Backlink
SEOAn inbound link from another website to yours. The count matters less than the number of distinct domains linking, their quality, and whether the links pass ranking signals.
Directory
Badge embed
A copy-paste snippet, usually an image wrapped in a link, that a maker installs on their own site to show they were featured on a directory.
Also called launch badge, embed badge, award badge
A badge embed is the small graphic a directory gives a maker to display on their homepage or footer, wrapped in a link back to the listing. Product Hunt’s embeddable award badges are the canonical version and the mechanic almost every other directory copied.
Badges are the compounding link asset in this category. They arrive in the approval email at the moment a maker is most motivated to install one, they sit on a site the maker controls, and each one produces a new referring domain rather than another link from a domain the directory already has.
Directories differ sharply on whether a badge is optional. Fazier requires one on the homepage or footer for its free tier, which effectively makes that tier a link exchange. TinyLaunch makes the outbound link conditional on your badge linking back with a followed link. On this site the badge is one of three ways to earn a dofollow attribute rather than a requirement, so a maker who does not want a badge on their site can still earn the link through votes or an editor’s pick.
Where a badge is tied to a link attribute, expect it to be verified. Here a weekly crawler checks that the badge is present and followed, with an email and seven days of grace before anything reverts.
Last reviewed .
See also
Referring domain
SEOA distinct website that links to yours at least once. Counted per domain rather than per link, which makes it a far better measure of a link profile than backlink count.
Link attributes that tell search engines whether to pass ranking signals to the destination. Dofollow is the default; nofollow asks engines not to count the link as an endorsement.
Editor's pick
DirectoryA listing selected by a directory’s editorial team rather than by community voting, usually carrying placement, a badge, and any benefits that votes would otherwise unlock.