Glossary
Tiered backlink activation and other desk terms, defined
Fourteen words that editors and link buyers use differently. Short definitions, one practical note each, and a mark where the phrase is misused.
Why a glossary for a publishing desk
Writers say traffic when they mean sessions. Link buyers say authority when they mean a vendor score. Terms drift. A shared sheet of meanings keeps a ten-person desk from arguing about nothing.
Everything below is how we use the words on this site, and where the market uses them loosely we say so. None of it is a Google definition unless we name Google.
The words, A to Z
| Term | Meaning | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor | The clickable words of a link | Same anchor everywhere looks mechanical |
| Backlink | A link from another site to yours | Not every link passes value |
| Basket | Selected placements not yet paid | Nothing is charged until you pay |
| Canonical | The URL you declare as the main one | Link to it, not to variants |
| Core update | A broad Google change to ranking systems | March 2024 and March 2025 are real examples |
| Domain Rating (DR) | Ahrefs' 0–100 score of a site's link profile | A third-party number, not a Google metric |
| Donor | The site that carries your link | Check niche and language |
| Dofollow | A link without a nofollow, sponsored or ugc attribute | Says nothing about quality |
| Evergreen | A page whose answer ages slowly | Most link money should go here |
| Orphan | A page with no internal links to it | Fix this before any outside link |
| Placement | A published article or insertion with your link | Permanent and dofollow here |
| Programmatic | Pages generated from a template and data | Each page still needs unique value |
| Prune | Remove, merge or noindex weak pages | Cheaper than a link |
| Target | The URL of yours that a link points to | One keyword per target |
Tiered backlink activation, as people use it
Tiered backlink activation usually means building links to the pages that carry your links, so tier one points at you and tier two points at tier one. We do not sell it. We do not recommend it either. The marketplace places single links on real sites, aimed at your pages.
A fair meaning of tiering for a publisher is simpler: rank your own URLs into groups and activate the groups in order. Tier one holds pages at positions 8–30. Tier two holds evergreen pages with few impressions. Tier three waits. That plan lives entirely on your side, and the decision tree gives the steps.
Chains of links aimed at links are the part to avoid. Google's spam policies, updated in March 2024, treat manipulative link schemes as a violation. Keep it plain. Keep each link on a real page.
Three terms that cause most arguments
Authority is the first. Ahrefs shows Domain Rating, Moz shows Domain Authority, Majestic shows Trust Flow, and Semrush has its own score. They disagree, and none of them is Google's view. Pick one for filtering and stop comparing across vendors.
Traffic is the second. A writer means visits, an analyst means sessions, and a donor row shows estimated organic traffic. Treat the donor figure as a rough size indicator. It is an estimate.
Natural is the third. It is the slipperiest. A natural link is one an editor placed because the page deserved it. A paid placement is paid, and the rules of the marketplace say so openly. Our mistakes and fixes page and the myths page cover how to keep the profile varied and sensible.
Our usage
Use the word tier for your own pages, never for a link chain
Order your URLs, not your links. That keeps the plan readable and the risk low. Anyone offering tiers of tiers is describing a different product from this one.
- Tier your targets
- Place single links
- Never chain them