🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024
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What Does “🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024” Talk About?
This episode of the James Dooley Podcast brings together James Dooley and Karl Hudson, founder of Searcharoo, for a focused discussion on tier 2 backlinks and how they fit into a modern SEO link-building strategy. They break down the fundamental concept of link layering, explaining that tier 1 links point directly to a website, while tier 2 links are built to power up those tier 1 assets. The conversation covers specific link types including guest posts, niche edits, citations, press releases, and digital PR placements from outlets like the Telegraph and Mirror, with practical advice on which of these assets most benefit from tier 2 support.
James and Karl also tackle common questions around topical relevance at tier 2, anchor text strategy, and the risk of pointing tier 2 links directly to money pages. Karl explains that relevance matters far less at the tier 2 level because the goal is amplifying PageRank flow rather than signaling topical alignment, and that more aggressive anchor text like exact match keywords can be used safely since the links are not pointing directly to the money site. They also discuss realistic costs for tier 2 campaigns, noting that niche-edit-style placements typically run between 20 and 30 dollars, making them a cost-effective addition to any link-building operation.
“Anyone not leveraging tier 2 backlinks is missing a lot. You're leaving money on the table by not powering your tier 1 backlinks.”
— James Dooley
Who Are the Guests on “🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024”?
James Dooley is an experienced SEO professional and digital entrepreneur who hosts the James Dooley Podcast, where he shares practical strategies on link building, search rankings, and online business growth. Known for his direct, results-focused approach, James brings real-world campaign experience to every conversation and is not shy about reassessing his own strategies based on new information.
Karl Hudson is the founder of Searcharoo, a link-building agency that specializes in structured tiered link campaigns. Karl brings deep operational knowledge of how tier 2 link placements are executed at scale, including vendor pricing, link quality thresholds, and the nuances of powering different types of tier 1 assets. His hands-on experience with client campaigns, including a case study where 500 links drove local rankings within three to four weeks, makes him a credible and practical voice on the subject.
What Are the Key Takeaways From “🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024”?
Here are the key points discussed in this episode:
- Tier 2 backlinks are links built to your tier 1 assets rather than your website directly, and they work by amplifying the PageRank and trust flowing from those tier 1 links into your site.
- Guest posts benefit most from tier 2 support because they are new pages that need an additional power boost to pass maximum link equity to the target site.
- Topical relevance is not a priority at tier 2 since the links are pointing to the site linking to you, which means more aggressive anchor text including exact match keywords can be used without the same level of risk.
- Tier 2 links should almost never point directly to a money site because the quality of these placements introduces a higher risk threshold that most campaigns should avoid.
- Niche-edit-style tier 2 links typically cost between 20 and 30 dollars, making them one of the most cost-effective ways to extract more value from an existing tier 1 link-building investment.
“If you build links it should pass trust and power. If it's passing trust and power, you want to be building links to almost every asset.”
— James Dooley
Is “🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024” Worth Listening To?
This episode is a highly practical resource for anyone who has invested in tier 1 link building but is not seeing the full ranking benefit from those links. James and Karl move quickly through real scenarios, including whether to build tier 2 links to no-follow citations, press releases, digital PR placements, and niche edits, giving listeners a clear decision-making framework rather than vague theory. The discussion of anchor text strategy at tier 2, including why branded or exact match anchors are safer to use at this level, is particularly useful for practitioners who want to be more aggressive without putting their money site at risk.
What sets this episode apart is the candor both hosts bring to the conversation. James openly admits areas where his own agency strategy may be leaving value behind, specifically around digital PR links from high-authority publications, and discusses adjusting his approach in real time. Karl backs up his recommendations with a real client case study involving 500 links and a three-to-four-week ranking result, which grounds the conversation in observable outcomes. For anyone looking to build a smarter, more layered link-building system in 2024, this episode delivers actionable guidance that can be implemented immediately.
Who Should Listen to “🔗The Tier 2 Backlinks Guide for 2024 | James Dooley & Karl Hudson Discuss Ranking Factors for 2024”?
This episode is ideal for:
- SEO professionals and link builders who already run tier 1 campaigns and want to maximize the return on those investments
- Digital agency owners and consultants who manage link-building strategies for multiple clients and need a cost-effective way to amplify existing backlink profiles
- In-house SEO managers at brands doing content marketing and digital PR who want to ensure their high-authority placements are fully powered
- Freelance SEOs and small business owners doing DIY link building who want to understand how tiered link structures work without needing a large budget
Where Can You Listen to James Dooley Podcast?
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What Are Listeners Saying About This Episode?
“Really appreciated how James and Karl broke down exactly which link types warrant tier 2 treatment. The distinction between hitting fresh guest posts versus aged niche edits was something I had never considered before, and it immediately changed how I plan my campaigns.”
“The part about anchor text strategy at tier 2 was eye-opening. I had always been nervous about using exact match anchors but Karl's explanation of why it's safer at this level because you're linking to the site linking to you, not your money site, made total sense.”
