What Backlink means
A backlink is a link on someone else's website that points to yours. Both people and search engines treat backlinks as a clue that your page might be worth a visit.
A founder who gets listed on ten directories now has ten potential backlinks, but if half of those directories use nofollow links, or the listing gets removed later, the real count of useful links is much smaller than ten.
Not every backlink is equal, and having many backlinks is not the same as having valuable ones. A single link from a relevant, trusted site can matter more than dozens from unrelated or low-quality pages.
Check your current backlinks with a backlink tool, then sort by source quality and relevance to your product instead of by raw count.
Why this matters for builders
Directory listings, press, and guides can create backlinks — quality matters more than volume.
Mistake builders make often
Builders sometimes chase the highest number of backlinks possible, submitting to low-quality directories that add little real value and can look spammy in bulk.
What to do now
Read Do directory backlinks help SEO? and compare it against your own backlink list before adding more low-value directories.