Dofollow Directories vs Nofollow: What Matters for SEO
Definition: Dofollow directories are listing sites whose outbound links carry no rel="nofollow" attribute, so search engines can pass link equity from the directory to your site. Nofollow directories tag their links with rel="nofollow", which tells Google to treat the link as a hint rather than an endorsement.
That definition settles the terminology, but not the decision founders actually face: should you bother submitting to nofollow directories at all? The short answer is yes. Dofollow links move Domain Rating and rankings more directly, but Google has treated nofollow as a hint since 2020, nofollow listings still drive traffic and brand searches, and a backlink profile made of nothing but dofollow directory links looks manufactured. In our own database of 1,011+ directories, the top sites split almost evenly: of the 48 highest-profile directories in our hand-checked snapshot, 23 give dofollow links and 25 give nofollow. Both types belong in your plan, and this post explains why, and how to tell them apart before you spend time on a submission.
What dofollow and nofollow actually mean
There is no rel="dofollow" attribute in HTML. A "dofollow" link is just a normal link, the default state:
<a href="https://yoursite.com">Your Product</a>
A nofollow link adds a rel attribute:
<a href="https://yoursite.com" rel="nofollow">Your Product</a>
Google introduced nofollow in 2005 to fight comment spam, and for years treated it as a directive: nofollowed links passed no credit at all. That changed in September 2019, when Google announced two new attributes and a new model. Alongside nofollow, sites can now mark paid placements with rel="sponsored" and user-generated links with rel="ugc". More important, all three became hints rather than commands: Google decides for itself whether to count them, using the attribute as one signal among many. Since March 2020 that hint model applies to crawling and indexing too.
Google's own guidance on qualifying outbound links spells out the current rules for site owners: use sponsored for paid links, ugc for user content like comments and forum posts, and nofollow when you do not want to vouch for a page. Directories sit squarely in this system. A curated directory that vouches for its listings can leave links as dofollow. A directory that accepts anything, or charges for placement, is supposed to qualify its links. If a new term trips you up anywhere in this post, our SEO glossary defines all 150 of them in plain English.
Dofollow directories vs nofollow: side-by-side
| Dofollow directory links | Nofollow directory links | |
|---|---|---|
| Link equity | Passes PageRank; can lift Domain Rating and rankings | Treated as a hint; Google may ignore or count it |
| Risk | Higher scrutiny; paid dofollow links violate Google's spam policies | Very low; nofollow exists precisely to make links safe |
| Typical sources | Curated launch platforms and startup listers (Product Hunt, SaaSHub, Startup Stash) | Big review and profile sites (G2, Capterra, Crunchbase, Hacker News) |
| Main value | Authority growth for new domains | Referral traffic, brand footprint, indexing, AI-answer visibility |
| What to watch | A directory selling dofollow placement to anyone is a link scheme | None, beyond the time it takes to submit |
Key insight: Dofollow moves your metrics, nofollow moves your presence. A launch strategy needs both, because Google evaluates your whole link profile, not each link in isolation.
Why a natural backlink profile has both
Run the numbers from our own data. Across the 48 highest-profile directories in the BacklinkBot directory database snapshot, 23 are dofollow and 25 are nofollow, a near 50/50 split. The pattern behind the split is consistent: the biggest authority sites (G2 at DR 92, Crunchbase at DR 91, Hacker News at DR 91, Wellfound at DR 90) mostly nofollow their outbound links, while curated launch platforms and startup listers (SourceForge at DR 93, Product Hunt at DR 91, Startup Stash at DR 76, SaaSHub at DR 72) are where dofollow lives.
Now imagine your site earns links only from the dofollow half. Every real company on the internet gets nofollow links naturally, from social profiles, press mentions, review sites, and forums. A profile with zero nofollow links does not look strategic, it looks assembled. That is worth avoiding for its own sake, and Google's spam policies target exactly this kind of pattern-based link building.
Nofollow listings also pay rent in ways that never show up in a backlink report. A Crunchbase profile ranks for your brand name. An AlternativeTo page puts you in front of people actively switching tools. And roundup sites and AI search engines pull from these aggregator pages when they answer "best X for Y" questions, regardless of link attributes. If you are starting from zero and want the full context on how submission fits into a launch, start with what directory submission is and the master list of directory submission sites.
