Paid placements on a local news site: running the desk
If you run a small publication, some of your readers' attention can pay for the newsroom. The trick is to keep a clear wall between the desk that sells and the desk that reports.
How selling works here
A publisher lists a site, sets a price for each placement and approves every piece before it goes out. Payouts run weekly. To sell backlinks on your website, that is the whole mechanism.
You keep control of what is published under your masthead. If a piece is off-topic, thin or misleading, you decline it and the buyer's order does not go live.
Buyers see your numbers next to your price: Domain Rating, organic traffic, referring domains, niche and language. Those are the same rows described in our donor checklist, so price honestly against them.
A house standard worth writing down
- Label paid pieces clearly, in the byline area, in plain words.
- Use rel=sponsored on outbound links in paid pieces, as Google's 2019 guidance describes.
- Refuse topics that your readers would not expect on your site.
- Keep the sales desk separate from the people who choose news stories.
- Limit how many paid pieces run in a week.
- Keep a log: date, buyer, link target, approver.
Approve, edit or decline
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Article fits your beat and reads well | Approve |
| Good idea, weak copy | Edit or ask for a rewrite |
| Claims you cannot support | Decline and say why |
| Link to a site you would not visit yourself | Decline |
| Topic your readers would find jarring | Decline |
Where the money goes
Placement income is small beside advertising at first, and that is fine. It will not replace a Mediavine or Raptive contract, but it also does not need 50,000 sessions a month to qualify.
A site with a few thousand monthly visits can price a placement in the single or low double digits. Compare against comparable rows, since buyers see your numbers next to your price.
Keep editorial independence on paper. The order walkthrough shows what a buyer sees, and the press release page explains why some of them are wary of free wire links.
Check what Google publishes before you sell. Its spam policies and the Search Central pages on qualifying outbound links are the reference. Do it first.
Review the desk every quarter. Keep what earned its place and drop the rest.
Small outlets also ask whether ad networks mind. Read the terms of any network you use, such as Mediavine or Raptive, before you accept paid links.
Our buyers receive permanent dofollow placements. If your own policy requires sponsored labelling on paid links, decide that before you list, because it changes what a buyer is getting and may change your price or your listing.
Publisher questions
How do I set a fair price?
Start from your organic traffic and rating, then look at similar sites on the shelf. A price that sits far above peers with similar numbers will sit unsold. Revisit it each quarter.
Can I refuse an order?
Yes. Every placement needs your approval, and declining is part of the job. Say no to anything that would embarrass you in front of your own readers.
Will Google punish my site for selling links?
Nobody can promise either way. Google's spam policies cover selling links that pass ranking signals, and its 2024 policy on site reputation abuse targets third-party content on trusted domains. Keep volume modest and content relevant.