# Paid Backlinks

When you need guaranteed placement, Featured finds sites that accept paid placements, sponsored articles, and link insertions on your topic — with domain metrics and typical pricing up front — so you buy visibility transparently and skip the shady marketplaces.

[Find paid placements](https://featured.com/?prompt=I%27d%20like%20to%20pay%20for%20placements%20in%20articles%20about%20%5Byour%20topic%5D)

## How PR pros use Paid Backlinks

Fifteen ways to buy placement with your eyes open. Tap a prompt to open it in Featured.

### Find paid placements

> I'd like to pay for placements in articles about project management software. Show sites with domain ratings and typical pricing.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=I%27d%20like%20to%20pay%20for%20placements%20in%20articles%20about%20project%20management%20software.%20Show%20sites%20with%20domain%20ratings%20and%20typical%20pricing.)

### Plan a quarter's spend

> I have $2,000 for paid placements this quarter. Build a plan for a B2B payroll brand — sites, expected pricing, and priorities.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=I%20have%20%242%2C000%20for%20paid%20placements%20this%20quarter.%20Build%20a%20plan%20for%20a%20B2B%20payroll%20brand%20%E2%80%94%20sites%2C%20expected%20pricing%2C%20and%20priorities.)

### Find sponsored post slots

> Find marketing and SEO blogs that accept sponsored posts, with audience size and what a typical placement costs.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20marketing%20and%20SEO%20blogs%20that%20accept%20sponsored%20posts%2C%20with%20audience%20size%20and%20what%20a%20typical%20placement%20costs.)

### Find link insertions

> Find existing articles about home fitness equipment where the site accepts paid link insertions.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20existing%20articles%20about%20home%20fitness%20equipment%20where%20the%20site%20accepts%20paid%20link%20insertions.)

### Vet before you pay

> Before I pay for a placement on this site, check whether its traffic and topical focus look real or inflated.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Before%20I%20pay%20for%20a%20placement%20on%20this%20site%2C%20check%20whether%20its%20traffic%20and%20topical%20focus%20look%20real%20or%20inflated.)

### Buy into gift guides

> Find sites covering sustainable fashion that accept paid product placements or sponsored gift guides.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20sites%20covering%20sustainable%20fashion%20that%20accept%20paid%20product%20placements%20or%20sponsored%20gift%20guides.)

### Get into software roundups

> Find “best software” roundup articles in the CRM category that accept paid inclusion, and note how each labels it.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20%E2%80%9Cbest%20software%E2%80%9D%20roundup%20articles%20in%20the%20CRM%20category%20that%20accept%20paid%20inclusion%2C%20and%20note%20how%20each%20labels%20it.)

### Sponsor local coverage

> Find city and regional publications around Denver that accept sponsored content from home services companies.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20city%20and%20regional%20publications%20around%20Denver%20that%20accept%20sponsored%20content%20from%20home%20services%20companies.)

### Write the sponsored article

> Draft an 800-word sponsored article about our travel insurance product that reads like service journalism, not an ad.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Draft%20an%20800-word%20sponsored%20article%20about%20our%20travel%20insurance%20product%20that%20reads%20like%20service%20journalism%2C%20not%20an%20ad.)

### Pick targets and anchors

> Which pages on my site should paid placements point to, and what anchor text mix keeps the profile natural?

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Which%20pages%20on%20my%20site%20should%20paid%20placements%20point%20to%2C%20and%20what%20anchor%20text%20mix%20keeps%20the%20profile%20natural%3F)

### Stay compliant in finance

> Find finance sites that accept sponsored content and understand compliance disclosure for a lending product.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Find%20finance%20sites%20that%20accept%20sponsored%20content%20and%20understand%20compliance%20disclosure%20for%20a%20lending%20product.)

### Compare against earned

> For a new cannabis brand, compare what $1,500 in paid placements gets me versus what earned coverage could achieve this quarter.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=For%20a%20new%20cannabis%20brand%2C%20compare%20what%20%241%2C500%20in%20paid%20placements%20gets%20me%20versus%20what%20earned%20coverage%20could%20achieve%20this%20quarter.)

### Source for a client roster

> For my client roster — legal, HVAC, and edtech — find paid placement options per client with typical pricing.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=For%20my%20client%20roster%20%E2%80%94%20legal%2C%20HVAC%2C%20and%20edtech%20%E2%80%94%20find%20paid%20placement%20options%20per%20client%20with%20typical%20pricing.)

### Watch for new inventory

> Set up a workflow that surfaces new paid placement opportunities in the pet care space, with domain metrics, monthly.

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=Set%20up%20a%20workflow%20that%20surfaces%20new%20paid%20placement%20opportunities%20in%20the%20pet%20care%20space%2C%20with%20domain%20metrics%2C%20monthly.)

### Get disclosure right

> What disclosure rules apply to paid placements and sponsored posts, and how do reputable sites label them?

[Open in Featured](https://featured.com/?prompt=What%20disclosure%20rules%20apply%20to%20paid%20placements%20and%20sponsored%20posts%2C%20and%20how%20do%20reputable%20sites%20label%20them%3F)

## How it works

Paid placement, minus the mystery.

