You’ve poured time, effort, and maybe a good chunk of your budget into building a killer website. Your content? On point. Your SEO? Fully optimized. Your product or service? Absolutely worth the hype. So why isn’t Google giving you the ranking (or the traffic) you need?
The truth is, without strong backlinks, your site is just another drop in an ocean of competing pages. And getting those backlinks? That’s where things get tricky.
The problem is getting those backlinks is not easy. That’s where tiered link building comes in. Done right, it can help boost your site’s authority and visibility, even in a crowded market. Done wrong? Well… let’s just say Google doesn’t take kindly to shady tactics.
Let’s break down exactly what tiered link building is, how it works, and whether it’s a strategy worth your time.
Key Takeaways
- Tiered link building is an SEO strategy that involves building backlinks in a pyramid fashion to boost authority for the higher tiers.
- Tiered link building is generally thought of as a gray or black hat strategy against Google’s guidelines.
- Done through proper channels and with patience, it can be an effective long-term strategy, though it may not be worth the time and money invested.
What Is Tiered Link Building?
Tiered link building is a short-term SEO strategy that gets multiple sources, directly and indirectly, pointing at your site as an authority in your market.
It can quickly and efficiently grow your following and ranking to get more eyes on your goods. In a nutshell, tiered link building is the process of creating backlinks for your backlinks.
Agata Gruszka-Kierczak, SEO manager at WhitePress says:
“It's not just about getting links to your site; it's about getting links to the pages that link to your site, and sometimes even links to those pages. Think of it like a pyramid. Your website sits at the top. The layer directly beneath (Tier 1) consists of pages linking directly to you. Below that (Tier 2) are pages linking to your Tier 1 pages, and so forth. Those lower layers links, which might not be top-quality on their own, contribute to the overall authority of the pages that ultimately link to you. This indirectly boosts your own site's authority, making those Tier 1 links potentially more powerful.”
In short, you acquire backlinks to point at your website and then often not-so-reputable backlinks to point at your backlinks’ websites. These are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tiers in tiered link building.
But Does Google Think About This?
If you don’t already know that using manipulative tactics to acquire backlinks is against the Google Webmaster Guidelines, you do now. So, yes, Google will not look favorably upon “acquiring” shady backlinks in the 2nd and 3rd tiers to prop up your 1st tier. You could have your backlinks ignored altogether by Google’s algorithm.
You could also have your site penalized. Which means all your hard work goes to waste.
For this reason, tiered link building as an SEO strategy is one that many web owners avoid altogether. Others, when they do use it, use it sparingly, for short-term purposes, to gain more attention on their pages, and then prune the less reputable backlinks as soon as they can.
How Tiered Link Building Works
Here’s how tiered link building works:
Your Website
First, you’ve got your website, the home for your business. You’ve built a solid site with strong content, landing pages, and maybe even some e-commerce. You have links to your social media pages, an email subscriber page, and you’ve submitted your site, as well as an indexing request for your homepage.
You’re good to go.
Except… your pages aren’t ranking.
Why?
Well, you’re a little fish in a big pond. So your content, great as it is, gets lost amid the giants — all your competitors.
Of course, you’re using your keywords properly, so your site can be found organically. But one other great way to get your site to rise to the top is to get reputable sites to link to your site as an authority.
That’s backlinking.
Tier 1
Those reputable sites are your tier-1 backlinks. Typically, you’ll use manual link building to obtain these backlinks.
Example 1: Let’s say you’re a holistic health practitioner, and you’ve got recipes, products, and health tips on your site.
You might appeal to the Journal of Preventive Medicine and Holistic Health to link to your expert article on exercise as a mood booster.
Example 2: If you run a SaaS company, you could connect with Wired Magazine to link to your article on Sales Enablement Tools.
The goal is to make sure your tier-1 backlinks are legit, authoritative, and trusted by lots of readers.
This practice does not have to be a shady one unless you’re paying people for their links or using an automated service to do it for you. You’re unlikely to get reputable backlinks when you do it this way anyway, so don’t bother.
There are great link building services like those provided by Reporter Outreach, that can help connect your site with reputable businesses excited to link to your pages.
Tier 2
Now, here’s where the waters get murky.
Tier 2 of the tiered link building service requires you to get sites to link to your tier-1 backlinks. The idea behind this one is that the page linking directly to your site gets more attention, which raises the likelihood of more eyes getting to your original page.
The more views your tier 1 backlink gets, the more authority it gets, and then the more authority your page gets by association.
The trick is that these tier 2 backlinks don’t have to necessarily be “reputable.” But you do want to have several of them to boost the tier 1 backlink.
Tier 3
Finally, many, but not all, of those who engage in tiered link building will go even lower to a 3rd tier. Tier 3 backlinks to tier 2. In this case, you’ll want to think of a pyramid.
Tier 3 is the bottom of the pyramid and can be made up of random websites you made up yourself:
- Reddit threads
- Social media comments
- Fake blogs
Because you’re not directly promoting yourself, rather, you’re promoting that tier 2 backlink, you’re not technically engaging in the shameless self-promotion so frowned on by most communities.
Instead, you’re promoting your promoters.
And no one has to know that.
They’ll just click your links, view your tier 2 backlinks, and boost that page’s authority.
And the cycle continues.
Benefits of Tiered Link Building
Now, frowned upon, though it may be, there are benefits to link building. Let’s look:
Ranking
That authority will help you climb through the Google pages like other strategies might not. If you’re in a saturated market, without the extra boost, you might worry about never seeing Google’s first page, which, honestly, is where most searches stop.