“Short, sharp, and genuinely useful. The cost breakdown of 20 to 30 dollars for tier 2 niche-edit-style links and the client case study about 500 links driving local rankings in under a month gave me real benchmarks to work from. Will be sharing this one with my team.”
James Dooley: So I'm here with Karl, the founder of Searcharoo. Today's topic is about tier 2 backlinks. So what is a tier 2 backlink. A tier 1 backlink, if we start at number one, is a link that goes through to your website. A tier 2 is what would come through to the links that are going to your website. So a tier 2 backlink is a link that's going to a tier one backlink. So why would you build a tier 2 backlink if it's not linking directly to your site. Because many years ago Google had the PageRank algorithm and we now believe that is still part of the core algorithm today even though the patents expired. If you build links it should pass trust and power. If it's passing trust and power, you want to be building links to almost every asset. So if you're building a tier 1 link, you should be then building links through to that. Obviously there's a degree where it might stop because you used to have seven or eight tiers back in the day. But it's like diminishing returns almost. We typically advise tier 2 is a good tier to hit. James Dooley: Quick fire questions. Would you build a tier 2 to a no follow citation. Karl Hudson: Yes. James Dooley: To a tier 2 no follow citation, would you build a tier 2 to a do follow guest post. Karl Hudson: Yes. James Dooley: Would you build a tier 2 to a niche edit. Karl Hudson: Maybe. With a niche edit it should already have a lot of links to it. If it's quite updated and recently edited I'd probably avoid building a tier 2 because it shouldn't need it. But if it's quite aged and struggling to get the crawler to come back, using a signal boost or social signal blast and then maybe some tier 2s would definitely help. James Dooley: What about press releases. Would you ever do tier 2s to a press release. Karl Hudson: I would probably do it to some of them. With press releases you get some better sites and some really poor sites. I would probably be hitting the better sites with it. James Dooley: So our strategy is that we build quite a lot of tier 2s to our guest posts because it's a new page so we're trying to power up that page. We actually do some to our niche edits even though niche edits should already have some power whether it's internal links or existing links going through to that page. We might tap it with one or two extra tier 2 links. And then only to the do follow press releases. We don't normally do it to the citations. We might load the citations through an indexing tool or occasionally a big GSA blast just to try to get them indexed. But we don't normally do it to the no follows which is interesting. Maybe we should. James Dooley: We probably should be doing some tier 2s to digital PR when it's a Telegraph or Mirror link and stuff like that because it's no follow. At present we don't do it. But actually, to try get more crawlers around, from what you're saying we should probably be doing that as well. With regards to relevance, are you bothered much on relevance at tier 2. Karl Hudson: Not really. We try to make the anchor text a bit relevant or at least relevant. What you have to remember with a tier 2 is it's linking to the site that's linking to you. So if we do a branded anchor text, some people get confused. Why are you doing a branded anchor to website A, B and C when my website is D, E and F. It's because we're linking to website A, B and C at this stage. Not your website. That passes relevance to that page which passes relevance back to your site. So you could do some branded at tier 2 or some exact match anchors for keywords because it's not going directly to your money site. You can be more aggressive. James Dooley: What about cost. How much do tier 2s cost. Is there a variation. Karl Hudson: It definitely varies. Various vendors charge between 20 and 30 dollars at the minute which is cheap for the industry. They are niche edit style links. They are actual people reaching out to webmasters and getting links placed. They are not PBNs which are quite popular for tier 2s. James Dooley: Could I build any tier 2s directly to my money site. Karl Hudson: We have seen this before. We don't advise it because the sites aren't the greatest quality. We believe in toxic thresholds. We don't offer pre-approval. You get what you get. We'd prefer to give you something you can sign off with. But yes, some clients have done it. We had one case where he built 500 links, wanted them live within a month, we did it, and he ranked in three or four weeks. He still ranks today. But that's local only. It won't work nationally. James Dooley: With regards to the tier 2s coming through, you're not bothered about relevance. Costs seem cheaper than a normal niche edit. You don't recommend doing them directly to the money site. Do you think every guest post should have some power within a tier 2 market. Karl Hudson: I would say usually yes if you're doing it on a budget. Pick sites that have a lot of ranking keywords. Almost like parasite SEO. Pick ones that already have authority and then hit them with tier 2s because it stands a chance of ranking with the tier 2 links. James Dooley: Great conversation. I might have to adjust my strategies by sending one or two to digital PR campaigns. Anyone not leveraging tier 2 backlinks is missing a lot. You're leaving money on the table by not powering your tier 1 backlinks. Any do follow backlink should be leveraged. If you can add more power to the page linking to you, you get more link juice passed through. I agree with you on relevance. Tier 1 should be relevant, but tier 2 I'm bothered about power not relevance. If you're not leveraging tier 2s you're missing out on improved rankings whether that's Bing or Google search results.
Creators & Guests
Host
James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.