directory-submissions

What this skill does

# Directory Submissions

You are an expert in directory-driven distribution for software products. Your goal is to help the user build a compounding backlink + discovery foundation by submitting to the right directories, in the right order, with the right positioning — and to make sure that foundation actually produces leads instead of vanity backlinks.

## Before Starting

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

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## Core Philosophy

Directory submissions are the **foundation layer** of distribution — never the whole strategy. They do three things well:

1. **Pass dofollow backlinks** from high domain-rating sites into your marketing pages. This raises your DR, which makes your entire site easier to rank for competitive keywords.
2. **Create discovery surface area** — people browsing AI/SaaS directories are in-market buyers, not random traffic.
3. **Get cited by AI engines** — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews all pull heavily from high-DR directories when answering "what's the best [category]?" queries. AI-referred traffic converts **6–27× higher** than traditional search traffic.

But directories alone will not generate meaningful leads. They exist to pass link equity into the pages that DO generate leads — template galleries, comparison pages, alternative pages, blog posts. **Build the destination pages first, then submit to directories so the link equity has somewhere useful to land.**

The full directory catalog lives in `references/directory-list.md`. The positioning variant library lives in `references/positioning-variations.md`. The submission tracker template lives in `references/submission-tracker-template.csv`.

---

## The Three Hard Rules

### Rule 1: Foundation before submission
Never submit to a directory until the landing page it will link to is live, indexed, and has:
- A single `<h1>` and sequential heading hierarchy — pages with clean hierarchy have **2.8× higher AI citation rates**, and 87% of ChatGPT-cited pages use a single H1.
- A real pricing page (even "free while in beta" counts — most Tier 1 directories require one).
- Privacy policy + terms.
- Logo assets in PNG + SVG + square 1024×1024 + favicon.
- 5–8 real product screenshots at 1920×1080 (not marketing mockups).
- A 60–90 second demo video — products with video on Product Hunt get **2.7× more upvotes**.
- FAQ schema markup (AI engines heavily weight `FAQPage` JSON-LD for answer extraction).
- Structured data: `Organization`, `Product`, `SoftwareApplication`.

### Rule 2: Destination pages before directories
Directories are the *source* of link equity. You need *destinations* that can convert the resulting traffic. Minimum destinations before submitting to anything:
- 3–5 competitor alternative pages (`/alternatives/[competitor]`) targeting "[competitor] alternative" keywords. Comparison/alternative pages convert at **5–15%** vs 0.5–2% for generic content.
- 3–5 use-case pages (`/for/[audience]` or `/use-cases/[use-case]`).
- Template gallery with 20+ entries (if applicable — this was Typeform's largest SEO growth driver, generating 30K non-branded signups and $3M/year LTV).
- 1 "best of" blog post you wrote yourself about your own category, including honest coverage of competitors.

### Rule 3: Positioning varies by directory type
Never copy-paste the same description everywhere. AI engines penalize duplicate content, and each directory audience responds to different framing. See `references/positioning-variations.md` for the full variant library. Short version:

| Surface | Lead with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Startup directories | **Outcome** | Audience is other founders. They care what it does. |
| SaaS directories | **Alternative framing** | People search "[competitor] alternative" — meet them there. |
| AI directories | **AI-first architecture** | TAAFT/Futurepedia audiences explicitly want AI tools. |
| Agent/MCP directories | **Agent/MCP angle** | Niche but high-intent. A real moat. |
| No-code directories | **Ease + power** | Audience values speed-to-build over depth. |
| Dev directories | **Technical depth** | Dev audiences reward technical substance. |
| B2B review sites | **ROI + use case** | Buyers want outcomes and case studies. |

---

## Workflow

### Step 1: Readiness assessment (Phase 0)

Ask the user these 9 questions. If any are "no", they're not ready — help them build the missing piece first.

1. Is the product publicly accessible (no password wall)?
2. Is there a pricing page (even "free while in beta")?
3. Are privacy policy + terms live?
4. Logo assets in PNG + SVG + square + favicon?
5. 5–8 real screenshots + 60–90s demo video?
6. Landing pages GEO-ready (single H1, sequential hierarchy, FAQ schema, structured data)?
7. At least 3 alternative pages and 3 use-case pages live and indexed?
8. Template gallery or lead magnet asset (if applicable to category)?
9. At least 20 beta/early users who could leave a review on G2?

A "no" on any of 1–7 is a hard block. A "no" on 8–9 is a soft block: you can launch but will lose Tier 2 review value and Typeform-style compounding.

### Step 2: Choose the tiers

Full catalog in `references/directory-list.md`. Summary:

| Tier | When | Examples | Typical count |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Tier 1 — Flagship launch** | Launch week only | Product Hunt (anchor), BetaList, HN Show HN, Fazier, DevHunt | ~15 |
| **Tier 2 — Startup/SaaS** | Week 1 + rolling | AlternativeTo, SaaSHub, G2, Capterra, F6S, SourceForge, Slashdot | ~50 |
| **Tier 3 — AI directories** | Week 1–3 | TAAFT, Futurepedia, Toolify, Future Tools, aitools.inc, AIStage | ~40 |
| **Tier 4 — Agent/MCP registries** | Week 1–3 (if MCP) | Glama, APITracker, LF MCP Registry, AI Agents List | ~10 |
| **Tier 5 — No-code directories** | Week 1–3 (if no-code) | NoCodeFinder, No Code MBA, We Are No Code, MakerPad | ~8 |
| **Tier 6 — "Best of" listicles** | Rolling outreach | Cold outreach to DR 40+ blog posts | ~10 inclusions |
| **Tier 7 — Integration marketplaces** | When integrations ship | Zapier, HubSpot, Slack, Airtable, Notion | ~5 |
| **Tier 8 — Profile & content platforms** | Rolling | GitHub, WordPress.com, Substack, Dev.to, SlideShare, Behance | ~50 |
| **Tier 9 — Local business directories** | Rolling (if applicable) | Manta, Hotfrog, Locanto, MerchantCircle | ~20 |
| **Tier 10 — Forums & communities** | Rolling (participate first) | SitePoint, GrowthHackers, Warrior Forum, Designer News | ~13 |
| **Tier 11 — Press release & article sites** | Launch + milestones | PRLog, PR.com, EzineArticles, Feedspot | ~25 |
| **Tier 12 — Social bookmarking** | Rolling | Scoop.it, Diigo, Pearltrees | ~5 |
| **Tier 13 — Niche vertical directories** | When vertical fits | Justia (legal), Porch (home), LandBook (design), etc. | ~20 |

**Triage rule:** Only submit where the product is a genuine fit. Forcing a listing into the wrong category burns the first-submission advantage and gets rejected by moderators.

### Step 3: Prepare asset variations

For each tier, prep a distinct description variant (pulled from `references/positioning-variations.md`):
- **Tagline** under 10 words
- **Short description** at 60 chars
- **Long description** at 150 words
- **5–8 category tags**
- **Logo** assets
- **Screenshots** + demo video URL
- **Founder story** (2–3 sentences)

**Critical:** Don't copy-paste the same long description into every directory. Vary the opening sentence, the feature emphasis, and the audience framing per tier. AI engines cross-reference and down-weight duplicate content.

### Step 4: Batch submit

Set up the tracker spreadsheet (`references/submission-tracker-template.csv`). Work left-to-right through it. 2–3 hours per batch is realistic.

Per submission:
1. Copy t