SERLINKS / TIER 1 & AUTHORITY GUIDE
Manual Tier 1.
GSA-powered support.
Build the assets closest to your money site by hand. Use GSA Search Engine Ranker and SERLinks Authority targets to support those assets at Tier 2.
The SERLinks recommendation
For beginners: build Tier 1 manually, then use the Top Tier / Authority feed for GSA-powered Tier 2 support. Start with a structure you understand and placements you can maintain.
- Money site: the website or landing page you ultimately want to promote.
- Tier 1: useful, manually built assets that link directly to the money site.
- Tier 2: GSA placements that link to selected live Tier 1 articles or pages.
- Tier 3: optional support for selected Tier 2 URLs, not an essential first step.
GSA Search Engine Ranker can also build direct Tier 1 links. That is an advanced campaign choice, not our default starting point for a new user.
Choose Tier 1 assets you can maintain
Manual Tier 1 is about control: the topic, content, link placement and destination are deliberate. Choose a few relevant assets you can keep useful rather than collecting accounts you will never revisit.
Suitable starting options
- Self-hosted niche blogs: publish helpful articles around the money site’s topic, with a natural reason to reference its pages.
- Vetted expired-domain blogs: review the domain’s archive, previous topic, backlink history and signs of abuse before buying. Rebuild something useful; do not rely on age alone.
- Web 2.0 properties: complete the profile and publish a genuine set of relevant posts. An empty account with one promotional paragraph is a weak foundation.
- Relevant subreddits and community posts: contribute useful information where participation and links are permitted. Check whether the published page is public and whether the link remains visible.
- Fan pages and social profiles: use them for brand presence and discovery. Inspect link attributes and visibility; do not assume every social page is a strong, crawlable search asset.
A Tier 1 asset is ready when
- The published page is accessible without logging in.
- The content makes sense even if the promotional link is removed.
- The link points to the correct, live money-site page and fits the surrounding sentence.
- You know how to edit or monitor the asset and record its URL.
- Its topic, audience and outbound links are suitable for the campaign.
Build the first tier before running GSA
- Choose one destination. Confirm the money-site page loads correctly and contains the content, offer or service you want to promote.
- Select a relevant asset. Set up the blog, property or community contribution. For an expired domain, finish the history review before publishing.
- Publish useful content. Add the necessary profile or site pages and write an article that answers a real question in the niche.
- Add the link manually. Use a brand, URL or contextually appropriate anchor. Open the published link and check its destination.
- Record the exact placement URL. Save the article or page containing your link, not simply the blog’s homepage.
- Check discoverability. On sites you own, review crawlability, internal links and the sitemap. Use Search Console where available.
- Prepare the Tier 2 destination set. Put the selected live Tier 1 placement URLs into a separate GSA project. This project supports those assets, not the money site directly.
Keep a simple placement record
Asset name → published Tier 1 URL → linked money-site URL → topic → link attributes → date last checked. This record makes broken-link checks and Tier 2 cleanup much easier.
Where Authority targets fit
SERLinks has a dedicated Top Tier / Authority feed for selective higher-tier projects, screened for low OBL and third-party quality signals.
- Beginner route: Authority targets supply the posting locations for Tier 2 links supporting manually built Tier 1 assets.
- Advanced route: selected Authority targets can be evaluated for direct Tier 1 campaigns.
- The feed is the input. Your project’s destination URLs determine where the resulting links point.
Low OBL means fewer outbound links on the page being assessed. It is a useful selection factor, not a replacement for checking the actual placement, topic and surrounding links.
MONEY SITE
Your main destination
↑
TIER 1 · MANUAL
Blogs, Web 2.0s and relevant assets linking to the money site
↑
TIER 2 · GSA + AUTHORITY
Selected GSA placements linking to live Tier 1 articles
↑
TIER 3 · OPTIONAL
Additional support linking to selected Tier 2 URLs
Keep three URL sets separate
- Authority targets: the downloaded sites GSA can attempt to post on. These are input targets, not your campaign’s destination pages.
