Why Directory Backlinks Matter — Proof from DevGurux

See why directory & profile backlinks (Clutch, GelbeSeiten, Behance, LinkedIn) prove DevGurux’s authority — and how to turn them into measurable SEO value.

Proof: here’s how DevGurux’s directory and profile backlinks (Clutch, GelbeSeiten, Behance, LinkedIn, TopDevelopers) build authority — and why some tools don’t count them.

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Estimated Reading Time
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Why Directory Backlinks Matter — Proof from DevGurux

If you’ve ever wondered why directory backlinks are indexed but not counted by SEO tools, you’re not alone. Directory backlinks not counted by third-party crawlers (like Ahrefs or SEMrush) still matter for brand trust, indexing, and conversions — and I’ll show you real, verifiable proof from DevGurux (Clutch, GelbeSeiten, Behance, LinkedIn and more), explain why some links don’t show up in backlink tools, and — most importantly — give you practical steps to turn those citations into measurable SEO value.

Table of contents

  1. Introduction — what we found and why it matters
  2. Quick technical primer: how backlinks are (and aren’t) counted
  3. Our live proof: the profile & directory links we inspected
  4. Why many tools don’t “count” these links (clear reasons)
  5. How this page helps DevGurux’s authority (and will help yours)
  6. Practical steps you can take now (technical + outreach)
  7. Embed & sharing (make pages link back to you properly)
  8. FAQ (short, practical answers)
  9. Conclusion & call to action

1 — Introduction: what we inspected and why it matters

Featured-snippet style summary: We inspected DevGurux’s major profile and directory listings (Clutch, TheManifest, GelbeSeiten, Behance, LinkedIn, TopDevelopers, Product Hunt, Pinterest) and found the links are real and indexed — but many are implemented in ways that third-party backlink tools don’t treat as strong dofollow backlinks.

This does not mean they are useless. These listings add trust, referral traffic, and brand signals. But to increase measurable authority (the type tools count), you need a small set of targeted follow-up actions — which I’ll walk you through.

2 — Quick technical primer: how backlinks are (and aren’t) counted

Featured-snippet summary: Not all links are equal. Search engines and link-audit tools evaluate link attributes (dofollow vs nofollow/ugc/sponsored), link delivery (direct <a href> vs JS/redirects), and crawlability. Tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush only count links they can crawl and classify as link equity-passing.

Short checklist of link attributes that matter:

  • rel="nofollow" or rel="ugc" → usually no PageRank passed
  • Redirect wrapped links (r.clutch.co/redirect?...) → often tracked but may be classified differently
  • JS-rendered or click-only links → crawlers may miss them
  • Links inside widgets/profile pages vs editorial paragraphs → editorial links carry more value

3 — Our live proof: the profile & directory links we inspected

Featured-snippet summary: Here are real links we verified on your profiles and directory listings — each one is live and visible when inspected, and many are already indexed by Google.

Links we checked and the HTML / behavior you inspected:

  • GelbeSeiten (German directory) — link: https://www.gelbeseiten.de/gsbiz/6853e832-e1cf-4398-8039-4bc672b53074
    Inspected HTML: <a href="https://devgurux.com" ... rel="noopener" ...>Website</a> — a visible link, often rendered with JS event attributes on the page.
  • LinkedIn (profile) — link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharjeel-bin-amir-7a1807346/
    Inspected HTML: shows anchor to https://devgurux.com/ but LinkedIn may render links dynamically and limit crawling.
  • Behance (portfolio profile) — link: https://www.behance.net/website_developer
    Inspected HTML: <a rel="ugc" ... href="https://devgurux.com/">devgurux.com</a> — marked rel="ugc".
  • Clutch (profile pages) — links:
    https://clutch.co/profile/devgurux/web-programming-package and https://clutch.co/profile/devgurux/web-design-package
    Inspected HTML: Clutch sends links through a redirect (r.clutch.co/redirect?...&u=https://devgurux.com/) and often uses rel="nofollow".
  • TheManifest (profile) — https://themanifest.com/company/devgurux — also uses redirect/wrapped links with rel="nofollow".
  • TopDevelopers — https://www.topdevelopers.co/profile/devgurux — profile link uses rel="nofollow" in HTML.
  • Product Hunt / Pinterest / others — some pages are public, some require visibility tweaks to be indexed.

What we learned: Google indexes these pages and can see your domain; some sites mark links as ugc or nofollow, some use redirect wrappers, and some are dynamically rendered. That combination explains why tools sometimes don’t count them.

4 — Why many backlink tools won’t count these links (clear reasons)

Featured-snippet summary: The main reasons third-party tools ignore or undercount these backlinks are link attribute tags, redirect/tracking wrappers, JavaScript rendering, and crawler access restrictions.

