Launch badges on your site: do they help your SEO or the directory's?
A launch badge is a link from your site to the directory, so it helps the directory. When a badge-for-link trade is fine and when it becomes a link scheme.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·7 min read
A launch badge is a link from your site to the directory, so the backlink it creates belongs to the directory, not to you. What you get in return is the directory's link to your site, and on some platforms that link is only granted, or only followed, while the badge stays on your page.
That makes the badge a trade, and a single trade with a relevant directory is normal on the web. It turns into a problem when you repeat it across many directories to collect followed links, because Google's link spam policy lists "excessive link exchanges" as link spam. Below is how the trade works, where Google draws its lines, and how to launch without a badge at all.
What is a badge backlink?
A badge backlink is the link inside a "Featured on" or "Launched on" image that a directory asks you to embed on your site. The image points at your listing on the directory, so every page carrying the badge sends a link to the directory's domain. For you, it is an outbound link.
A typical badge snippet looks like this:
<a href="https://directory.example/products/your-product">
<img src="https://directory.example/badge.svg" alt="Featured on Directory" width="200" height="54">
</a>
Three details in that snippet decide how search engines treat it. The href sets which page receives the link. The alt text acts as the anchor text, because the link wraps an image. And the absence of a rel attribute means the link is followed. Adding rel="nofollow" tells Google you'd "rather Google not associate your site with, or crawl the linked page from, your site," in its own words. The difference between the two is in nofollow vs dofollow backlinks.
Who does a launch badge help, you or the directory?
The badge helps the directory: it collects a link from every site that embeds it. You benefit only through what the directory gives back, usually its own link to your site, and occasionally a trust signal for visitors who recognise the badge.
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
Do launch badges give you a backlink?
No. A badge is a link from your site to the directory, so the backlink goes to the directory. What you may get in return is the directory's link to your site, which some directories only grant or only follow if the badge stays up.
SaaSCity is unusually direct about the trade. Its pricing page says: "The free dofollow backlink is a trade: you link to SaaSCity with our badge, we link back to you from a DR 64+ domain." It verifies the badge is live on your site "before upgrading your link and unlocking map placement." It also names the costs plainly: the badge "costs you an outbound link and a place in the queue."
So when you weigh a badge, compare what goes out with what comes back:
You give
You get
A link from your site to the directory, for as long as the badge stays up
A link from your listing page on the directory to your site
Space on your page, and the directory's branding next to yours
Possibly a followed link, if the directory follows its outbound links
An association between your site and the directory in Google's link graph
Referral visits from the listing, which SaaSCity itself calls "modest"
If the directory's link back to you is nofollow, or the directory is not relevant to your product, the trade gives you almost nothing for a link that helps them. Which platforms follow their link, and on what condition, is covered in which launch platforms give a dofollow link.
When does a badge trade become a link scheme?
A badge becomes a link-scheme risk when it is part of a pattern Google names: swapping links with many sites mainly to cross-link, agreeing to a required link you are not allowed to qualify, or embedding keyword-rich links in a widget spread across many sites. One badge for one relevant directory is not that pattern.
Google's link spam policy lists these examples, among others:
"Excessive link exchanges ('Link to me and I'll link to you') or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking."
"Requiring a link as part of a Terms of Service, contract, or similar arrangement without allowing a third-party content owner the choice of qualifying the outbound link."
"Keyword-rich, hidden, or low-quality links embedded in widgets that are distributed across various sites."
"Low-quality directory or bookmark site links."
"Exchanging goods or services for links."