- Manual Tier 1 destinations: the published articles or pages you want the Tier 2 campaign to link to. Add these to the project’s URL data.
- Verified Tier 2 output: successful GSA placements. Selected live URLs from this output can become destinations for a later Tier 3 project.
Common mistake: pasting the money-site URL into the beginner Tier 2 project. Check the URL field before starting: it should contain your selected manual Tier 1 placement URLs.
Connect the Authority feed
- Download AutoSync from the members area and extract it to a permanent folder on the Windows PC or VPS where GSA runs.
- Connect your device. Follow the account connection prompt in AutoSync.
- Choose the local feed folder. Keep it separate from your own campaign exports and other files.
- Run Sync now. Wait for the first download to finish.
- Enable Start sync. Leave AutoSync running so scheduled downloads can continue.
- Locate Top Tier / Authority. Use that downloaded feed as the input for this selective support project.
SERLinks provides All Verified, Dofollow and Top Tier / Authority feeds, with four scheduled updates daily. AutoSync mirrors the selected feed files, including removals. Keep your own data outside its managed folders.
Set up a GSA Tier 2 project
Connect the downloaded list as input
- Pause the project while changing its list configuration.
- Open GSA Options → Advanced. Point an unused global site-list folder, such as Identified, to the downloaded Top Tier / Authority folder.
- Keep the downloaded folder as input only. Do not enable global saving into that managed folder. Keep GSA’s own identified, submitted and verified output elsewhere.
- Open the project’s Options. Under use URLs from global site lists, enable the corresponding input category you selected.
- Review other target sources. Disable sources you do not want mixed into this selective campaign.
- Save and confirm the path. Check that you selected Authority, not All Verified or another campaign’s output.
Set the destinations and project data
- Name the project clearly: for example, Brand / Tier 2 / Authority Support.
- Add the exact manual Tier 1 article URLs to the project’s destination URL field. Open each one first.
- Complete the required data: relevant keywords, anchors, titles, descriptions and engine-specific fields.
- Check the reference point: this project’s links should point to Tier 1 assets, not directly to the money site.
If you use GSA custom list sets instead, review which sets the project consumes. GSA’s official forum explanation of global/custom site lists distinguishes input selection from global list saving.
Inspect the project, not just the counters
Use the project list, submission logs and verified URLs together. In the beginner workflow, open a verified Tier 2 placement and confirm that its link points to the intended manual Tier 1 article.
LPM is links per minute; VPM is verified links per minute. Use them to diagnose campaign output alongside live-link checks, not as a substitute for reviewing placement quality.
Choose engines, anchors and filters deliberately
Engines and placement types
- Start with engines suited to the content you can provide, such as relevant article and CMS placements.
- Inspect successful pages before adding more engines. A platform category does not guarantee a worthwhile placement.
- Keep broad comment, guestbook or other bulk activity in separate projects rather than silently mixing it into a selective support campaign.
Anchor planning
- Use the supported asset’s name, brand, URL and topical phrases where they fit the sentence.
- For Tier 2, anchors should make sense for the Tier 1 article receiving the link, not repeat the money site’s exact-match keyword everywhere.
- Example: when supporting a Tier 1 Windows VPS guide, use references such as the article title, its URL or a relevant phrase about choosing a server.
- Review the existing profile and vary meaningful references. There is no single anchor percentage that fits every site.
Filters and pacing
- Review relevance, low OBL, public visibility and the surrounding outbound links.
- Start at a pace your proxies, solver, email accounts and server can handle reliably.
- Read the logs and inspect verified placements before scaling. A higher submission count alone is not the goal.
- Separate campaigns by asset group or purpose so you can identify problems without changing the entire account.
Prepare a pool of 8–10 working email accounts
Our starter recommendation: 8–10 tested accounts, with mixed providers and a private catch-all where practical. Do not begin with one untested inbox and assume every engine will accept it.
Why use a mixed pool?
- Some sites reject particular providers or previously used domains. A mixed pool gives you alternatives.
- One blocked or broken account should not stop confirmations across the whole campaign.