Concretely:

  • Nofollow/UGC tags: Many directory/profile links explicitly tell crawlers not to pass link equity. Tools follow suit.
  • Redirect wrappers: Tracking redirects obscure the direct link for some crawlers. Google may follow them, but tools vary.
  • JS & click-only links: If a link only appears after an action, crawlers may not execute that action and then skip the link.
  • Robots/crawler blocks: Sites that block bots or throttle them (e.g., LinkedIn) prevent third-party crawlers from indexing the link.

Bottom line: The links are real and valuable for brand and traffic — they’re just implemented in ways that reduce the amount of link equity these tools report.

5 — How this article (and your public proofs) strengthens DevGurux’s authority

Featured-snippet summary: Publishing a single, well-structured proof article that documents your directory listings and explains their value creates a central hub page that earns links and internal authority.

How this page helps:

  • Consolidates trust signals: Google sees a maintained hub describing trusted directory mentions.
  • Attracts editorial links: Other sites prefer linking to an explanatory article than to a profile-only page.
  • Improves internal linking: Link from this hub to high-value pages (tools and services) and pass link equity internally.
  • Provides share/embed assets: Easier for partners & clients to link to you with dofollow references.

Internal pages to link from this hub (place these contextual links in the body where relevant):

6 — Practical, prioritized steps to get these listings counted as authority signals

Featured-snippet summary: Do these 8 things in order — they’re the fastest way to convert profile citations into counted authority.

Immediate (Day 0–7)

  1. Claim & update profiles — ensure every listing (Clutch, TopDevelopers, GelbeSeiten, TheManifest, Behance, LinkedIn) points to the canonical https://devgurux.com/ and has full descriptions, case studies and logo.
  2. Request profile edits where possible — politely ask Clutch/TopDevelopers to add a direct (non-redirected) link if their platform supports it. Some sites allow direct URL fields.
  3. Add schema & link from this hub page — add Article schema and FAQ schema (schema block provided below) so Google clearly understands this hub.

Short term (Week 2–6)

  1. Publish a 1-page case study per directory mention — e.g., “How a Clutch badge contributed to client trust” — and link back to the directory page.
  2. Create an embeddable widget (a small badge + link snippet) for partners and clients. Encourage them to embed it (that will create dofollow links on their sites).

Mid term (Month 1–3)

  1. Outreach for editorial links — send journalists, local press, and niche blogs your new hub. Offer the hub as a reference for “companies with verified directory listings.”
  2. Guest posts & citations — get 5–10 contextual dofollow links from niche blogs that reference your hub article (not just your homepage).

Ongoing

  1. Monitor & iterate — watch Google Search Console, backlink tools, and referral traffic. Replace weak listings by focusing on editorial links.

7 — Embed & sharing: make it easy for others to link to you

Featured-snippet summary: Offer a preformatted embed code and a short badge + attribution text so people link back properly (and often dofollow).

Copy / Badge for partners (pasteable snippet for sites):
HTML snippet (for developers):

<a href="https://devgurux.com/" title="DevGurux — web development & tools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">
  <img src="https://devgurux.com/wp-content/uploads/devgurux-badge.png" alt="DevGurux — website development" style="width:200px;">
</a>

(If you prefer not to include HTML, offer text to copy: DevGurux — https://devgurux.com/ - web development & tools.)

Ask partners to place the embed inside content (editorial placement > footer) and, where possible, as a normal link (not rel=”nofollow”).

8 — FAQ (short, action-oriented answers)

Featured-snippet style answers (15–25 words each):

  1. Why don’t some backlinks show in Ahrefs or SEMrush?
    Because those tools only count links they can crawl or that are not tagged nofollow, ugc, or hidden by JS.
  2. Does a nofollow or ugc link still help?
    Yes — it helps brand trust, referral traffic, and indexing even if it doesn’t pass PageRank directly.
  3. Can I force Google to count a link?
    No — but you can get editorial dofollow links and create a hub page to consolidate signals.
  4. Should I disavow directory links?
    Only disavow links that are spammy or toxic; trusted directories should be kept as trust signals.
  5. How quickly will my authority increase?
    Editorial link building and hub publication can show measurable results in 4–12 weeks.

9 — Conclusion & friendly call to action

Featured-snippet summary: Directory and profile links matter — even if tools undercount them — and a focused hub + outreach plan will convert those signals into measurable authority.

If you want a done-for-you version of this strategy, I can:

  • create and publish this hub on DevGurux (optimized for Rank Math),
  • generate the embed/badge images and code, and
  • run a 30-day outreach sequence to convert mentions into editorial links.

👉 Ready to proceed? Try the Website Cost Calculator (it’s a strong trust-builder we link to from this hub): https://devgurux.com/website-cost-calculator/

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