March 28, 2024

How Travel Bloggers Can Earn Money from Guest Post Publishing

Fund your travel blog by earning money with guest post publishing.

️This blog contains ads, ad links and affiliate links. This is no way affects the quality or integrity of the content.

If you are a travel blogger or a travel company with a blog publication looking to monetize your site in new ways for extra income, guest post publishing is an excellent way to earn money from your travel blog.

We all know that managing our blogs is costly. It costs time, energy and money.

Apart from creativity and good storytelling, running a successful travel blog requires the right equipment, software and of course, travel. Whether you are travel blogging as a hobby or it’s your job, having some or all of the expenses covered helps immensely.

Guest post publishing is a very good way to supplement your travel blog income.

Managed correctly, you can earn an extra $500 a month.

Guest post publishing needs to be managed carefully in order to offer the best solution for your client while still protecting your online reputation and ranking.

This guide is directed to travel blog owners but the concepts can be applied to any kind of blog.

Why offer guest post publishing?

Whether your blog is your main business or a side hustle, you can earn some additional income with guest post publishing. Guest posts are blog articles written by someone else who pays you to publish the blog article on your website.

Guest post publishing can be beneficial because it:

  • Offers an additional income stream.
  • It’s a good alternative to graphic advertising, especially if you want to keep your site banner free.
  • If you work with professional agencies the content will be well written, will be on topic and integrate naturally with your own content.
  • It requires little time and effort for the publisher.

However, guest post publishing is not for everyone.  Many bloggers want complete control of the content that is published on their blog and only offer sponsored posts. Sponsored posts are written by the blogger promoting a brand or product.

Click here to subscribe to our next article about: How to Make Money on Your Travel Blog with Sponsored Content.

Seo guest post publishing

What is guest post publishing?

Guest post publishing means that you publish a blog article written by someone else on your blog. This could be a friend or even a fellow blogger. Traditionally, guest post publishing is usually a barter exchange; the blogger gives you free content and you share their writing with your audience. If the content is good and useful to your readers it could be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties.

What is SEO guest post publishing?

Seo guest post publishing is the same,  the only difference is that the blog article was written by an SEO marketing team with aim of getting a backlink for their client.

What are backlinks and why are they valuable?

Backlinks are active links on a webpage. When clicked they take the reader to a different website. 

Backlinks are valuable because they help boost SERP (Search Engine Result Page) ranking.

Companies want to be mentioned and have links on reputable websites because this not only creates brand awareness,  but also helps improve their own online reputation and authority with search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

SEO agencies offering offsite SEO and blogger outreach campaigns create content and get backlinks for their clients.

Large agencies with high-end clients charge up to $1000 USD per guest post with a backlink placement. Smaller agencies (such as ours, SeoTravelContent) offer backlink placement campaigns from $200. Click here for more information on Blogger Outreach services by SeoTravelContent.

How do Seo agencies create backlinks?

The responsability of the Seo Outreach Manager of an seo agency is to create relationships with bloggers that are willing to publish their content. They set an agreed price with the blogger for each post published.

Seo Outreach managers typically seek out websites with a DA score of 20 or higher.

What is DA and why does it matter?

Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by seo analytics group Moz. The Domain authority of a website predicts its probability and potential to rank well in search engines. Scores are rated 1- 100, the higher your score the better.

DA evaluates the quality and relevance of the content on a website in relationship to the search phrases associated with it. By having backlinks to a website from a respected, authoritative website,  the website gains recognition and relevance in the eyes of the search engine.

For example, my travel blog is about lifestyle and travel in Italy. I published a blog post called “Ski Resorts near Milan”, parts of which were quoted in an article on CNN. The journalist was kind enough to add a link to the original article. As it was a natural,  organic backlink, it did wonders for my online reputation. Read the CNN article here

This is an example of a genuine, organic backlink where the author saw quality information and referenced it.

Seo marketing experts have seen that by getting links on sites with good domain authority, it helps their clients’ rankings.

Therefore, they reach out to bloggers who are willing to post articles with links, simulating organic, natural backlinks.

Seo Outreach

The Seo Outreach Manager is responsabile for contacting bloggers and asking the blogger to publish pre-written blog articles.

As a travel blogger, you may have already received messsages offering you free content. Keeping a blog lively and current is a lot of work and getting free content might seem tempting.

Before accepting a guest post, you will need to be sure it is good quality, well-written and on topic with your content.

The Seo Outreach approach

From my experience working on both sides of seo, as an outreach manger and as a blogger, not all seo agencies work in a professional manner.

Here, I have outlined the different approaches Seo agencies use and how to reply to them.

There are three approaches seo outreach marketers use

  • the unprofessional approach
  • the fake blogger approach
  • the professional approach

It’s obvious that the first two shouldn’t even be considered,  but you have to know how to identify and reply.

The unprofessional approach

Often, the emails are short, rude and unprofessional, such as “I want a guest post.  What is the price?” These emails are not adressed to anyone in particular and don’t offer any information.

My advice is: Ignore these emails. These are automatic emails sent by low cost agencies who have low budgets. If you reply,  you will waste a lot of time because they will try to negotiate extremely low prices.

Reply simply by saying that guest post publishing is not available. You will thank me in the long run.

The fake blogger

Other times the messages will seem like they are from a fellow blogger. The message will be flattering, might even be addressed to you by name and maybe even quote  a title or phrase from your page. Don’t be fooled, most of the time these messages are also generated automatically by a.i.
For example they will say “… loved your article about Women’s Empowerment…” and then propose “… I’d love to contribute an article about New Vape Flavors”.
It’s obvious they are not following your blog.