- Catch-all aliases are convenient, but many aliases on one domain are not the same as provider and domain diversity.
Email setup checklist
- Use dedicated campaign mail. For a catch-all, buy a separate domain and configure a compatible mailbox and wildcard delivery.
- Alternatively, obtain a small mixed-provider pack from a reputable marketplace. Confirm the accounts support the access method GSA needs and are supplied in a usable import format.
- Open the project’s Email Verification settings. Add or import the accounts and complete the required server, port, security and login settings.
- Test from the actual GSA machine. A mailbox working in a browser does not prove that GSA can connect to it.
- Test catch-all delivery. Send a message to a fresh alias and confirm that it reaches the mailbox GSA checks.
- Remove failed accounts. Investigate connection errors, provider challenges and rejected or overused domains before launching.
Enable automatic message deletion only for dedicated campaign inboxes you control. Never use your personal or business mailbox for bulk confirmation cleanup.
Use a high-quality AI model for campaign content
Use a capable, high-quality model for the content closest to your money site and for selective Authority support. The brief and review matter as much as the model: fluent filler is still filler.
Give the model a useful brief
- Audience: who the article is for and the practical question it should answer.
- Destination: the specific Tier 1 page being supported, its subject and why a reader would visit it.
- Facts: product details, prices or claims you have verified. Ask the model not to invent results, testimonials or specifications.
- Required fields: article title, body, summary, description and any profile or engine-specific text.
- Link context: the intended anchor and a relevant paragraph around it.
- Variation: distinct article angles and titles, not the same paragraph with a few words swapped.
Review before importing
- Read the complete article. It should offer useful information beyond the link.
- Remove false claims, repeated keywords, placeholders and awkward generic introductions.
- Preview formatting, HTML and any spintax. Confirm that every variation remains readable.
- Use relevant images or video only where the engine supports them and you have permission to use the media.
- Write suitable profile, signature and description fields rather than leaving the same generic text everywhere.
Example content brief
For a Tier 1 article about choosing a Windows VPS: explain RAM, CPU, latency and the tools that will run together; use supplied specifications; include a contextual reference to the article; generate different supporting angles without inventing performance figures.
Dedicated tools are optional. SEO Content Machine and GSA Content Generator can help organise content workflows, but they are not prerequisites for this setup. Choose the workflow you can review and maintain.
Check the rest of the posting chain
- Proxies: confirm that your posting proxies work from the VPS and suit the engines you selected.
- CAPTCHA solving: test the configured solver. If using XEvil and a reCAPTCHA add-on, check its connectivity and required proxy configuration separately.
- Email confirmations: prove that GSA can read actual confirmation messages, not just log into the mailbox.
- Content fields: complete what the selected engines require and preview the output.
- Project filters: investigate why targets are skipped before increasing threads or blaming the feed.
Use the SERLinks resources guide to compare the VPS, proxy, CAPTCHA and content tools around your campaign.
Launch a small test and inspect the complete chain
- Open your manual Tier 1 page. Confirm that its link reaches the correct money-site destination.
- Confirm the Authority download. AutoSync should be connected and the downloaded input folder populated.
- Check the Tier 2 project’s destinations. They must be the selected Tier 1 placement URLs.
- Run a controlled test. Watch target selection, submission, email confirmation and verification in the logs.
- Open verified placements. Check the actual destination, visible content, link attributes and surrounding outbound links.
- Follow the complete chain: GSA Tier 2 placement → manually built Tier 1 article → money site.
- Fix problems before expanding. Increase activity only after the configuration and resulting placements make sense.
Discovery and indexing checks
Supporting links can create additional discovery paths to published assets. A verified link and an indexed page are different things, so check both rather than treating the verified counter as an indexing report.
- For sites you own, maintain internal links and sitemaps and check Search Console where available.
- For third-party assets, check public visibility and whether search engines have discovered the exact page.
- Fix login restrictions, noindex settings or unavailable pages first; more support links do not resolve those problems.
