How to Build Backlinks for a New Website

The fastest way to build backlinks for a new website is to start with directory submissions and launch platforms, not guest posts or outreach. A domain with zero history has nothing to offer a guest post editor and no relationship to lean on for outreach, but directories and launch platforms accept new products by design. Submit to 30 to 50 relevant directories and 2 to 3 launch platforms first, check your Domain Rating four weeks later, then layer in resource pages and guest posts once you have a track record to point to.

This is the order that actually works for a domain at DR 0, and it is different from the advice written for sites that already have some authority.

Why backlink advice for established sites does not work for new ones

Most link building guides assume you already have DR 20+, some organic traffic, and content worth linking to. They tell you to do outreach, build "linkable assets," or pitch guest posts. None of that works on day one.

Key insight: A brand-new domain is invisible to Google and irrelevant to outreach targets. The first 30 days of link building are about getting crawled and trusted, not about earning editorial links.

A guest post editor checking your site before publishing your byline link will see a domain registered last month with no content and no traffic. That is an easy pass for them. A resource page curator scanning for tools to add will not find you because you are not indexed deeply enough to show up in their research. You need links that do not require you to already be established. That is exactly what directories and launch platforms are built for.

Step 1: directory submissions (your first 2 weeks)

Directory submission is the highest-leverage move for a new site because these sites exist specifically to list new products. No editorial gatekeeping beyond basic relevance, no waiting for someone to notice you.

A small sapling island just beginning to grow its first rope-bridge, representing a new website's first backlinks

Start with our database of 1,011+ directories, filtered to the ones with real Domain Rating and dofollow links. A few reference points from directories in our own database: GitHub sits at DR 96, Product Hunt at DR 91, SourceForge at DR 93, all dofollow. Below that, dozens of dofollow directories in the DR 44 to 70 range accept new products with light or no review, which is exactly what a DR 0 domain needs early. You can browse the full dofollow set in our DR 50+ collection and the free directories collection if budget is zero.

Two rules for this step:

Relevance beats volume. Ten directories that actually fit your category (SaaS, AI tool, dev tool) beat fifty generic business directories. Check our SaaS directories and AI tool directories lists if either applies. If you are a general startup without a niche fit yet, the broader startup directories list is the better starting point.
Track what goes live. Free directory queues get abandoned and some submissions are silently rejected. Keep a sheet with directory, date, status, live URL. Re-check after two weeks.
Mind dofollow vs nofollow. Not every directory link passes authority the same way, and that is fine, since nofollow profiles on high-traffic sites still send visitors and build brand footprint. What matters is knowing the difference before you plan around it. See our breakdown of dofollow vs nofollow directories for which is which.

Before you submit anywhere, build a small prep kit once so you are not rewriting the same assets 30 times: a square logo (512x512 and 256x256), a one-line tagline under 60 characters, descriptions at 50, 150, and 300 words, and 3 to 5 screenshots. Directories cap description length differently, and having all three lengths ready cuts a 20-minute form down to 3 minutes.

If you would rather not spend the 20 to 40 hours this takes, this is the exact gap BacklinkBot's done-for-you service fills: we submit your product by hand to 100+ directories starting at $99, and send a proof report showing where you landed.

Step 2: launch platforms (week 1 to 2, timed with your actual launch)

Launch platforms are the second lever, and they work best timed around an actual release, not run whenever. Product Hunt is still the highest-impact single day for a tech product: DR 91, dofollow, real audience. Alongside it, smaller Product Hunt alternatives like DevHunt, Uneed, and Fazier give dofollow links with far less competition for attention, which matters when you have zero existing following to rally votes.

List your product on our own launch leaderboard too. It works the same way as Product Hunt on a smaller scale: a listing there earns a free dofollow backlink, and it is built specifically for early-stage products that will not win the front page of a bigger platform yet.

Sequence launches over a week rather than dumping them all on day one. That gives you a fresh "we launched on X" moment for social every day, and it spreads your review-queue risk across platforms instead of betting everything on one.

Step 3: resource pages and guest posts (once you have something to show)

Once your directory submissions are live and indexed, usually 3 to 4 weeks in, you have something guest post editors and resource page curators can actually verify: a real domain with real listings, maybe early traffic, a working product.

