You’ve built your blog, grown your audience, and now the brands are showing up in your inbox. Great! But there’s one big question: How much should you charge for a sponsored blog post?
Even experienced bloggers struggle with this. Pricing your work can feel awkward and confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to confidently set your sponsored post rates and earn what you’re worth.
There are many questions to ask, and even seasoned bloggers can sometimes struggle to quantify their work and find an appropriate price to charge people who want to work with them.
Without further ado, let’s dive into all the different factors that can influence how much to charge for a sponsored blog post and anything else you were too scared to ask others or didn’t even know can influence how much you can expect to be paid for hosting sponsored posts on your blog.
Understanding Sponsored Post Pricing
Sponsored post pricing isn’t as simple as plucking a figure from thin air. Many bloggers who charge for sponsored posts will tell you that you need to value your time, the audience you have built, and the blog you have created before you can even begin to think of the value you’re placing on it.
Then, you need to consider the value your blog post offers the brands you’re collaborating with. At its core, a sponsored blog post is an advertisement that promotes a brand, product, or service.
Sponsored posts can include
- Writing posts linking to the client’s website.
- Reviewing a product you have also been paid for, as well as the sample item.
- Publishing pre-written content on your blog supplied by your client.
Now, what you think is an appropriate charge might not always align with what other people think you should charge; in fact, many people agree that those looking for sponsored blog posts often want to pay considerably less than the quoted figures, especially for those after SEO links only and not coming directly from brands.
The guidelines are a great base to start working out how much to charge for a sponsored blog post.
- How much time does it take you to complete the work? For example, will you be given the post or simply copied, pasted, and published? Or will you be creating the post yourself?
- Is the post relevant to your audience?
- Do you need to create imagery for a review or visit a location to complete the sponsored post?
Factors Influencing Your Sponsored Post Rates
Now that we understand a little bit more about sponsored blog posts, it’s essential to understand exactly what can influence how much to charge for sponsored blog posts.
Blogs Authority
Firstly, brands or SEO outreach will look at your blog’s DA. This is your Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR), as this gives a measure of your blog’s authority. The higher the number, the better your authority. And a higher authority means you can ask for higher fees because your blog carries more SEO value than lower authority blogs.
For reference, a DA of around 40 is considered good, but the majority of blogs are around the 25-45 range. According to Agency Analytics, a Domain Rating of 50 to 60 is regarded as a good DR, and anything below 30 is considered poor.
Monthly Unique Visitors (MUV)
Your monthly unique visitors are the number of people who visit your blog each month, i.e., the number of eyeballs your posts are getting. Google Analytics and Jetpack are two common tools bloggers use to help them uncover these figures.
Niche and Industry
The more specific your blog is, the more likely you are to earn more for your sponsored posts. For example, tech blogs or finance bloggers can potentially earn more than less specific lifestyle bloggers.
Portfolio
Your portfolio will also influence your rates; past sponsored post campaigns, case studies, or proven results from previous collaborations can help justify your rate.
Extras
Any extras you include for your sponsorship can also help you increase your earning potential. Consider social media shares, imagery, video creation, etc.
Evaluating Your Influence: Reach and Engagement
While page views are important and will boost your earning potential, they’re not the be-all and end-all of pricing for sponsored posts.
Sure, if your sponsored post is for SEO purposes, the client will want the best metrics, which means more views, visitors, and higher rankings.
However, sponsored posts of brands and collaborations outside the SEO scope can still earn you great money even with lower rankings. They’re paying for your voice, your influence, and your engagement with your audience. And a loyal niche audience in this respect can be worth way more than a higher DA.
You also need to be honest about your influence. Does your audience trust what you say, jump on your recommendations, or appreciate the reviews you write? Or is it just going right over their heads?
How do you understand your influence for a guide on how brands see your blog?
- Google Analytics for traffic demographics and behaviour.
- Moz’s DA checker for your domain authority score
- Ahrefs DR checker for your domain rating
- Reader surveys or comments are needed to determine the depth of your influence with your audience.
Setting Your Rates: A Step-by-Step Guide
It’s time to talk numbers. But let’s not start by charging what others are charging; you need to be strategic with your pricing. There are a few different ways you can approach charging for sponsored posts.
Remember, there is no set industry standard. Brands use guidelines to help with pricing, but they mostly base their decisions on data they collect on what bloggers charge them, the results they receive, and the work they ask for.
- Calculate your hourly rate by determining how long it will take you to complete the required work and multiplying this by your target hourly rate, e.g. £20 per hour.
- Add value pricing to your quote, i.e. what ROI can the brand expect from your work?
- What extras can you add or do you need to quote for, i.e., images exclusivity rights, do/no follow requirements, and turnaround time (TAT)?
From here, you then need to consider your blog’s metrics (pricing is a guide only from surveys and data collated from bloggers)
- DA 20 to 29: £50 to £100 per post
- DA 30 to 39: £100 to £200 per post
- DA 40+: £200 upwards
It’s a good idea to factor in a buffer of time and edit into any work you do.
