Imagine that your link building strategy is linear and only includes publications from well-known sites. Sounds charming, right?
But we told you that you can expand your link building strategy through different tiers across multiple platforms while staying true to your niche and keyword that you want to rank for.
Quick Guide to Tiered Link Building
In this article, we’ll explore the fundamentals of tiered link building and offer a step-by-step guide to executing it properly for lasting SEO results.
What Is Tiered Link Building?
Tiered link building is an SEO strategy that focuses on building multiple “tiers” or levels of backlinks to a website. At its core, the technique involves creating a layered structure of backlinks where each layer, or tier, serves to strengthen the authority of the one above it.
- Tier 1 links: These are the high-quality, authoritative links that point directly to your website. These can come from trusted blogs, news websites, industry publications, or other reputable sources.
- Tier 2 links: These are backlinks that point to your Tier 1 links. The purpose of Tier 2 links is to boost the authority of your Tier 1 links, indirectly benefiting your website.
- Tier 3 links and beyond: The process continues with more layers of links, where each subsequent tier strengthens the authority of the one before it.
By implementing this multi-layered structure, you amplify the power of your top-tier backlinks, effectively improving your website’s domain authority and search engine visibility.
Why Is Tiered Link Building Effective?
The tiered approach works well because it mimics natural link growth patterns while focusing on improving link juice (the SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks).
Google’s algorithm considers the authority and quality of the links pointing to your website. When your Tier 1 links are strengthened by additional backlinks, they transfer more authority to your site.
Additionally, tiered link building can help dilute the risk of penalties. Since not all links point directly to your site, lower-quality links on lower tiers have less chance of triggering Google’s penalties.
The Benefits of Tiered Link Building
- Increased Authority: By bolstering the strength of Tier 1 backlinks with secondary and tertiary links, your website earns more SEO “trust.”
- Scalability: You can continue building layers of backlinks over time to increase your SEO power.
- Risk Mitigation: As mentioned earlier, because only the first tier of links connects to your website, you can minimize the risk of being penalized for low-quality backlinks.
- Cost-Effective: Building Tier 2 and Tier 3 links can often be cheaper and less resource-intensive than acquiring high-authority Tier 1 links directly.
Example of Tiered Link Building
Let’s say you run a digital marketing agency and you publish an insightful article on your blog about SEO trends for 2024. You want to improve the ranking of this blog post through tiered link building. Here’s how it might look:
- Tier 1 (Direct links to your blog post): You begin by securing high-quality backlinks directly to your blog post. You might:
- Contribute a guest post on a reputable digital marketing website that links to your SEO trends article.
- Earn a backlink from a news website that cites your article in a report on the future of SEO.
- Get your article featured on industry roundups or in an expert-curated resource list.
- Tier 2 (Backlinks pointing to your Tier 1 content): To further strengthen your Tier 1 backlinks, you then create links that point to the guest posts, news articles, or roundups. You could:
- Submit guest posts or blog comments on other relevant websites, linking back to your Tier 1 guest post.
- Use social media platforms to promote your Tier 1 content, encouraging others to link to it.
- Post articles on free platforms (like Medium) that link back to your guest post or news mention.
- Tier 3 (Backlinks pointing to Tier 2): Finally, you build links to your Tier 2 content to push more authority through the link chain. You could:
- Use automated tools to submit Tier 2 articles to social bookmarking sites.
- Add the content to niche directories or article submission platforms.
- Post comments on blogs or forums that link to the content you created in Tier 2.
In this example, your original blog post benefits from increasing link juice, even though most lower-tier links do not directly point to it. This structured and layered approach helps your content rank higher over time, giving it more authority and visibility in search engines.
How to Do Tiered Link Building Successfully
Implementing a successful tiered link building strategy requires a careful, structured approach. Here’s how to get started:
1. Build High-Quality Tier 1 Links
The foundation of any successful tiered link building campaign is solid Tier 1 links. These need to be the highest quality backlinks you can acquire, as they directly impact your website’s authority. Focus on:
- Guest posting: Contribute valuable content to authoritative blogs and industry websites.
- Resource pages: Get your website linked in resource guides and directories within your niche.
- Editorial links: Build relationships with journalists or influencers who can link to your website within high-quality content.
- Business listings: Ensure your business is featured in well-regarded business directories.
Pro tip: Your Tier 1 links should be as natural and contextually relevant as possible. Avoid using shady link-building tactics, as these links directly impact your website.
2. Build Supporting Tier 2 Links
Once you have established strong Tier 1 links, the next step is to build Tier 2 links to boost the authority of your Tier 1 links. These can be lower-quality than Tier 1 but should still be trustworthy and relevant.
Common Tier 2 link-building methods include:
- Blog comments: Post insightful comments with backlinks on relevant blogs.
- Forum postings: Engage in niche-specific forums and include backlinks to your Tier 1 content.
- Social media shares: Use social media platforms to promote your Tier 1 content and encourage organic backlinks.
- Web 2.0 submissions: Create blog posts on free Web 2.0 platforms and include backlinks to your Tier 1 articles.
Pro tip: Focus on natural link-building practices at this stage, ensuring that the content and context of these links make sense. Avoid spammy tactics.
3. Create Tier 3 (and Beyond) Links
Tier 3 links (and any additional tiers) are primarily used to power up your Tier 2 links. At this level, the quality can be lower, as these links don’t connect directly to your website but instead serve to increase the strength of Tier 2.
Popular Tier 3 tactics include:
- Directory submissions: Submit your Tier 2 content to various directories.
- Article submissions: Post articles to free content sites, linking to your Tier 2 articles.
- Bookmarking sites: Use social bookmarking websites to add backlinks to your Tier 2 content.
Pro tip: While lower quality than the higher tiers, Tier 3 links should still come from various sources to maintain diversity in your backlink profile.
4. Use Automation and Tools (Carefully)
Building multiple tiers of backlinks manually can be time-consuming. Fortunately, some tools can help you streamline the process. Tools like GSA Search Engine Ranker, RankerX, or Money Robot can automate the creation of lower-tier backlinks, especially at the Tier 2 or Tier 3 level.
However, it’s crucial to use these tools carefully. Over-reliance on automation can result in spammy backlinks, which could harm the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
5. Monitor Your Backlink Profile
Tiered link building doesn’t stop at creating links. Monitoring and maintaining your backlinks is essential for long-term success. We use tools like Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to track the quality and impact of your backlinks across all tiers.
6. Keep Your Strategy Ethical
While tiered link building can be a powerful strategy, always keep SEO hygiene in mind. Avoid spammy tactics or building links from irrelevant or low-quality websites, as these can result in penalties that hurt your rankings.
Conclusion
Tiered link building is a powerful strategy for boosting your website’s authority, improving search rankings, and driving more organic traffic. By carefully building multiple layers of backlinks and ensuring each tier supports the one above it, you can effectively scale your SEO efforts and enhance your online presence.
To do this successfully, focus on high-quality Tier 1 backlinks, support them with diverse Tier 2 links, and use additional layers to supercharge their authority. When done correctly, it can work wonders at escalating your organic traffic.
If you need help with link building, AgilePR is here to support you!
Feel free to reach out any time!
