500+ Free Web Directories to Submit Your Site

What are Directories?

Directory is the place where you can find list of websites based on category and subcategory. Web directories collate the links of all websites and display under classified categories. Generally, they list the domain of a site in one category rather than categorizing different pages of a same domain under separate categories.

Some of directories do not allow search engine crawlers to fetch their links and only used by human. Here we discuss best directories available for your site submission especially for the effectiveness of SEO purposes. When you submit your site make sure you select appropriate category and subcategory. It may take up to few months for the directories to link your site and some of the directories offer only paid submission.

Classification of Web Directories

Web directories can be classified under three categories:

General Directories

These are general directories linking all type of sites under relevant categories and subcategories after reviewing. There is also a special kind of general directories available called RSS directories. They are same as web directories but contain RSS feeds instead of site links. Below are some of the popular general directories you can submit your site.

• Best of the Web Directory
• JoeAnt
• Open Directory Project  or DMOZ (Closed)
• Starting Point Directory
• World Wide Web Virtual Library

Special Directories

If you are interested in submitting your site only to the relevant audience then special directories are highly recommended.

• Business.com – Business directory that charges a fee for review and operates as a Pay per click search engine.

Reciprocal Directories

It is a kind of link exchange where they will list your site only if you are backlinking them in your site. You can find plenty of reciprocal link directories in the web which we do not recommend from SEO perspective.

Why Directory Submission is Important?

Submitting your site to directories is equivalently important as submitting your site to search engines.

• Most of the search engines will automatically fetch meta description and title from the directories when it is more relevant or not available on your site.
• Search engines index pages from the reliable directories.
• You can get high quality targeted traffic directly from the directories. High quality links from directories will improve ranking of your website in Google search results.
• Conversion rate from the directory traffic will be high as users land on your page with specific intention.

Submit Your Site to Best Free Web Directories

Submit your site to the following free Web Directories to improve your web traffic and search engine ranking. Earlier, we have prepared the list based on the Google PageRank. However, with the removal of PageRank mechanism we have mentioned the MOZ domain authority and page authority to understand the directory value. After landing on the directory website, look for add or submit or suggest link to submit your site.

Important Points

• The above list is merely an attempt to help you. It does not guarantee in anyway the quality of the linked web directories. Check the credibility of the directory before you submit your site.
• Most of the directories are closed (like DMOZ) and the same domain may be used for different purposes over time. We try to update this page periodically, however ensure to check after landing on the site.
• Some directories may change the submission guidelines and ask for premium payment. Ensure read their terms before submitting your site.
• Build your link gradually only under relevant category.
• Google may identify some of the directories as unnatural and will penalize you for creating link with those directories. In such a case you can request directory owner to remove the link or use Disavow link tool to demote the link in Google Search Console.