What Are Backlinks? A Simple Guide for Builders
Backlinks explained in plain English. What they are, why Google cares, and how directories give them to you for free.
You've built your new startup and you're ready to show it to the world. For most builders, that's when the real work of distribution begins, and terms like search engine optimization (SEO) and backlinks show up for the first time. So what are backlinks actually, and why do they matter so much? Let's fix that in under 3 minutes.
What is a backlink?
In short, a backlink is a link from another website to yours. When a directory like SaaSHub or AlternativeTo lists your product and links to your site, that's a backlink.
These backlinks matter because search engines like Google pay close attention to them. Also, there are two types of backlinks, and one of them is far more valuable than the other.
Why does Google care?
Search engines like Google treat every backlink as a vote of confidence. When other sites link to you, Google thinks: "other people trust this site, so it's probably worth showing in search results."
More backlinks from quality sites = higher Google ranking = more free organic traffic to your product. You don't pay for this traffic. It just keeps coming. That's the great thing about SEO.
Dofollow vs Nofollow
There is one very important thing to be aware of though. Not all backlinks are equal. There are two types:
- Dofollow backlinks pass SEO value to your site. Google counts them as real votes. This is what you want.
- Nofollow backlinks send visitors to your site but don't boost your ranking. Still useful for traffic, just not for SEO.
When we say a directory gives a "dofollow backlink," that means it directly helps your Google ranking.
A nofollow link is one where the site adds a `rel="nofollow"` tag in the HTML, which tells Google not to pass any ranking value through it. You still get the visitors, but the SEO boost gets blocked.
Domain Rating: Your Backlinks in One Number
Google never reveals how it ranks websites internally or how it decides which sites deserve to rank higher. That hasn't stopped people from trying to figure it out. In the SEO world, Domain Rating has become a standard companies use to score a website's backlink profile. DR is a score from 0 to 100 that measures how strong a website is. Think of it like a credibility score.
A backlink from a DR 50 site (like LaunchPanda at the time of writing) is like getting a recommendation from a well-known professor. A backlink from a DR 10 site is like getting one from a stranger. Both help, but the professor's carries way more weight.
LaunchPanda's roadmap shows you each directory's DR so you can prioritize the ones that give the biggest boost. We also track your startup's DR live once you launch it here, and you can see the domain ratings of every other tool launched on the platform too.
Why directories are the easiest way to get backlinks
On LaunchPanda our focus is to increase your startup's DR as fast as possible. Doing this through startup directories has proven to be a reliable way to get there.
Here's why directories work:
- Free to submit (most of them)
- Fast (often instant or 1 to 3 days)
- No outreach needed (just fill out a form)
- 140+ options (not just Product Hunt)
You save your product info once in a Startup Profile, then copy and paste your way through dozens of directories. Each one is a new backlink, a new listing, and a new source of traffic.
Ready to start?
Build your Startup Profile on LaunchPanda and start collecting backlinks today. It takes about 30 seconds to set up.
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