I got my new SaaS domain from DR 0 to DR 45 in 30 days. The 3 backlinks that did it (one is from Stripe Climate, of all places).
Quick context: I built a Shopify app to $800K ARR over 5 years (still runs on autopilot at $70K/mo with a 3-person team). Started a new SaaS recently. Brand new domain, zero authority, no agency, no budget.
30 days later the domain is DR 45. Three backlinks did most of the work. Skipping the "write good content" advice. Here are the exact mechanics.
1. Shopify App Store listing - DR 91 backlink
If you ship anything that can be a Shopify app, list it. The listing page on shopify is DR 91. The "Developer website" field is a dofollow backlink that sticks.
I updated the developer website URL on my old app's listing to point to the new domain. One-line change, took 5 minutes.
No Shopify app? Every major platform with a marketplace has the same pattern: Slack directory, Notion gallery, Chrome web store, Zapier and Make app directories. Find the one closest to your stack.
2. GitHub repo "website" field - DR 96 backlink
Open any repo you own. Top right, "About" section. There's a "Website" field most people leave blank. Drop your domain there.
GitHub is DR 96. Every public repo with a website field is a dofollow backlink. Free, takes 90 seconds. Pin the repos to your profile for extra visibility.
- Stripe Climate - DR 93 backlink (the unexpected one)
The one most founders miss. Stripe runs a program called Stripe Climate where you commit a percentage of revenue to carbon removal. Sign up, commit a small percentage, get listed on stripe dedicated climate page as a contributing company. Dofollow link to your domain. DR 93.
You do actually pay the percentage. Mine is single-digit dollars a month. As a backlink-acquisition cost it is the cheapest DR 90+ link I have ever bought. As climate spend, something I would have done anyway.
What did NOT move the needle:
- Guest posts on DR 60-70 SaaS blogs. Slow to land, marginal lift.
- Indie Hackers (DR 80 but most outbound links are nofollow).
- X profile link (nofollow).
- Product Hunt maker profile link (DR 91 but nofollow).
The pattern: dofollow links from DR 90+ sources where the platform's whole business is having companies on it. Marketplaces, directories, partner programs. Editorial links matter long-term but they are not what takes a fresh domain from 0 to 45 in 30 days.
Currently those links are still helping me and am at 51 after 3 months
Question for the sub: what's the cleverest backlink you've found that the SaaS ecosystem hasn't really written about yet?
Edit: Attaching the ahrefs screenshot of the backlinks i got as i see a lot of comments telling it's false. Also you can ask for the link of my SaaS in DM and check yourself too. Just trying to help here for those who actually want
