The short version: In September 2026 I checked every domain on my 5,000 websites list live, all 3,204 unique domains across 4,894 listings. 568 were dead or parked, which is 17.7%. The 2,636 that are still standing have real weight behind them: the median site has 1,004 referring domains and a domain authority of 43, and 37% sit at DA 50 or higher. The searchable table on my site now shows only the ones that answer.
Why I checked all 5,000
My list of websites that accept guest posts has been one of the most useful things I have ever put on my site. Link builders use it, agencies use it, and I get emails every week from people who found a placement through it. But any list of websites is a snapshot, not a fact. Sites get sold, domains get let go, hosting bills go unpaid, and a listing that was correct when I added it can be pointing at nothing a year later.
Rather than leave that to chance, I decided to check the whole thing. Every single domain, live, plus proper authority data for every one that answered. This is not a guess or a sample projected across the list. It is a full census of 3,204 domains.
What we found
Here are the headline numbers from the check.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total listings checked | 4,894 |
| Unique domains | 3,204 |
| Dead or parked | 568 (17.7%) |
| Live domains now on the searchable table | 2,636 |
| Median referring domains | 1,004 |
| Sites with 1,000+ referring domains | 50.2% |
| Median listed domain authority | 43 |
| Sites at DA 50+ | 37% |
Some categories held up far better than others. Here is the dead rate by category, worst first.
| Category | Sites checked | Dead rate |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive | 68 | 29.4% |
| Pets & Animals | 62 | 29.0% |
| Health and Fitness | 179 | 25.7% |
| Fashion and Wedding | 145 | 24.8% |
| Family and Parenting | 107 | 23.4% |
| Lifestyle | 147 | 23.1% |
| Career | 63 | 22.2% |
| Religion | 65 | 20.0% |
Automotive and pet sites die the fastest, almost 3 in 10. That fits what I would expect from smaller, hobby-run niche blogs with a single owner and no succession plan. When that person moves on, the site goes with them.
How authority is spread
Referring domains, not raw link count, is the closest thing to an honest read on a site's standing, because it counts who is willing to point at that domain at all rather than how many links one linked page happens to carry.
- Median referring domains across all 3,204 domains: 1,004.
- Half the list has 1,000 or more referring domains.
- 13.9% have 10,000 or more, which is serious, long-established authority.
- Only 4% sit under 100 referring domains, so thin, brand-new sites are rare on this list.
Domain authority tells a similar story from a different angle: the median listed DA is 43, and 37% of domains are DA 50 or above. Under 0.3% sit below DA 20. This is not a list padded out with low-value directories. It is mostly sites that have been earning links for years.
Spam scores and what they mean
I pulled a spam score on a random sample of 200 sites from the live list, since running it across all 2,636 was not needed to get a reliable read. The median spam score was 23, and 36% of the sample scored 30 or higher.
A spam score is not a verdict. It flags patterns that show up more often on sites with a history of manipulation: things like a high ratio of outbound to inbound links, a thin footprint, or a domain that has changed hands and topic several times. A site scoring 30 might be completely fine to pitch, and a site scoring 5 might still turn out to be a poor fit once you look at its actual content. What the number means in practice is simple: check before you pitch, do not skip that step, and do not treat a raised score as an automatic no. It is a prompt to look closer, not a reason to avoid the site.
Which categories are strongest
The list spans 37 categories. Business is the biggest by a distance with 380 sites, followed by Marketing at 293, then Technology at 181, Health and Fitness at 179, Lifestyle at 147, Fashion and Wedding at 145, Travel at 142, Web Design & Web Development at 127, Books & Writing at 119, Food at 117, Finance at 113, and Blogging at 111.
If you are pitching in Business, Marketing or Technology, you have both volume and, on average, older and better-linked sites to work with, since those niches tend to attract sites that stick around and keep publishing rather than folding after a year.
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How to use the list without wasting pitches
- Start with the live, searchable version of the 5,000 websites that accept guest posts page. It only shows the 2,636 that answered in the September 2026 check, so you skip the 568 dead ones before you even open your email.
- Filter by your category first, then sort by authority. A site with 10,000+ referring domains and a good spam score is worth more of your time than ten thin ones.
- Before you pitch, run the specific domain through a free backlink checker to see its current referring domains and link profile for yourself. Authority can move in either direction between checks, and a fresh look costs you nothing.
- Read three or four recent posts on the site before pitching. A live domain is not the same as an active editor who wants your topic.
- Pitch a specific angle, not a generic offer. Sites that get hundreds of guest post emails a week bin the vague ones first.
- Keep a simple log of who replied, who published, and how long it took. That data is worth more than any authority score, because it tells you where your actual return sits.
Method
Every domain on the list, all 3,204 unique domains behind the 4,894 listings, got a live HTTP check in September 2026 to confirm whether the site resolves and responds, or is dead, parked, or squatted. For every domain that responded, I pulled bulk rank and referring domain counts through DataForSEO to get authority and link data across the full set, not a sample. Spam score is the one metric I did not run across all 2,636 live sites; instead I took a random sample of 200 live domains and pulled spam score on that sample, which is enough to give a reliable median and distribution without the extra processing of scoring every single site. There are no vendor links anywhere in this piece; tools are named, not linked.
Related: websites that accept guest posts.
If you like data, my guest posting statistics study breaks down 3,225 websites by niche and Domain Authority.
Frequently asked questions
How many of the 5,000 guest post websites are still live?
2,636 out of 3,204 unique domains checked, which is 82.3%. The other 568, or 17.7%, were dead or parked when I ran the live check in September 2026. The searchable table on my site now only shows the 2,636 that are live, so you are not wasting time on dead links.
What is a good referring domain count for a guest post site?
On this list, the median is 1,004 referring domains, and half the list sits at or above that. Anything over 1,000 puts a site in the stronger half of what is available. Sites with 10,000 or more, which is 13.9% of the list, are the strongest tier and worth prioritising if your niche fits.
Does a high spam score mean I should avoid a site?
No. A spam score is a flag to look closer, not a reason to walk away. On my 200-site sample the median score was 23 and 36% scored 30 or higher, and plenty of those are perfectly good, established sites. Check the site's actual content and recent posts before you decide, rather than judging on the number alone.
Why do guest post lists go out of date so quickly?
Small, independently run sites change hands, lose funding, or simply stop being maintained. On this list, niches with more hobby-run, single-owner blogs, like Automotive at 29.4% dead and Pets & Animals at 29.0% dead, decayed the fastest. A list checked once and never touched again will always drift towards being wrong.
Which guest post categories have the most sites to choose from?
Business leads with 380 sites, then Marketing with 293, Technology with 181, Health and Fitness with 179, and Lifestyle with 147. The full list spans 37 categories, so there is depth well beyond the biggest few, but those five give you the most volume to work through first.
