Understanding Quality Tiers
How the Bronze / Silver / Gold / Platinum tier system works, how tiers are assigned, and what it means when your site is upgraded or downgraded.
Last updated 2026-04-15
Every site on Weelinx is assigned a quality tier based on objective metrics. Tiers affect pricing, visibility in the marketplace, and buyer expectations.
The four tiers
| Tier | DR | Monthly Traffic | Spam Score | Minimum Age | |---|---|---|---|---| | Bronze | 10-24 | 500-2,000 | under 5% | 1 year | | Silver | 25-39 | 2,000-10,000 | under 3% | 2 years | | Gold | 40-59 | 10,000-50,000 | under 2% | 3 years | | Platinum | 60+ | 50,000+ | under 1% | 5 years |
A site must meet the minimum on all four metrics to qualify for a tier. Falling short on any one pushes it down to the next level.
Sites failing the Bronze minimums are not accepted.
How tiers are assigned
On submission, our evaluator runs automatically:
- Ahrefs API — DR, referring domains, organic traffic estimate
- Moz API (or Majestic) — spam score
- WHOIS — domain age
- SerpAPI — indexation check
- GPT-4o mini — niche classification + content quality signal
- PBN / fraud heuristics — outbound link profile, network detection
Results are combined into a tier score. You receive an email with the outcome within 10 minutes of submission.
What tier means for pricing
Tier sets the suggested price band for listings:
| Tier | Guest Post | Niche Edit | Sponsored | Editorial | |---|---|---|---|---| | Bronze | £15-35/mo | £10-25/mo | £20-40/mo | £10-20/mo | | Silver | £35-75/mo | £25-50/mo | £40-80/mo | £20-40/mo | | Gold | £75-150/mo | £50-100/mo | £80-160/mo | £40-80/mo | | Platinum | £150-400/mo | £100-250/mo | £160-400/mo | £80-200/mo |
You can price within or above the band. Below-band pricing is flagged because it often indicates a quality issue the metrics haven't caught.
Quarterly re-evaluation
Tiers are re-checked every 3 months. If your metrics have changed substantively, your tier changes.
Upgrades happen automatically. You'll receive an email noting the change.
Downgrades give you a 30-day warning. During the warning period:
- Your current listings continue at current pricing
- You can take steps to improve the affected metrics
- If improvements happen within the window, the downgrade is cancelled
- If not, the downgrade takes effect after 30 days
Existing live placements at the old tier are not affected mid-contract. The tier change only applies to new placements.
What affects your tier
Things that help
- Consistent content publishing
- Acquiring high-quality relevant backlinks to your site
- Page ranking improvements that drive organic traffic
- Keeping outbound link profile clean (avoiding linking to obvious spam)
Things that hurt
- Traffic drops (algorithmic penalties, content drift, lost rankings)
- Increased spam score (often a sign of aggressive outbound linking)
- Site purchased or merged with lower-quality properties
- Switching hosting to a shared environment associated with known PBNs
Bronze isn't bad
Bronze tier sites can be very useful for:
- Anchor text diversification
- Foundation links in a balanced portfolio
- Niche-specific placements where relevance outweighs authority
- Testing content approaches before investing in higher-tier placements
Don't assume a Bronze placement is a bad placement. A highly relevant Bronze-tier site in your exact niche can outperform an irrelevant Platinum for the same campaign.