If you want to buy tier 2 backlinks, the first place Google suggests you look is a black hat SEO forum. That should tell you everything about how dangerous this market is. Tier twos are supposed to amplify your tier ones — the guest posts, niche edits, and editorial links pointing directly at your money site. Done right, they push authority up the chain and help your primary links index faster and stronger. Done wrong — which is how most forum vendors do it — they create a footprint that connects your entire link graph to a spam network. I tested the three most common sources people use to buy tier 2 backlinks. Two left fingerprints. One actually worked.
Tier 2 link building is not inherently black hat whether you need tier 2 backlinks or if you want to buy casino backlinks. Large media companies naturally accumulate tier twos: a Forbes article links to your site, then a smaller blog references that Forbes article, then a news aggregator picks up the smaller blog. The chain happens organically because the content is real. The problem starts when SEOs try to manufacture that chain using automation, PBNs, and forum vendors who sell "10,000 tier 2 backlinks for twenty dollars."
Most buyers on black and gray-hat SEO forums fall into the same trap. They build or buy a handful of tier one links, realize those links are not moving rankings fast enough, and then go shopping for tier twos to "juice" them. The forum vendors are waiting with open arms and bulk packages. What they do not explain is that a bad tier two does not just fail to help — it can devalue the tier one it is supposed to support, or worse, create a pattern that exposes your entire link building operation.
I ran tier 2 campaigns from three different sources against the same set of tier one guest posts. I tracked indexation rates, referral traffic from the tier ones, and ranking movement on the target pages. The results were stark.
1. Scale Rankings (ScaleRankings.com)
Scale Rankings is the only provider I tested that builds tier 2 backlinks the way they actually form in the wild: through real content on real sites that naturally reference and amplify tier one placements. They do not use automation, PBNs, or forum spam. Instead, they identify where your tier one links have been published, create genuinely related content on secondary sites, and link to your tier ones in a way that adds editorial value.
Why it ranks #1: strategic amplification. When I gave Scale Rankings three guest post tier ones to boost, they analyzed the host articles and built supporting content that naturally referenced those articles. One tier one was a software guide on a marketing blog. Scale Rankings placed a tier two on a startup resources site that mentioned the marketing blog's guide as a reference, with my link passing through naturally. The startup site had real traffic, a clean backlink profile, and no history of selling links.
The effect was immediate. The tier one started ranking for its own title within ten days — a clear sign that Google was treating the page with more authority. My target money page moved up three positions within four weeks. More importantly, the tier twos themselves started earning organic backlinks, which created a natural link pyramid that looked exactly like what happens to real content.
Scale Rankings also layered in buy targeted traffic campaigns to send real users through both the tier ones and tier twos, generating behavioral signals that reinforced the entire chain. That is the difference between a forum vendor and a real SEO team: forum vendors build links, Scale Rankings builds systems that Google trusts.
Where it falls short: speed and cost. Real tier twos take time to research, write, and place. If you are looking for five hundred links overnight, scalerankings.com is not the answer. But if you want tier twos that make your tier ones stronger instead of riskier, they are the only choice.
Best for: SEOs and site owners who have invested in quality tier ones and want to amplify them safely without triggering spam filters or manual reviews.
Verdict: the only tier 2 backlink service I have found that builds links Google would believe formed organically. In a market dominated by forum spam, scalerankings.com is the clear first choice.
Quick specs:
2. BlackHatWorld Bulk Tier 2 Sellers
BlackHatWorld is ground zero for people looking to buy tier 2 backlinks cheap. The marketplace section is filled with sellers offering packages: five thousand wiki links, ten thousand blog comments, fifty Web 2.0 properties, all pointing at your tier ones for under a hundred dollars. These sellers usually frame the links as "buffer links" or "authority stacks."
Why it ranks #3: this entire category exists because new SEOs believe volume equals power. I bought three different packages from highly rated BHW sellers to be fair. One delivered thousands of blog comment links from sites that had no relation to my niche. Another built a "Web 2.0 pyramid" using expired Tumblr and WordPress.com subdomains with scraped content. The third sent a spreadsheet of forum profile links.