1. **Say what you need placed** — Your topic, your target pages, your budget. “Paid placements in articles about fleet software, up to $400 each” is a complete brief.
2. **Featured shows the market** — Sites that accept paid placements on your topic, with domain metrics and typical pricing side by side — so you compare real options instead of trusting a broker's spreadsheet.
3. **Place, disclose, measure** — Featured helps draft content worth reading, gets the disclosure right, and tracks the placement's ripple — traffic, mentions, visibility — after it goes live.

## What makes paid placements on Featured different

The paid links market runs on opacity. Featured's edge is showing you the market.

- **Up front — Metrics and pricing first.** Domain metrics and typical pricing appear before you commit — the two numbers most marketplaces make you email a broker to learn.
- **Vetted — Real sites, not link farms.** Featured helps you check whether a site's traffic and topical focus are genuine — the difference between a placement and a liability.
- **Disclosed — Compliant by default.** Reputable paid placement is labeled. Featured bakes disclosure norms into drafts and flags sites that play games with them.
- **Both engines — Paid and earned, one platform.** Buy placement where it makes sense; earn coverage where it compounds. Featured runs both — and tells you honestly which fits the job.

## Prefer to earn it?

The strongest link profile mixes both. Journalist requests, bylines, and podcasts earn the coverage money can't buy — often from the same publications.

- [Try Journalist Requests](https://featured.com/product/features/journalist-requests)
- [See Bylined Articles](https://featured.com/product/features/bylined-articles)

## Pricing

Every plan includes placement discovery. Plans differ only in usage.

- **Free** — $0. Free forever.
- **Lite** — $39. Per month.
- **Pro** — $79. Per month, billed annually at $948.
- **Pro+** — $239. Per month, billed annually at $2,868.
- **Team Lite** — $159. Per month, billed annually at $1,908.
- **Team Pro** — $399. Per month, billed annually at $4,788.
- **Team Pro+** — $1,199. Per month, billed annually at $14,388.

## Paid backlinks — frequently asked questions

**What are paid backlinks?**

Paid backlinks are links to your site placed in another site's content in exchange for payment — via sponsored articles, paid inclusion in roundups, or link insertions into existing posts. They're the guaranteed-placement end of the visibility spectrum: you're buying certainty and speed, where earned coverage buys credibility and compounding.

**Is buying backlinks safe?**

Be clear-eyed: search engines' guidelines treat links bought to manipulate rankings as link spam, and reputable sites label paid placements and often mark the links accordingly. The durable case for paid placement is visibility — being present in articles your buyers read, with referral traffic to match. Featured favors real, disclosed placements on genuine sites and helps you avoid the link-farm end of the market.

**How much do paid placements cost?**

It ranges widely with the site's authority, audience, and format — a niche blog insertion and a major trade publication's sponsored article are different markets. Featured shows typical pricing per site as you browse, so you calibrate your budget against real inventory instead of a broker's markup.

**What's the difference between a sponsored article, a link insertion, and a niche edit?**

A sponsored article is a new piece published about or around your brand. A link insertion — often called a niche edit — adds your link to an existing article that already ranks or gets read. Sponsored articles give you narrative control; insertions give you speed and context. Featured surfaces both, labeled as what they are.

**Paid or earned — which should I invest in?**

Different jobs. Paid guarantees presence on a schedule — useful for launches, category pages, and filling gaps. Earned coverage — journalist requests, bylines, podcasts — costs effort instead of cash and keeps compounding, because credible third-party coverage is what readers and AI assistants trust most. Strong programs run both; Featured is built to.

**How does Featured vet placement sites?**

By looking at what a marketplace listing hides: whether the site's traffic and topical focus are consistent with reality, whether its content is written for readers, and how it handles disclosure. Ask Featured to vet any site before you spend — a two-minute check that regularly saves a wasted budget.

**Do paid placements need to be disclosed?**

Yes. Advertising rules — FTC guidance in the US — require that material connections be disclosed, and reputable publishers label sponsored content clearly. Good disclosure doesn't kill performance; placements that read like honest service journalism work with the label on. Featured drafts to that standard by default.

**Do paid placements help AI visibility?**

Real placements on genuinely read sites can — AI assistants synthesize from content across the web, and a well-written sponsored piece that gets read and referenced adds to your presence. Junk links on link farms don't; engines and AI systems alike discount them. Spend where a human would actually read the article.

**How much does this feature cost?**

Finding and vetting placement opportunities is included in every Featured plan — free to start, $39/month (Lite) or $79/month (Pro, billed annually). What you pay per placement goes to the publisher and is shown as typical pricing before you commit.

## Explore

- Feature: [Bylined Articles](https://featured.com/product/features/bylined-articles)
- Feature: [Journalist Requests](https://featured.com/product/features/journalist-requests)
- Feature: [Press Releases](https://featured.com/product/features/press-releases)
- Workflow: [All-in-One](https://featured.com/product/workflows/all-in-one)
- Workflow: [Media Mentions](https://featured.com/product/workflows/media-mentions)
- Industries: [PR for your industry](https://featured.com/industries)