) and link farms
- Hacked sites, or links injected without the site owner's knowledge
- Expired domains rebuilt only to sell links
- Sites whose traffic collapsed and never recovered
- Sites that publish casino, adult, loan or other off-topic sponsored posts alongside tech content
- "Write for us" farms with public price lists that publish anything
- Sidebar, footer, sitewide, comment or forum-profile links
- Link exchange schemes
- Any site you did not approve
Vetting a site yourself?
Our guide on how to find and vet SaaS guest posting sites walks through the same checks with examples.
Where vetted links fit
See how guest posts and link insertions fit next to digital PR and partner pages in our guide to SaaS link building strategies.
Frequently asked questions
Do you use DR or DA to choose sites?
We record third-party scores such as DR because clients ask for them, but they are tool estimates, not Google ranking factors. Traffic, relevance and editorial quality matter more.
Can I see the checks for my sites?
Yes. Your site list shows DR, organic traffic, topic and the planned link type for every site, and you approve or reject each one.
What happens if a site fails a check later?
We check live links each month. If a site changes, for example its traffic collapses or it starts publishing spam, we tell you.
Do you guarantee rankings?
No. Nobody can honestly guarantee rankings. We are clear about the sites, the checks and the report.
Want sites that pass every check?
Send us your target pages. We will send a free link plan with sites you can approve one by one.