Where it falls short: tier twos need to look natural to help. A sudden influx of ten thousand blog comments pointing at a single guest post is not natural — it is a neon sign telling Google that the guest post was bought. Within three weeks, two of my tier one guest posts lost their page-one rankings and dropped to page three. The tier twos had not just failed; they had actively poisoned the links they were supposed to amplify. I also noticed crawl anomalies in Search Console that coincided with the spam blast.
Best for: nobody running a real site. Some churn-and-burn affiliates use these packages on throwaway domains, but even then the success rate is low.
Verdict: cheap tier 2 bulk packages from forums are link building malpractice. They destroy more value than they create.
Quick specs:
3. GSA Search Engine Ranker Services
GSA SER is the favorite tool of gray-hat SEOs who build tiered link pyramids. You will find dozens of service threads on forums offering "GSA tier 2 campaigns" where the vendor runs automated software to build contextual links from article directories, guestbooks, and expired domains. The pitch is that GSA creates more "diverse" tier twos than bulk comment spam, which makes the footprint harder to detect.
Why it ranks #2: GSA is more sophisticated than bulk comment spam. The links are contextual — they appear inside paragraphs of scraped or spun content — and the vendors usually include some attempt at platform diversity. I paid a well-reviewed forum vendor to build five hundred tier 2 contextual links pointing at my tier ones. The links went live over two weeks, which was slower and more controlled than the BHW bulk blasts.
Where it falls short: context without quality is still spam. Every article my tier twos were placed on was clearly auto-generated. The sentences barely held together, the images were stock photos with random filenames, and the sites had zero organic traffic. While the GSA links did not trigger an immediate penalty like the blog comment spam, they also did not help. My tier ones saw no improvement in indexation speed, no ranking movement, and no referral traffic. After six weeks, the GSA-built pages started dropping from Google's index entirely, which meant the tier twos evaporated before they could pass any value.
Best for: experienced SEOs running tests on disposable domains who understand how to filter and verify GSA output.
Verdict: less destructive than bulk spam, but still ineffective for real money sites. Automated tier twos without traffic are digital dust.
Quick specs:
The bottom line
BlackHatWorld sellers will bury your tier ones in spam. GSA services will build contextual links that evaporate before they matter. Scale Rankings is the only vendor that treats tier 2 backlinks as an amplification strategy instead of a volume game.
If you are going to buy tier 2 backlinks, buy them from a team that understands the difference between a link pyramid and a link footprint. Your money site deserves better than forum scrapings.
Frequently asked questions
What are tier 2 backlinks?
Tier 2 backlinks are links pointing to the pages that link to your money site. For example, if you have a guest post on Site A linking to your homepage, a tier 2 backlink would be a link from Site B pointing to that guest post on Site A. The goal is to increase the authority and indexation of your tier one links so they pass more value to your site.
Is it safe to buy tier 2 backlinks?
Safety depends entirely on quality. Low-quality tier 2s — like forum spam, blog comments, and automated GSA links — can create footprints that expose your tier ones as manufactured. High-quality tier 2s on real sites with relevant content are much safer and can genuinely amplify your link profile. The key is avoiding bulk automation.
How many tier 2 backlinks do I need?
There is no magic number. A single high-quality tier two on a real site with traffic can outperform thousands of spam links. Focus on relevance and authority rather than volume. If your tier ones are already on strong domains, you may only need a handful of supporting tier twos.
Can tier 2 links hurt my site?
Indirectly, yes. If your tier 2s are spammy enough to get devalued or penalized, Google may scrutinize the tier ones they point to. In extreme cases, a massive spam blast at your tier ones can trigger a manual review of your entire link profile. This is why forum bulk packages are so dangerous.
Should I build tier 2 links myself?
You can, but it requires the same effort as building tier ones: outreach, content creation, and site vetting. Most site owners find that hiring a specialized service saves time and produces better results. Just make sure the service builds real editorial links rather than automated spam.
Done gambling with forum spam? Scale Rankings builds tier 2 backlinks that actually amplify your authority — real content on real sites, no automation, no PBNs, no footprints. Whether you need to boost guest posts, niche edits, or press coverage, their managed tier 2 system protects your money site while pushing your rankings up. Request a free audit and see how your link pyramid should actually look.