Tiered Links - Let's settle this once and for all

Alright guys, let's do this.
The reason why I've decided to open this thread, is because I'm just tired of reading article after article just to have this 'Oh, I finally got it' feeling crushed over and over again.

The basic structure of Tiered Links should be more than well known. The picture below is an example of such a structure


Some of you probably know this picture. I've taken it from Matthew Woodward's blog.
This structure makes perfect sense to me. On the very left, we have (manually) created web2.0 buffer sites with T2 + T3 below them. In the middle we have blog posts, such as PBN links/guest posts with T2 + T3 structures below it and so on.
This seems to be a very popular (and successful?) approach. One of the important factors being you have complete control over your T1 links.


Unfortunately, we all know that SEO is an ever changing game and you have to keep up. Apparently this also applies to tiered link building. I've heard and read that social bookmarks and directory links should be taken out of this link structure, because they've become hurtful (or at least ineffective). And I guess there's at least some truth to that, because I've noticed an uprise of the Primary/Secondary Link structure.


I understand how the structure has changed and for which reasons and I guess it makes sense to change your game and divide the links into primary and secondary links.
However, and this is what has really stumped me, I've come across the following suggestion by Jacob King for a tiered link building campaign and I literally can't comprehend the input.



This approach is pretty much throwing all the before mentioned principles over board. The 3 tiers now only differ by authority. This way you wouldn't be able to put your (manually) created web2.0s into Tier 1 and use them as buffer sites, because the newly created ones will have no authority whatsoever. In addition to that, you pretty much lose all control over your T1 links, because they're not on your very own web2.0s anymore. Unless you have the money to buy PBN links/guest posts as your T1 (and maybe even T2) you'll have to search and filter for websites which meet these criteria and then submit your link to them.
And now comes the part that's even more disturbing to me - with this 'new' structure, you're actually able to automate the whole campaign with tools like GSA.
Now again, some of you probably already know this structure and are more than familiar with this, but I'm not and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's confused by all these different structures and approaches, because I simply don't know which of these are outdated and therefore ineffecte or even hurtful and which are just an approach to tiered links from a different angle.
I really wish someone would just clarify this, because seriously.. I am sick and tired. The more I read the less I actually understand.

And before I finish this post, I beg you - please, PLEASE do not post those one liners suggesting me to 'try, try, try' or 'learn by doing' and 'figure it out myself'.
Seriously. I absolutely agree that the best and only way to really learn the details about stuff like this is to try yourself and experiment. But we're talking about the fundamentals here. Imagine your son wants to become good at playing baseball you don't tell him try, try, try' or 'learn by doing' and let him buy a badminton racquet, soccer shoes and a basketball and then waste time and money until he finally figures out that this isn't even the right approach. You at least guide him in the right direction.

I hope I've proven that I am more than willing to learn and work for this (it's actually the only thing I did the last couple of weeks), but I need some help. Please guide me.
Your help is highly appreciated.



Kind regards,
Tixxpff

Yup, this post is a mix between Mat post and then Jackob reply to it

You should have mentioned the sources, other than that .. it a good read for the noobs

KHer0 said:

Yup, this post is a mix between Mat post and then Jackob reply to it

You should have mentioned the sources, other than that .. it a good read for the noobs

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I think you missed the point of the post. He did mention the sources.

You do know, Tixxpff, that once someone comes up with the "perfect" structure/solution, that it will change in due time, don't you?

I can't address your GSA question/statement as we use tools that my partners have developed and are proprietary but from what I have read about GSA it sounds like you can pretty much automate any kind of process with back linking. Whether it changes randomly for you or you have to make those changes yourself I do not know but I do know you want to randomly have those structures change on a regular basis so the process remains as chaotic as possible.

BassTrackerBoats said:

You do know, Tixxpff, that once someone comes up with the "perfect" structure/solution, that it will change in due time, don't you?

I can't address your GSA question/statement as we use tools that my partners have developed and are proprietary but from what I have read about GSA it sounds like you can pretty much automate any kind of process with back linking. Whether it changes randomly for you or you have to make those changes yourself I do not know but I do know you want to randomly have those structures change on a regular basis so the process remains as chaotic as possible.

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Thanks for pointing that out, but I already do realise that. I actually do realise that much that I don't even know where to start. I'm 'too scared' to set up a fully automated T1-3 campaign in GSA, even with very strict filters, because I fear being instantly penalized by big G and I'm too confused about how to approach creating web2.0s as my T1, because I've seen how easy and fast Ultimate Demon creates hundreds of web2.0s as your T1 and therefore I'm wondering if manually creating 10-20 web2.0s as my T1 for a page I'm trying to rank is even going to make a difference.

I guess you could some up my whole post as: Where do I start?
It kind of feels like I have the knowledge and the tools, but I don't know if I'm supposed to build a house or a boat with them. And that's quite frustrating to be honest.