My advice is: Do not publish work by another blogger unless you know them and love their style.

Reply by saying you do not accept blogger contributions but you can offer guest post publishing for a fee.

It is important to communicate that this is a business transaction and not a buddy exchange.

The professional approach

Then there are the professionals who present themselves as Outreach Managers and offer to pay. They usually offer more information about what kind of clients they have and why they think your website is a good match.
However, rarely will they tell you how much they can pay, hoping that your price is within their budget.
If you are considering offering guest post publishing on your blog, these are the only emails you should reply to.

How to Reply to Seo Outreach Managers for Guest Posting

We have created a Free Download email template to help you close the deal. Copy and paste, then customize it for your site. You will begin establishing yourself as a professional publisher.

How to value the fee to ask for guest post publishing on your travel blog

To make a profit, the agencies are looking for the lowest prices.
Many companies have a maximum rate they can pay per post. Some seo agencies have a pay rate based on DA.

The top professional seo agencies also consider other aspects of your website such as audience, niche and the quality of your content.

If you have been contacted by an Seo Outreach Manager,  it means your work has value.

Remember that the value of your work is much more than the domain authority rating. You have poured your heart and soul into your blog articles, you have created a relationship with your audience and you have cultivated a personal brand and reputation. 

Preparing a reply to Seo Outreach requests

We have already established that if you have been contacted by an Seo Outreach Manager it means that a backlink from your website has value. But how much?

Your reply to the guest post publishing request will set the tone for future collaborations.

You must have clear terms and a price. Terms and conditions that protect your own online reputation and ranking and a fair price that will close the deal.

How to establish terms and conditions for guest posts

You will have to decide how much you want to accommodate the seo manger’s needs. Here’s what seo outreach managers want and here’s what you should offer.

Tagged or untagged as ‘sponsored’ guest post

Seo Outreach mangers will ask that there is no #sponsored or #paidcontent tag on the page. 
Google and other search engines aren’t against sponsored content but they want bloggers to disclose it.
Not disclosing paid content can result in penalties.
As a blog owner, you should always disclose the fact that the blog contains ads  affiliate links or paid content.
Best practice dictacts that the disclaimer be placed before the content. Consumer watchdogs are literally watching everyone, no matter how big or small you are. It is best to be transparent with your readers and have a disclaimer on all pages.

Do-follow links


This means that when a search engine scans the page it will be able to follow the link and record the connection as a natural, organic backlink.
As stated abive, Google is not against paid content, but it prefers paid links be tagged as no-follow. Google can penilise a site by demotiing their ranking for hosting undisclosed, untagged paid links.  The sponsor’s website can also be penilised. As a blog owner you will have to decide if you are willing to take the risk to publish untagged content.

Unlimited time period

Seo Managers want the page to stay online forever. 
Most often seo article contributions are written as evergreen subjects and once the page is published are easy to forget about. As a blog owner you will have to decide how long you want to host other people’s content.

Controversial content


Some seo companies are specialized in marketing gambling and casino sites, cbd oil and vaping products, financial content like Bit coin and NFT investments or sexually explicit content.
As a blog owner you will have to decide what kind of content and links can be associated with your personal brand.

Your domain authority rating has a price tag as well.

How much to charge SEO agencies for guest post publishing

How much should ask to publish a guest post?


The question all bloggers ask. An easy formula to determine your guest post publishing fee is based on your domain authority rating. This is also the metric that most agencies use to determine how much your site is worth.

Although your domain authority rating is not the only determining value, it is a good base to use to determine your publishing fee. If your have a strong audience and personal brand, don’t be afraid to price your posting fee on the high-end. You may get fewer sponsored articles but the quality will be much better.

DA 20+
$50-$80

DA 30+
$80-$100

DA 40+
$140-$180

DA 50+
$200 or more

You can simplify pricing even further, for example DA score × $5 (or whatever you determine).

For example if your domain authority is 35 and you have a strong brand and following,  you should be asking a minimum of $175 per guest post published.

If your subject and niche are specific,  you may want to raise your price. After all, you are the blog owner,  you decide what goes on your site.

How to let marketers know that you offer guest post publishing

If your pages are ranking well and the guest posts on your website are tagged properly, the seo companies will find you.

You can list your site in online directories such as PRposting.com which list sites offering guest posting.

Sign up on Intellifluence.com, the online influencer market place and create an offer under your profile. You can also post your offer on freelance platforms like Fiverr.

Also, be sure to mention guest post publishing in your media kit and on your advertising page.

Alternatively, you can start your own outreach campaign and contact the SEO agencies.

The best way to go about it is to Google “seo backlinks” or “guest posting” and you will find companies offering these online marketing services. Send an email introducing yourself,  your blog and rates. A professional presentation attracts professional agencies.

SeoTravelContent


We manage blogger outreach and guest post publishing for our clients, so if you have a travel blog and would like to become one of our publishers, feel free to contact us if you are interested in hosting guest posts written and managed by SeoTravelContent.

We work on both sides of the blog publishing business. We know the ins and outs of web publishing as bloggers as well as the behind the scenes of marketing, link building and seo marketing.

Contact us for custom seo services or blogger coaching.

If you have any further questions about working with SEO companies to earn money with guest post publishing,  send us a message.

Happy blogging!

Article by Celia Abernethy, SEO Travel Content
Image Depositphotos.com


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SEO Travel Content accepts guest posts on our blog. Contact us to submit an article.