How to check if a directory link is dofollow
Never take a directory's word for it. Three ways to verify, from manual to instant:
- Inspect the link. Find an existing listing on the directory, right-click the outbound link to the product's site, and choose Inspect. Look at the
<a>tag. If therelattribute containsnofollow,sponsored, orugc, it is not a dofollow link. If there is no rel attribute, or it only has values likenoopener, the link is dofollow. Check a real listing, not the homepage, because some directories dofollow featured spots and nofollow everything else. - Use a highlighter extension. SEO browser extensions can outline nofollow links on any page as you browse, which is faster when you are evaluating ten directories in a sitting.
- Use a database that tracks it. We store the link type as a field on every one of the 1,011+ directories in our database, checked by hand. Filter to dofollow, sort by DR, and skip the inspection work entirely.
One nuance worth knowing: a directory can change its policy after you are listed. High-value listings are worth re-checking quarterly, the same way you would re-run a Domain Rating check to see whether new links are being counted.
Do follow directory submission sites worth starting with
If you are prioritizing by link equity, start with the dofollow entries that also carry real authority. From our database, all verified dofollow:
| Directory | DR | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub | 96 | Free |
| WordPress Plugin Directory | 94 | Free |
| SourceForge | 93 | Freemium |
| Product Hunt | 91 | Free |
| Startup Stash | 76 | Freemium |
| SaaSHub | 72 | Free |
| Toolify | 72 | Freemium |
| Peerlist | 71 | Free |
GitHub and the WordPress Plugin Directory only apply if you ship open source or a plugin, but for those who do, they are the two strongest dofollow links on this list. The rest accept any startup. You can browse every dofollow, high-authority option in the DR 50+ collection, and our launch leaderboard adds one more free dofollow backlink for products that list there. For the full submission order and prep checklist, the startup directories guide covers launch-week sequencing in detail.
The counterweight: do not let "dofollow only" become the strategy. The right sequence is dofollow-first, not dofollow-only. Work through the high-DR dofollow sites for authority, then add the big nofollow profiles (G2, Crunchbase, AlternativeTo, Hacker News) for traffic, trust, and a link profile that looks like a real company earned it.
FAQ
Are nofollow directory links useless for SEO?
No. Google has treated nofollow as a hint rather than a directive since March 2020, meaning it can choose to count those links. Beyond that, nofollow listings on sites like Crunchbase and G2 drive referral traffic, rank for your brand name, and feed the aggregator pages that AI search tools cite.
How do I know if a directory gives dofollow links before submitting?
Inspect an existing listing: right-click the outbound link, choose Inspect, and read the rel attribute on the anchor tag. No rel value means dofollow; nofollow, sponsored, or ugc means qualified. Or use our directory database, which lists the hand-checked link type for every entry.
Should I only submit to dofollow directories?
No. An all-dofollow profile looks manufactured, and you would skip the highest-traffic sites on the internet to get it, since G2, Crunchbase, and Hacker News are all nofollow. Prioritize dofollow for authority, then add the major nofollow profiles for traffic, brand presence, and natural link diversity.
Do dofollow directory links still work in 2026?
Yes, with a condition: the directory has to be curated and relevant. Dofollow links from quality startup directories pass link equity and remain one of the fastest legitimate ways for a new domain to build its first authority. Mass-submitting to auto-approve dofollow farms violates Google's spam policies and can hurt you.
Stop guessing link types
The dofollow vs nofollow question stops being confusing once you check links instead of assuming: read the rel attribute, favor curated dofollow sites first, and keep the big nofollow profiles in the mix. Your next step takes five minutes: pick one directory you were planning to submit to and inspect a listing's outbound link before you invest the time.
Want it done for you? BacklinkBot submits your product by hand to 100+ directories (one-time, from $99), with the dofollow and nofollow mix chosen for you, and sends a proof report of every submission. Or browse the free database of 1,011+ directories, filter by link type, and work the list yourself.