Saves Money
If you’re in black hat SEO territory, and you’re paying for high-quality tier-1 backlinks, you’re probably spending A LOT of money.
A LOT.
It can cost thousands of dollars to get a guest post on a reputable site that then links back to your own page. It can cost just as much to get a page to offer a backlink to your site.
2nd and 3rd-tier backlinks are cheap in comparison. With fewer tier-1 backlinks, but lots of tier 2 and 3 backlinks, you’re boosting the authority of the tier-1 backlinks, so you can afford to have fewer of them.
Build tier 2 and tier 3 backlinks for cheap and save your marketing budget for creating more great content.
Easier to Mitigate Risk
With tier 2 and tier 3 backlinks, you can always jump in and prune your tiers, cutting out any shady websites or shameless self-promotion. Cutting a tier 2 backlink will automatically remove you from the tier 3 backlinks connected to that 2nd tier. Meanwhile, you’ll still have your reputable tier-1 backlinks, which will remain unaffected.
More Opportunities for Self-Promotion
We talked a little about this above. The lower you get on the tier, the more shameless you can get about promoting your website. You can, realistically, create shadow social media accounts, user names, and fake blogs that all point to how great your tier 1 and tier 2 backlinks are, with no one the wiser.
Well, Google will likely eventually catch on, but you can hope to prune those tiers before that happens.
Organized Chaos
If you’ve got the time, the possibilities are endless. You can create social media accounts, Reddit usernames, fake blogs, and more all to get into comments sections, forums, and pages to provide links to your 2nd and 3rd tiers. It’s chaos. But it’s your chaos.
Risks of Tiered Link Building
Now that we’ve sold you on the benefits let’s get really clear on the risks.
Low ROI
Notice we said “if you’ve got the time” above? Yea. This work is time-consuming. It can become a full-time job to troll comment sections, create fake accounts, and promote, promote, promote. And in the end, you’ll likely get very little return on all that invested time.
Google Might Penalize You
This is probably the biggest risk of tiered link building.
It would truly suck to go through all the trouble of creating your awesome website and growing a healthy business only to get busted and de-indexed, essentially wiping out your site altogether. And the Google gods are getting smarter and smarter. (The blessing and the curse that is AI.) So, getting caught is inevitable. It’s only a matter of time.
It’s Short-Term, At Best
Yes. Time, again. This strategy is short-term. And it may not work at all. So it’s a big risk with little reward. You may even go into this gray hat strategy thinking you’ll get out before you get caught, only to get caught before you get out.
How to Build Your Own Tiered Link Building Strategy
Still, it doesn’t have to be a gray hat strategy. You can build your own white hat tiered link building strategy that can last. The only problem is it will take time, patience, and a reputable link building service like Reporter Outreach to get the job done.
The benefits will be the same, but the risks will be nonexistent.
Make Sure Tier 1 Is Top-Quality
The strategy with tier 1 is the same in white hat tiered link building as it is with its shadier cousin. You want to always make sure your tier 1 links are high-authority and high-credibility sources that are trusted and viewed by a lot of people.
These backlinks are tricky to secure, especially if you’re in a saturated market, so it may be essential to work with a company that offers a top-rated backlink building service.
Tier 2 Supports Tier 1
Now, when it comes to tier 2, if you’re sticking to white hat, you want these sites to be reputable and authoritative, too. Still, they can be slightly less prestigious. You’ll still want to ensure you acquire these backlinks through legitimate measures. You could offer to write a guest post, for example, and then link to your tier 1 backlink.
Typically, with lower-ranking but still reputable sites, it’s easier to score guest posts and generate buzz.
Tier 3 Can Come from Anywhere
Finally, tier 3 backlinks can come from anywhere, but you still want these sites, accounts, and threads to be legit. A link-building service can help get eyes on your tier 2 backlinks in related chat rooms, platforms, and threads. This can help get more traffic to your tier 2 backlinks, which will boost authority.
Again, this process can take years to generate traffic and authority to your website, but it’s legit, and you won’t be penalized for it.
Should You Consider Tiered Link Building?
Is it worth it?
Honestly, probably not. It’s a lot of time, money, and energy to get those tiered backlinks, legit or not. You’re probably better off sticking to your tier 1 links and focusing on other white-hat SEO strategies.
There are a couple of areas when it might make sense to engage in tiered link building:
- In a saturated market: You’re desperate. You know it’s short term. And you’re committed to pulling out before you get caught.
- When it comes up naturally: If it happens organically, like described above, sure, let it happen!
Let Reporter Outreach Help
Ready to get help with your tier 1 links the right way? Every page needs them, and not every web owner or business owner has the time and energy to acquire them on their own. Reporter Outreach has established relationships with legitimate, authoritative publications that are happy to connect with your expertise.
We’re just here to facilitate that relationship.
Book a meeting today, and let us show you what we can do for your backlinks.
FAQs
1. Is tiered link building considered a black hat SEO strategy?
Yes, or at the very least, a greyhat strategy. Generally, tiered link building is prohibited by Google because it requires paying for backlinks and using fake or shady websites to boost authority inauthentically.
2. Can tiered link building be a white hat strategy?
Absolutely! You can build proper tiers that link to each other through legitimate channels. This process does take time and a healthy investment, however.
3. Is it worth it to invest in either black hat or white hat tiered link building?
White hat link building always has the best ROI. You can absolutely reach out, form relationships with partners in your industry, and slowly gain high quality backlinks or use Reporter Outreach to help get whitehat backlinks without the headache.
