Reviewing each prospective site for outreach is the biggest time sink in link building. Here’s the exact workflow we use to screen guest post sites in a batch, with a real 50-site example.
Step 1: Run the Bulk Check
Instead of checking domains one at a time, paste your full list into a bulk DA/PA checker.
Pull five metrics for every URL in a single run: DA, PA, SS, TB, and QB.
On a real batch of 50 screen guest post sites, we ran through this exact process.
DA ranged from 1 to 95 and Spam Score ranged from -1 (unrated) to 72.
That spread is normal; consequently, the bulk check helps sort the batch quickly.
Step 2: Sort by Spam Score First, Not DA
This step is often skipped. Most buyers open the results and sort by DA, high to low. Do the opposite first: sort by Spam Score and eliminate anything above 10β15 immediately, regardless of the DA. In our real batch, one site sat at DA 95 with a Spam Score of 32, a metric that looks great but signals real risk underneath. Another sat at DA 54 with a Spam Score of 17. Both would have sailed through a DAβonly filter. Neither should.
Step 3: Cross-Check Backlink Ratios
Once the high-spam sites are out, look at Total back-links (TB) versus Quality back-links (QB) for what’s left. A site with 100,000 total backlinks but only 500 quality ones is leaning heavily on low-value links to inflate its profile. A tighter ratio between TB and QB is a better trust signal than either number alone.
Step 4: Group What’s Left Into Three Tiers
With spam and ratio checks done, sort the remaining sites into three simple buckets:
Tier 1: DA 60+, Spam Score under 5 β safe for your highest-priority placements
Tier 2: DA 40β60, Spam Score under 10 β solid for volume placements
Tier 3: DA under 40 β usable only for low-priority or supporting links, never your primary anchor placements
In the batch we checked, roughly a third of sites qualified for Tier 1 or 2 after filtering β the rest were either too spammy, too low-authority, or simply had no active placement available at the time of checking.
Step 5: Re-Check Before You Actually Buy
Metrics move. A site checked a month ago may have a different Spam Score, different traffic, or no longer be accepting placements at all. Bulk-check your shortlist again right before ordering β not when you first built the list β since availability and metrics both drift over time.
The Time Savings
Checking 50 sites manually β one tab per metric, per site β realistically takes 3β4 hours. Running the same batch through a bulk checker and applying this filter sequence takes under 10 minutes, with a more consistent (and safer) result, since the spam-score-first approach catches risky sites a DA-only scan would miss.
Workflow based on a real 50-site bulk DA/PA/Spam Score check run on our own guest post inventory.