Resource pages are curated lists like "tools for indie hackers" or "best SaaS for X." Find them by searching "tools for [your category]" inurl:resources or "useful links" [your niche] and pitch a one-line addition, not a full article. These convert faster than guest posts because the curator is just adding a line, not editing a full piece.

Guest posts take longer to land and longer to pay off. Target blogs in your niche that already publish contributor content (check their footer or "write for us" page), pitch a specific angle backed by your own data or experience, and expect a 2 to 6 week turnaround from pitch to published link. This is a month-3-and-beyond tactic for a new site, not a week-1 one.

Community engagement, particularly threads on r/SaaS and r/EntrepreneurRideAlong where founders document their DR growth, is also where some of your best directory picks come from. One founder there documented going from DR 0 to DR 6 and 1,000 visitors in three weeks off roughly 50 directory submissions with no ads and no content, which lines up with the sequence in this post.

A quieter version of the same idea: answer questions in your niche's subreddit or forum without pitching your product. When someone eventually asks "what do you use for X," you have a real account with history, and a mention there reads as a recommendation, not an ad. This does not produce a dofollow link most of the time, but it produces the kind of brand-search volume that Google's own algorithms treat as a trust signal, and it is where a lot of resource-page curators find sites to add in the first place.

Mistakes that waste a new site's first month

Three patterns show up over and over with brand-new domains, and all three are avoidable:

Buying a "1,000 directory submissions" package. Bulk services that promise thousands of listings overnight are almost always low-quality, irrelevant, or outright link farms. You get a DR bump that Google later discounts, or worse, flags. Thirty relevant directories beat a thousand random ones every time.
Skipping the prep kit and rewriting assets each time. This is the single biggest time sink founders report. Twenty minutes per directory turns into three minutes once your logo, tagline, and three description lengths are ready to paste.
Checking Domain Rating every day. DR tools recrawl on their own schedule, not yours. Checking daily in week one just creates anxiety with no signal. Check at week 4 and week 8 instead.

Realistic timeline for a brand-new domain

Set expectations before you start, because directory and launch links take time to show up in Domain Rating tools, and even longer to move actual rankings.

Week	What you're doing	What to expect
1-2	Directory submissions (30-50), prep launch assets	No visible DR change yet, links are still being crawled
2-3	Launch platform sequence (Product Hunt + alternatives + our launch page)	First DR movement as high-authority dofollow links get indexed
4-6	Check DR, start resource page outreach	DR 0 to single digits is common; some sites see DR 5-8
8-12	First guest post pitches land, directories fully indexed	DR climbing steadily if submissions were relevant and consistent

Run your domain through a free Domain Rating checker before you submit anywhere, then again at week 4 and week 8. That is roughly how long it takes Google and third-party crawlers to catch up with new links, so checking daily just creates noise.

Do not expect specific ranking outcomes from this alone. Directory and launch links get you crawled, indexed, and trusted enough that your content and product start to count for something, they do not guarantee page-one rankings by themselves.

FAQ

How many backlinks does a brand-new website need?

There is no fixed number, but 30 to 50 relevant directory listings plus 2 to 3 launch platform links is a solid foundation for the first month. Past that, quality of source matters more than count, and a handful of resource page or guest post links from relevant sites do more than another 50 low-relevance directories.

How long until a new website sees Domain Rating movement?

Expect the first movement around 4 weeks, with more meaningful gains by week 8 to 12 if you kept submitting relevant, dofollow sources. Links need to be crawled by Google and by third-party tools like Ahrefs before they count, so daily checking will not show you anything useful in week one.

Should I pay for directory submissions on a brand-new site?

Only when the directory has real traffic in your category and you need placement timed to your launch. The backlink itself is identical whether you paid to skip the queue or waited for free. Start with our free directories collection and reserve paid placements for the few that genuinely reach your audience.

Is it safe to submit to that many directories at once for a new site?

Yes, as long as they are real, curated, relevant directories and not a bulk-blast service promising thousands of links overnight. Google's spam policies target link schemes and irrelevant mass submissions, not a founder submitting to 30 to 50 legitimate, categorized directories over two weeks.