If you’ve bought guest posts for any length of time you’ve seen both ends of a link: do-follow and no-follow. They’re not the same thing, and on an Asian publisher the difference is worth the price you’re being asked to pay.

The difference

A do-follow link passes authority. It’s the link that tells search engines “this page is worth vouching for” — the one that moves rankings. It’s what you’re paying for when you buy a guest post.

A no-follow link carries an attribute (rel="nofollow") that tells search engines not to count it as an endorsement. It can still send humans your way, and it can help with brand mentions — but it does not build authority.

Why it matters in Asia

The Asian guest-post market has a long tail of low-cost placements where the “link” is quietly no-follow. Cheap publishers sometimes place a no-follow link and call it a placement, or place a do-follow link that gets switched to no-follow after a few months. Both eat your budget for nothing.

The reliable publishers — the ones with real editorial teams and archives — place genuinely do-follow links and put it in writing. When you verify, don’t just look at the live page; check the underlying HTML for the rel attribute and confirm it stays do-follow.

The nuance

No-follow isn’t universally bad. A healthy backlink profile is a mix, and no-follow from an authoritative site can still support brand and traffic. But if you’re paying guest-post rates, you should be getting do-follow — that’s the product.

What to confirm before paying

  1. Do-follow in writing. “The link is do-follow” as a stated term, not a vague promise.
  2. Max 3 links, 1 do-follow per article. This is the standard editorial rule — it keeps the article natural and the link valuable.
  3. Permanent. The link stays and stays do-follow, not removed after a quarter.
  4. Indexed. Submitted to Google within 1 business day, so the authority actually registers.

PressInAsia publishes permanent do-follow placements on six established bilingual publishers, indexed within 1 business day. Request our rate sheet and see live samples.