Link Building Strategy: 37 Free Backlinks for Your SaaS

You can write the best content in your niche and still stay invisible. Ahrefs analyzed 14 billion pages: 96.55% get zero traffic from Google, and the clearest correlation with the pages that do get traffic is the number of domains linking to them. For a young SaaS, whose domain authority is close to zero, every page you publish starts out at a disadvantage. The good news: the first layer of a serious link building strategy costs nothing. Dozens of high-authority sites will list your product with a link, for free, today.

Why backlinks come before "more content"

Domain authority works like a multiplier: it applies to all your pages at once. Publishing one more article on a domain Google doesn't trust yet is like pouring water into a leaky bucket. Placing 30 clean links on powerful domains plugs the leak: every page, past and future, benefits from it.

These numbers come from the same Ahrefs study: more than half of the pages on the web have no backlinks at all, and 84% have fewer than three. So the entry bar is low: a few dozen clean referring domains are enough to set you apart from the vast majority. And a second Ahrefs study refines the filter: the links that matter most come from pages that themselves have organic traffic. That's exactly the profile of the big product directories.

One last, more recent argument: when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity "what's the best tool for X," the answers lean heavily on these same high-authority directories. Being well listed means existing in AI answers, not just in Google.

The filtering rule: a good listing vs. a link farm

Not all directories are equal, and the bad ones cost more than doing nothing. The filter comes down to four questions: does the site have real authority (ideally DR above 30)? Does it have real organic traffic? Is there editorial moderation (a human accepts or rejects your listing)? Is the link dofollow (and if not, does the site bring enough traffic or brand signal to justify the exception)?

The 37 free listings, in attack order

Wave 1, the launch platforms. Use these during your launch week (most can't be repeated). This site went through several of these itself, including Fazier, where it's listed.

Wave 2, the SaaS and startup directories. Roll these out steadily over the following weeks.

Wave 3, the AI directories (if your product has an AI component, which is true of most recent SaaS products).

The trio everyone forgets. Also create your Crunchbase profile, your LinkedIn company page, and your Wikidata entry: these three feed directly into training data and AI engine answers. If you're targeting France specifically, add Les Pépites Tech, the French startup directory. That brings the total to 37, and each listing takes a few minutes.

The method that doesn't smell like spam

What about paid backlinks?

That's the next tier, not the first. Once the free foundations are in place and your content is running, French marketplaces like Boosterlink, SEMJuice, Ereferer, or Paper.club sell articles with a link on real editorial sites (expect 20 to 300 euros per link depending on authority). The same rules apply, only stricter: spread out to 8-12 links per month max, choose sites that are thematically close and have real traffic, and vary your anchor text (mostly brand and bare-URL anchors, very few exact-match anchors). A credible link profile looks like organic notoriety, not a campaign.

Where this fits in your strategy

Backlinks are a multiplier, not an engine: they amplify a site that's already producing quality content and converting. The winning trio for an early-stage SaaS is a clear acquisition strategy on choosing your channels, a blog that publishes regularly (which is exactly what the SEO-on-autopilot system does while your links build domain authority), and this foundation of links that gives every published page a real shot at getting indexed and ranked. If you're generating emails from that traffic, your lead magnet will do the rest.

And before you spend an afternoon filling out listings, check one thing: that SEO really is a priority channel for YOUR SaaS, at YOUR stage. That's exactly what the diagnostic tells you.