Add deeper tiers only when they have a job
- Tier 3 destinations: selected live Tier 2 placements, not the original money-site URL.
- GSA-created tiers: use the appropriate main-project/tier connection when your Tier 2 output is managed by GSA, and review which verified URLs it supplies.
- Keep purpose clear: use separate content, engines and settings for the deeper support project.
- Choose the input: Dofollow offers the dedicated follow-focused feed; All Verified offers broader targets. Authority remains the selective higher-tier option.
- Do not add a third tier just to complete a diagram. First confirm that Tier 1 and Tier 2 work as intended.
Maintain the chain
- Recheck manually built Tier 1 assets and their money-site links. Remove unavailable assets from the support project’s destination set.
- Reverify GSA-created placements and review failed records before continuing deeper support.
- Keep project backups and your own exports outside AutoSync’s managed feed folders.
GSA’s official explanation of re-verification describes link checks and project destination checks. It does not replace your own checks of manually published Tier 1 assets.
Advanced: direct Tier 1 and parasite pages
GSA Search Engine Ranker is not limited to Tier 2 and Tier 3. Experienced users can evaluate selected Authority targets for direct campaigns, with the destination and placement reviewed deliberately.
Direct support for your own money site
- Beginner default: stay with manually built Tier 1 assets and GSA-powered support behind them.
- Advanced SERLinks recommendation: if running direct campaigns, favour an established site older than eight months, with useful content and an existing, reviewed link profile.
- Expired-domain alternative: a vetted expired domain may be suitable, but check its history, former content, links and relevance before using it.
- Age is a campaign guideline, not a safety switch. Eight months does not make every target or placement suitable.
Established-host / parasite articles
- Direct support can begin from the first day once the article is public and the host permits the publication and linking workflow.
- Relative to the parasite article: links pointing directly to that article are Tier 1.
- Relative to your money site: if that article links to the money site, support pointing to the article is Tier 2.
- Choose content that fits the host’s audience. Check the published page and its link attributes rather than relying only on the host’s domain metrics.
Publication, discovery, indexing and ranking are separate stages. The software can serve different campaign structures; this guide recommends the manual-first route for beginners.
Troubleshooting checklist
- No targets processed: check the Authority input path and the matching project list-source selection.
- Submissions but few verified links: inspect engine responses, email confirmations, solver errors and filters.
- Email failures: test each account from GSA and remove accounts that cannot connect or receive confirmations.
- Links pointing to the money site unexpectedly: pause the project and correct the Tier 2 destination URLs.
- Unexpected placement types: review enabled engines and additional target sources.
- Tier 1 page removed: remove that URL from the support destinations and review any dependent deeper tier.
- AutoSync access or file-lock issue: check account status, the local folder and whether another program is holding managed files open.
For help, use the Support Desk. Share the relevant settings and error message, but hide passwords, device tokens and private account details.
Answers before you start
Does Authority mean every resulting link is Tier 1?
No. Authority describes the selected target feed. The destination determines the tier: in our beginner setup, Authority-based GSA links point to manual Tier 1 assets, so they are Tier 2.
Should a beginner point GSA directly at the money site?
Not as the default route in this guide. Build Tier 1 manually, then configure a separate support project. Direct campaigns are covered in the advanced section.
Do I need every type of manual asset?
No. Choose assets suited to the niche and within your ability to maintain. A useful blog or relevant Web 2.0 property is a better starting point than a large collection of empty accounts.
Are 8–10 emails a GSA requirement?
No. They are our practical starter recommendation. Test the pool and adjust it to the campaign; a private catch-all and mixed providers give different options.
Can Tier 2 help Tier 1 pages get discovered?
It can provide additional linking paths. Check the actual pages and indexing separately; verification confirms a placement, not a search-engine outcome.
Do I need a dedicated content generator?
No. A high-quality AI model with a careful brief and review can supply campaign fields. Dedicated tools are optional workflow aids.
Build your assets. Connect the support.
Start with manually built Tier 1 pages, connect the Authority feed and inspect your first Tier 2 placements before scaling.