- How many edits will you do?
- What changes are acceptable?
- How much admin time will this extra work take?
You can then charge for anything that falls outside of what is quoted. But you need to be clear on your terms and what is included in your quote to be able to charge extras if applicable.
Compare and Contrast: What Peers are Charging
Of course, you want to know what others are charging. It’s the curtain-twitching equivalent in the blogging world, and while not all bloggers are forthcoming with what they charge or earn, some people are willing to open up anonymously.
Sites like The Bloglancer and Strawberry Squeeze have conducted surveys that reveal how much other bloggers charge for sponsored posts, while other bloggers like Not Dressed As Lamb reveal their own pricing structures for sponsored blog posts.
It’s important to remember that many factors go into what others charge, and this is where comparisons get a little bit tricky because even if you have the same or similar metrics, your blog might not have the reach or influence others do, and vice versa.
Let’s take a closer look at how much other bloggers charge for sponsored blog posts.
- Most bloggers with a DA of 30+ charge anywhere from £100 to £250 per sponsored post
- Fees for a DA of 40+ can rise to £500
- Niche bloggers command a higher fee than the typical DA guidelines or averages.
- For mid-tier sites, UK bloggers and sites such as Productive Blogging suggest a base of £150 to £200 per post.
- 75% of bloggers with a DA of under 13 charge less than £30, as per the results of a Bloglancer survey.
- An average of £50 for sponsored blog posts with a DA of 20 to 25 is often a reasonable minimum to aim for.
The Bloglancer also shares that her own blog, The Balanced Belly, a niche health blog, achieved around £150 per sponsored blog post for her previous two campaigns at the time of publishing.
Negotiating with Brands: Tips and Strategies
Brands will expect you to negotiate. It’s the digital version of a marketplace where you’re trying to get the best price. While some enquiries will be akin to those annoying hagglers on Facebook Marketplace, wanting the world for free and delivery to boot, others will be more fruitful, but you absolutely need to be open to negotiations.
Top tip: If a brand never negotiates with you and accepts your price immediately, chances are you’re undercharging, and they know they’re getting a good price.
Top tips for negotiating sponsored post fees include
- Know your worth; have your proof and the value you offer ready to share.
- Have a floor rate; this is the rate you will not go below and needs to be worth your time and effort.
- Offer packages; if they’re not sold on your fee, introduce them to package offers to sweeten the deal.
- Be transparent; if the price isn’t right for you, be honest with them about how you’re charging the price you set and be prepared to walk away.
Sample response example:
“Thank you so much for your interest in working with me. My sponsored post price for the requested work is £200, including an SEO-optimised article with original imagery and social media promotions on the day of publication. I would love to work with you and would happily discuss further needs and requirements in more detail to create a beneficial arrangement for everyone.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Sponsored Posts
Q: Should I include social media in my price?
If you intend to promote on social media, you can include prices, but it’s a good idea to have prices for the sponsored post only and packages that include social media content if they wish to add this on.
Q: What if my DA is low but my niche is strong
In some cases, a unique niche with engaged followers can be more valuable than DA, especially for brands wanting to break into their audience. Your DA will not matter so much there; it will only matter for SEO-focused sponsored blog posts.
Q: Is price per word viable?
Yes, especially for content-heavy posts or specialist SEO content. Some bloggers price their work at around £0.10 to £0.20 per word, meaning they can get up to £200 for a 1,000-word article.
Q: Can I charge less when starting out?
It’s okay to charge a little bit less when you are first starting and getting used to these collaborations. However, be aware that some people may use this as a benchmark for you and won’t be inclined to pay higher fees if and when you do increase them. Always have a minimum fee in mind to help you out in negotiations.
Q: How often should I review my rates
It’s a good idea to review your rates every 6-12 months or when your DA or DR changes significantly, i.e. jumps from the 20s to the 30s or your traffic increases consistently by 20% for example.
Boost Your Earnings with Strategic Pricing
What do we mean by strategic pricing?
Typically, this includes different rates and packages for different clients to help encourage them to opt in and ask for more work to boost your earnings.
Strategic pricing can look something like the following examples.
Tiered packages
- Basic blog post only
- Standard blog with one social media post
- Premium packages that offer a dedicated newsletter and comprehensive social media campaign.
Bundles
- Two posts at a slight discount compared to a single post
- Longer evergreen posts offering increased SEO value.
Retainer deals
- Brands sponsoring monthly or quarterly content for consistent earnings and pricing.
Upsell
- Upselling can include pricing for click-through rates, proof of social media or newsletter engagement for tangible results.
How Much to Charge for a Sponsored Blog Post?
Ultimately, how much you charge for a sponsored blog post is down to you. Your metrics influence, the brand, and the results you can deliver will affect how much brands are willing to pay and how you should set your rates.
But the takeaway is that there is no one-size-fits-all pricing strategy for sponsored blog posts, and you need to charge for what you think applies to your blog and the work you do. Not sure if you’re ready to charge? Check out our post on How Long to Monetise A Blog: A Timeline for Bloggers.
