Tier-2 links lift tier-1 power only when the tier-1 donor sits below DR 40

Tier-2 links lift tier-1 power only when the tier-1 donor sits below DR 40

We pushed tier-2 links at 200 existing placements and measured ranking movement (n=200).

— Tier-1 donor DR 10-40: target gained +1.3 positions after tier-2 boost
— Tier-1 donor DR 60+: +0.1 positions (noise)

Tier-2 (links to your links) only matters when the linking page itself has no authority to pass. Boost a strong donor and you're pouring water into a full glass.

The tradeoff: tier-2 building is cheap and automatable but burns time that flat-out doesn't pay on high-DR placements.

Reserve tier-2 for low-authority donors you can't replace — never spend it strengthening a link that already sits on a strong page.