Tier 2 link building is a crucial yet often overlooked tactic in the realm of SEO.
While Tier 1 links are the heavy hitters directly boosting your website’s authority,
Tier 2 links play an essential supportive role by amplifying the power of those primary links.
In this article, we’ll discuss what Tier 2 link building is, exploring effective strategies and best practices to elevate your SEO game.
Key Takeaways
- Tier 2 link building is the process of building links to your tier 1 links to amplify their impact and improve your main website’s ranking
- A tiered link building strategy helps distribute link equity across multiple tiers instead of relying only on direct backlinks
- Tier 1 links are your primary backlinks pointing to your main website, while tier 2 links support and strengthen those links
- Tier 2 backlinks improve your overall backlink profile and help boost search engine rankings more efficiently
- The best tiered link building strategies focus on building quality links across multiple tiers, not just increasing volume
Link building cheat sheet
What is Tier 2 Link Building
Tier 2 link building is an SEO technique that involves creating backlinks to your existing Tier 1 links to enhance their authority and, in turn, boost your primary website’s search engine ranking.
Let’s say you have a high-authority guest post published on a reputable blog, which includes a backlink to your main website (this is your Tier 1 link).
You write another article on a different, less authoritative blog within your niche. In this article, you include a link to your original guest post (the Tier 1 link).
By doing so, you are directing additional traffic and link equity to your guest post, thereby bolstering its authority and indirectly boosting your main website’s SEO.
A tiered link building strategy helps maximize the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
In simpler terms, if a Tier 1 link is a guest post linking to your main site, a second tier link could be another article or social media post linking to that guest post on a relevant anchor text.
By doing this, you don’t just rely on a single layer of backlinks but make sure every single drop of link juice is redirected back to your site.
Tier 2 Link Building Strategies
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is still one of the most reliable ways to build tier 1 links.
But the challenge isn’t the strategy — it’s finding the right websites consistently.
Instead of relying on tools, you can use Google advanced search operators to uncover guest posting opportunities in your niche.
For example:
"write for us" + [your keyword]"guest post" + [your niche]"submit an article" + [topic]intitle:"write for us" + [industry]
These queries surface websites actively looking for contributors, which makes outreach much easier.
Once you land a placement, that becomes your tier 1 link — a direct backlink pointing to your main website.
From there, you can build tier 2 links to that page, strengthening the link equity flowing back to your site.
That’s where most link building strategies fall apart.
Getting a single tier 1 backlink isn’t enough. Without second tier links, you’re leaving a lot of ranking potential on the table.
This is where a done-for-you link building approach makes a difference.
Instead of manually finding sites, pitching editors, and managing outreach, you can work with a team that handles:
- securing guest posts on relevant websites
- placing your links with the right anchor text
- building tiered backlinks that support your tier 1 links
- scaling link building efforts across multiple tiers
All you have to do is place an order with your target URLs + any additional guidelines and requirements.
This ensures you’re not just building links — you’re building a structured tiered link building system that improves ranking and drives consistent results.
Other Blogs in Your Niche
You don’t always need formal guest posting opportunities to build tier 2 links.
A lot of second tier links come from smaller blogs in your niche that are open to collaboration, mentions, or content contributions.
Again, Google search operators are your best friend here.
Try queries like:
[keyword] + "blog"[topic] + "resources""best blogs about" + [niche]"top [industry] blogs"- inurl:blog + [keyword]
This helps you find relevant websites where you can:
- reference your existing tier 1 links
- build second tier backlinks
- strengthen your existing backlinks
The goal here isn’t just to get another link.
It’s to support your tier 1 source by sending additional link equity and traffic to it.
Over time, this improves the authority of your primary backlinks and strengthens your entire backlink profile.
Resource Pages
Resource pages are an often untapped goldmine for Tier 2 link building.
These pages are curated lists of valuable resources, tools, or high quality links centered around a particular theme or topic within your industry.
Using them to your advantage can significantly boost your primary backlinks.
You can find them using search operators like:
[keyword] + "resources"[topic] + "useful links"[industry] + "helpful resources"intitle:"resources" + [keyword]
These pages often link out to multiple sources, which makes them ideal for second tier link building.
Instead of linking directly to your main website, you can point them to your tier 1 links.
This strengthens your existing link structure and improves how link equity flows through your site.
It’s a simple but effective way to support your tiered link building strategy without relying on direct backlinks alone.
Social Media & Forums
While some link builders may view social media links as ineffective for SEO, marketers and business owners often have a different perspective.
The debate surrounding social link building largely centers on the fact that social media links are usually marked as “nofollow” or “ugc” (user-generated content), meaning they don’t pass traditional link juice. However, this doesn’t mean they are without value
Here’s how you can strategically build second tier links using social media:
- A site links to your business.
- Share a post with a link to the partner site that linked to you.
This method directly supports your partner and indirectly boosts your own site.
For example, if a website mentions you, post a thank-you note on LinkedIn or Twitter, linking back to their site.
This not only strengthens your professional network but can also drive more traffic and improve your partner’s site metrics, indirectly benefiting your own SEO.
Link building cheat sheet
Now Over to You
Tier 2 link building isn’t about building more links.
It’s about building smarter links.
Most businesses focus only on tier 1 links — direct backlinks to their main website. But without tier 2 backlinks supporting those links, you’re not getting the full value from your link building efforts.
That’s why tiered link building works.
It distributes link equity across multiple tiers, strengthens your backlink profile, and improves search engine rankings more efficiently.
But building this system manually takes time.
You need to:
- find opportunities
- manage outreach
- secure placements
- and continuously build second tier links
Instead of handling everything yourself, you can work with a team that builds high quality links, supports your tier 1 links with tier 2 backlinks, and executes a complete link building strategy for you.
So instead of chasing individual backlinks, you’re building a system that compounds over time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Tier 2 Link Building?
Tier 2 Link Building involves creating backlinks that point to your Tier 1 links, which are the high-quality links that directly point to your main site.
This link building strategy helps to enhance the value and authority of your Tier 1 links by passing additional “link juice” through them.
Why Should I Invest in Tier 2 Link Building?
Investing in Tier 2 Link Building can significantly boost the effectiveness of your Tier 1 links, thereby improving your site’s backlink profile and overall SEO performance.
It amplifies the impact of existing high-quality backlinks, making your content more authoritative and likely to rank higher in search engine results.
What Types of Links are Suitable for Tier 2 Link Building?
Suitable Tier 2 links often include those from niche blogs, content networks, infographic submissions, press releases, and lesser-authoritative guest blogging sites.
They should still be relevant and of decent quality, even if they aren’t as authoritative as Tier 1 links.
Is Tier 2 Link Building Safe and Ethical?
Tier 2 Link Building is generally safe and ethical as long as you focus on acquiring links from relevant and non-spammy sources.
Avoid using low-quality, spammy sites or PBNs (Private Blog Networks) to mitigate the risk of penalties from search engines.
How Can I Track the Effectiveness of My Tier 2 Links?
You can track the effectiveness of your Tier 2 links by monitoring the performance of your Tier 1 links via SEO tools like Google Analytics and Moz.
Look for improvements in metrics such as domain authority, page authority, and keyword rankings for pages receiving Tier 2 support.