Good post, here is more detailed post on same topic http://www.jacobking.com/broken-tiered-link-building

lover said:

Good post, here is more detailed post on same topic http://www.jacobking.com/broken-tiered-link-building

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This is the exact post I've got my images from. Apart from that, have you even read my post? This is not an informational thread. I wish it was, because it'd mean I'd know enough to actually share my knowledge? But I'm asking questions.

As long as my sites rank and I make money, I really could not care about the rest of the crap. Too much of people saying one thing and others saying something else. Best off just doing your own thing and if it works keep doing it, if it doesn't, try something else.

mickyfu said:

As long as my sites rank and I make money, I really could not care about the rest of the crap. Too much of people saying one thing and others saying something else. Best off just doing your own thing and if it works keep doing it, if it doesn't, try something else.

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That's exactly how I feel and this is exactly what's getting me frustrated as a beginner. If I had the tools and the money I'd just do a shit load of split testing and figure it out myself.
Anyhow, I just got back from working out and this definitely cleared my mind. I'll just try the strategy I had in my mind all along and see how it goes.

Just one last question that can be answered pretty easily, I guess.
Is any of the above posted methods considered dangerous or hurtful?
And secondly, is tiered linking in general dangerous to use in combination with AdSense? This is the only thing I'm scared of, since you only get one shot with AdSense.

Based on the blogpost, both the social bookmarks and the directories may not get links from the next tier.

When you copy someone's image post a credit to it .

divok said:

When you copy someone's image post a credit to it .

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I already did. It's in the text. But I'll make it even more visible to avoid confusion and make everybody happy.

mickyfu said:

As long as my sites rank and I make money, I really could not care about the rest of the crap. Too much of people saying one thing and others saying something else. Best off just doing your own thing and if it works keep doing it, if it doesn't, try something else.

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I can't agree with this any harder, If SEO ever become a course (i mean "real course"), its theory might need to be changed every quarters due to all the statements from here and there.

anyway, great post OP

mickyfu said:

As long as my sites rank and I make money, I really could not care about the rest of the crap. Too much of people saying one thing and others saying something else. Best off just doing your own thing and if it works keep doing it, if it doesn't, try something else.

Click to expand...

I love this reply ! I really don't know why all the hassle about SEO as for me the more simple, the more effective !

Too much talk and most of them are rubbish !

Best thing you can do for yourself, learn the vocabularies from the forum and after that don't look back

hey,

dont make it complex. keep it simple & stupid! (KISS Formula)

What works as T1:

PBN (High quality. not general blogs)
Quality web 2.0 blogs (NOT POSTS!! Blogs with lots of articles for your t1 with varied linking. Not gonna spit out everything as its ur work now to find out.)
Guest Posts (High Quality. >PR4 DA >40)
Bookmarks (Top 10+ sites with unique infos PR>5)
Superior Web 2.0s like socialmediatoday.com, yahoo voices etc etc

T2:
Web 2.0s Post (Super Duper Kuper Spun!!!)
Bookmarks
Wiki
Article Directory
Blog post from general directories as far as spam is not filled up

T3:
Everything else except adult site.

I have given u a good way which works. Dont bang your head anywhere else. just put it in its place and start working!!

Hi

My understanding is that tiered link building works, and always will work as it essentially mimics content going viral. I know you don't want people telling you to test stuff and try it but here is what I would recommend. Next time a post goes viral in your Facebook feed from upworthy or viralnova or whatever the viral content sites are, go to that blog post.

Load it into ahrefs, ose etc.
Some links you can't replicate. Some you can. Make a note of those you can
Study their back links. See which ones you replicate again.

Tiered link building as I understand it is just mimicking content going viral. How do you do it right? Study content that goes viral and replicate as much as you can.

There are a few other twists with it but that is the basic premise.

I think read Matthew Woodward somewhere that that structure is now outdated. I will look for the quote. The 2nd structure i believe is from GodoverYou and I think Jacob King's is based on that.

If you are asking how to understand Jacob King's diagram; you don't build backlinks to the blocks in the 2nd column. They come from the side to the blocks in the first column. but you don't link anything additional to them. Hope that makes sense.

D.A. Mokes said:

I think read Matthew Woodward somewhere that that structure is now outdated. I will look for the quote. The 2nd structure i believe is from GodoverYou and I think Jacob King's is based on that.

If you are asking how to understand Jacob King's diagram; you don't build backlinks to the blocks in the 2nd column. They come from the side to the blocks in the first column. but you don't link anything additional to them. Hope that makes sense.

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What you must understand is this is opinion and not fact.

Here is the quote from MW's blog:

"Jacob King has highlighted the flaws of the current tiered link building model in his post and how to fix them.
I agree with a lot of what he says and it is great to see how he has evolved his process to move with the times."