What counts as a directory backlink
A directory backlink is a link to your site from your listing on a directory: a software catalog, a review site, a launch platform, or a curated list of tools. Whether it helps your search rankings depends on two things. The link has to be followed (no nofollow, ugc, or sponsored attribute), and the listing page has to be a page search engines can find and index.
In our catalog of 74 directories, 53% gave a followed link when we last reviewed them, and the median directory has an Ahrefs Domain Rating of 74.
Do directory backlinks still work?
Google's spam policies treat links built mainly to manipulate rankings, including low-quality directory and bookmark links, as link spam. A directory link helps when the directory has real editorial standards and a real audience, and when your listing is relevant to it. It does little, or can hurt, when the directory exists only to sell links.
Treat directories as a foundation, not a strategy on their own. They establish your product across the places buyers and founders look, send some referral traffic, and give search engines consistent signals about what your product is. Most of a SaaS site's long-term link growth still comes from content, integrations, and partners.
How to tell a good directory from a link farm
Before you submit, check the directory against these signals:
- Relevance: it lists products like yours, in categories your buyers would browse.
- Editorial review: submissions are reviewed or moderated, not published instantly in bulk.
- Real audience: it has its own visitors, newsletter, or community, not only listings.
- Indexable listing pages: your listing gets its own page that appears in search.
- Link type stated or checkable: you can see whether the outbound link is followed.
Red flags to avoid
Skip directories that show these patterns, even if they are cheap or quote a high Domain Rating:
- Thousands of unrelated categories (plumbers next to SaaS next to casinos).
- Payment buys the link itself, with no review and no audience.
- Required reciprocal links or link exchanges with unrelated sites.
- Listings that never get their own page, or pages blocked from search.
How many directories to submit to
Quality beats volume. A focused set of 25 to 75 relevant directories covers launch platforms, review sites, and category catalogs for most SaaS and AI products. Of the directories we track, 16 are both free and give a followed link, so a meaningful baseline costs time rather than money.
Submit gradually rather than all at once, keep your product name, description, and URL consistent everywhere, and check each live listing to confirm the link type.