Dofollow vs Nofollow: What Directory Backlinks Are Actually Worth

Founders often ask which startup directories give "dofollow" links. It is a fair question, but it can lead to the wrong strategy. Here is how link attributes work today and what directory listings are realistically worth.

The four link types

Google introduced ugc and sponsored in September 2019 and announced that all three would be treated as hints rather than strict directives. Since March 2020 that also applies to crawling and indexing. In practice a nofollow link may still help Google discover your site, but you should not count on it passing ranking value.

What a directory listing really gives you

• Referral traffic from people browsing the category — often small, sometimes surprisingly well-targeted.
• Discovery: search engines find and crawl a new domain faster when reputable sites link to it.
• Brand searches and citations: listings on AlternativeTo, SaaSHub or Product Hunt frequently rank for "your product alternatives" or "your product review" queries.
• Some link value where the link is followed — useful for a brand-new domain with no links at all, but not a substitute for content people want to link to.

Stay clear of link schemes

Google's spam policies treat buying or selling links that pass ranking credit as link spam. Paying a directory for an editorial review or faster listing is common and fine, as long as paid placements are marked sponsored or nofollow. Paying anyone who promises a fixed number of "high-DR dofollow backlinks" is the risky kind of deal.

That is why our Launch Package guarantees submissions, not links: each directory decides on approval and link type, and we report what actually happened.

How to check a listing's link type

1. Open your listing and right-click the link to your site → Inspect.
2. Look at the rel attribute on the <a> tag.
3. Also check the page's <meta name="robots"> — nofollow there applies to every link on the page.

Our listing verifier does exactly this for every submission in a Launch Package report: it records whether the listing is live, whether it links to you, and whether the link is dofollow or nofollow.