Backlink Tier - The Hierarchy of Backlinks That Scale Your SEO Campaign
Backlink tier refers to the hierarchy of links that you design to scale up your SEO campaign. Each level gives you an extra layer of protection from Google's penalties.
To get it right it will take an enormous amount of effort and time. This is because Google takes weeks to find new backlinks and evaluate their quality on a per-link basis.

First-Tier Links
The first link that lead to your piece of content should be high-quality dofollow backlinks that are from reliable websites. These links are referred as Tier 1 backlinks, and they form the basis of your link-building strategy. They give your site enough domain authority for it to rank highly on the search engine result pages. If, for instance your blog article was published on HubSpot and included a tier-one link to SearchEngineLand's compilation of Link Building Statistics then SearchEngineLand’s ranking on the web will benefit from the link equity that HubSpot handed over.
The second level can be more diverse and could include low-quality backlinks, such as spammy forum posts or low-value bookmarking sites and directories. The primary objective of Tier 2 is to create content of high-quality that links back to your first-tier backlinks. This is because good content will improve the content in the context in which it is placed and will not appear as if it was added for SEO purposes.
To create a successful tiered link building strategy, you will need to invest in creating quality content and invest in tools like RankerX or GSA. However the time and effort spent manually running an effort to build a tiered link could be worth it in terms of the improved rankings that result from having a properly structured backlink pyramid.
Second-Tier Links
Tiered link building is designed to funnel users through external pages before bringing them to your site. To accomplish what is tier 2 backlinks to select second-tier backlink sources that are relevant to your industry and website. Blog posts from guest bloggers are more effective in this regard than profile pages because they provide valuable content that users will want to consume.
In general, you should avoid using tier 2 links in forums or other sites that aren't of high-quality. Instead, use high-quality pages that provide industry news or guest posts. These links will be more natural and will have a greater impact on your search engine ranking. They're also more likely to be identified as having been able to pass link equity by Google, which can increase the value of their ranking in SERPs.
If you're building tier two links with the intent of increasing your SEO rankings, you need to be aware that it's difficult to obtain these kinds of quality backlinks manually. It can take months to pitch guest blog posts to first-tier publishers and even longer to wait for them to be published. It can also take weeks to see the results when it comes time to create new traffic and converts on the internet.
Many SEOs utilize automated tools to create second-tier backlinks. This approach could be in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and could result in being penalized.
Third-tier Links
This level contains a huge number of links, some of which are borderline spammy. They are shared on social media platforms, as well as on user-generated content sites such as Quora. They help with the indexing of tier two links but don't give any link equity to the promoted resource. These are usually nofollow links. In this phase, marketers focus more on quantity than quality. They use tools to post an enormous number of hyperlinks on forums, in comment sections of blog posts and articles directories, as well as other similar locations. This is where tiered link building is a grey area and violates Google's webmaster guidelines.
Tiered link-building campaigns require an enormous amount of time and effort to succeed. Google may take months or even days to index a backlink. It could take weeks or even months to see the SEO effects. Therefore, marketers must be patient and use a well-thought-out content strategy.
In addition marketers should avoid using excessive automation tools for this tier of linking. These tools can break the rules of search engine optimization and lead to penalties. It is best to manually select links and post them on relevant donor websites instead of using automated tools such as GSA or RankerX. This will stop the search engine from penalizing the promotion using links that are not of high quality.
Fourth-Tier Links
Tiered link building remains a popular method to boost website rankings. However, since Google has made major efforts to stop "black white hat" SEO practices, tiered linking methods have seen a decline.
They are regarded as gray-hat SEO techniques and may be penalized for their unnatural use. Tiered links are backlinks built on different tiers of the link pyramid. The primary function of these backlinks is to boost the ranking of a resource promoted in search engine results. The page promoted will be more prominent than its competitors and will also receive more organic traffic.
This category has a lower number of backlinks, and are typically nofollow. This category may also contain low-quality directories, article networks, and social media profiles. These links may be constructed naturally or using strategic automation tools. However they must be diverse in terms of domains, niches and importance.
These backlinks, in addition to being poor-quality and non-follow may also be a source of trouble in the event that they aren't sufficiently diverse. This is due to the fact that Google has a highly sophisticated team of hounds who are always looking for patterns in backlink profiles as well as techniques. If they do find them, not only could the link-building team get penalized, however, so too can its clients.