Read from the maker's side, the patterns look like this:
Pattern
Why it's risky
The safer version
A "Featured on" row of badges from ten or twenty directories, each traded for a followed link
Reads as the excessive link exchange Google lists as link spam
One or two badges from directories your buyers actually browse
A directory whose free plan requires a followed badge link
Matches "requiring a link" if you can't add rel="nofollow"
Ask whether the badge can carry nofollow, or pay to skip it
A badge whose alt text is a keyword phrase such as "best AI writing tool"
Keyword-rich anchors in distributed widgets are named in the policy
Alt text that is just the directory's name
The badge in your site-wide footer
One trade becomes a link from every page you publish
The badge on a single page, such as an "as seen on" section
Badges from low-quality directories that exist to sell listings
"Low-quality directory or bookmark site links" is on the list
Skip directories you would not want a customer to see
Google's stated approach is to neutralise links like these. In its December 2022 link spam update, Google said SpamBrain could now detect "both sites buying links, and sites used for the purpose of passing outgoing links," and that its "algorithms and manual actions aim to nullify these unnatural links at scale." So the likeliest cost of a wall of traded badges is that the links you traded for count for nothing, though a pattern large enough can still draw a manual action.
What is a reasonable way to use a launch badge?
Keep it to one badge from a directory relevant to your product, placed on one page, with the directory's name as its text. Add it because the directory is one your buyers recognise, not because it unlocks a link. If the terms allow it, qualify the link with rel="nofollow".
Follow this order before you paste any badge code:
Read the directory's terms: is the badge required, and does it have to be followed? Find the answer on its pricing or FAQ page, not in the badge embed box.
Check the directory is relevant. A directory your buyers browse is worth a line of your page; a directory that only sells listings is not.
Edit the snippet: set the alt text to the directory's name, and add rel="nofollow" if the terms allow it.
Place it on one page. A press, "as seen on" or launch-announcement section keeps it to a single link.
Put a reminder in your calendar to review badges each quarter, and remove any whose listing is gone or whose directory no longer suits you.
How do launch platforms handle badges?
Platforms split three ways: some require a badge for their free plan, some offer a fee instead of the badge, and some never ask for one. Paying generally removes the badge. The terms below were read on each platform's own pages in September 2026.
Platform
Badge on the free route
How to avoid the badge
SaaSCity
Required; verified live before the link is upgraded and the map placement unlocked
Quick Pass, $19.99 one time, "No badge required"
Uneed
Not mentioned on the pricing page; the free line is conditioned on an upvote score instead
Nothing to avoid
BetaList
Not mentioned; every submission is paid
Nothing to avoid
LaunchScaler's two routes work like this: the free listing asks for "Our badge on your site or a one-time fee to skip it," and the Premium launch at $29 has "Nothing to put on your site, paying skips the badge." For the full comparison of the two platforms that make badges part of the free plan, see LaunchScaler vs SaaSCity.
Should you keep a badge after launch week?
Keep it only while the listing it points to is live and the directory still suits you. On platforms that verify the badge to keep your link, removing it can cost you the link, so check the terms before you clean up. On platforms that don't, a badge is purely your choice.
Two checks are worth doing when you review old badges. First, click the badge: if it lands on a 404 or a parked domain, remove it, because you are now linking visitors to a dead page. Second, look at the directory's own link back to you, using your browser's view-source on the listing page. If the link you traded for is now nofollow or gone, the trade has ended and so can the badge.
Launch without a badge on your site
If you would rather not carry any directory's branding or send it a link from your site, LaunchScaler's Premium launch skips the badge entirely: $29 one-time, "Nothing to put on your site, paying skips the badge." It books any open day, today included, writes your listing for you from your own scan, and keeps the listing in the permanent curated index after its standing decays. The followed link still needs your site to pass the readiness scan, since paying doesn't buy the link. Get Premium and choose your day.
A single badge on a relevant directory is an ordinary link. Google's link spam policy names excessive link exchanges, links required by an agreement without letting the site owner qualify them, and keyword-rich links in widgets distributed across many sites.
03
Should a directory badge link be nofollow?
If the badge exists only because the directory asked for it in exchange for a listing, rel="nofollow" is the conservative choice. Some directories require the badge link to be followed for their free plan, so read the terms before you add it.
04
Can I launch without putting a badge on my site?
Yes. SaaSCity's Quick Pass and LaunchScaler's Premium launch both skip the badge for a one-time payment, and LaunchScaler's free listing offers a one-time fee instead of the badge.
05
Where should I put a launch badge on my site?
On one relevant page, such as a press or 'as seen on' section, with the directory's name as the link text. A badge repeated in the footer of every page turns one link into hundreds.
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