What makes a good web directory is simple: a real person reviews every submission, the rules are published, the categories are tidy, dead sites get removed and the pages are indexed and visited by real people. A directory with those features can send you a few interested visitors. One without them is usually a link farm, and a listing there is worth nothing or worse.
Bloghints started in 2006 as a hand-checked web directory, and today it publishes lists of directories and other webmaster resources instead. This page explains the features I look for before adding a directory to a list, the warning signs that keep one out, and what each column in the Bloghints tables means.
What makes a good web directory?
No single feature proves a directory is good, but the good ones tend to share most of these:
- Human review. Someone looks at each site before it goes live. You can often tell from the rules page, from a review queue or from the fact that weak sites are simply missing.
- Clear, public rules. What the directory accepts, what it refuses, how titles and descriptions should look, and how long review takes.
- Sensible categories. Categories that match real topics, with listings that belong there. A "Health" category full of casino and loan sites tells you nobody is editing.
- Useful listings. Each entry has a proper name and a short description written for people, not a string of keywords.
- Maintenance. Dead, moved and parked sites get removed. If half the listings you click no longer work, the owner has stopped caring.
- Indexed pages. Category pages show up in Google when you search for the directory's domain with the
site:operator. A listing on a page Google never indexes cannot send search visitors. - Honest pricing. If there is a paid option, the price and what it buys are stated up front. Paid links should carry
rel="sponsored"orrel="nofollow", which is what Google asks for, so a directory that does this is following the rules, not hiding something. - A reachable owner. A contact page or email that someone answers, so you can fix or remove your listing later.
Good signs and warning signs
Google's spam policies list "low-quality directory or bookmark site links" and "excessive link exchanges" as link spam, so it pays to know which side of that line a directory sits on.
| Good sign | Warning sign |
|---|---|
| Submissions wait for review | Every site is approved instantly, whatever it is |
| Rules page that refuses spam topics | No rules, or rules that nobody enforces |
| Free listing with no strings attached | Free listing only if you add a reciprocal link |
| A few ads around useful content | More ads than listings |
| Listings link to working sites | Many broken, parked or for-sale domains |
| Category pages indexed in Google | Few or no pages indexed |
| Focused on a topic or region | Promises to "submit you to thousands of directories" |
How to check a directory in five minutes
- Search Google for
site:followed by the directory's domain and see whether category pages appear. - Open two or three categories near your topic. Are the listings relevant, and are they recent?
- Click a handful of listed sites. Count how many are dead or parked.
- Read the rules or FAQ page. Look for human review, banned topics and any reciprocal link condition.
- Open the submit page. If it is only a payment form with no review mentioned, be careful.
Our guide on how to spot a spammy web directory goes deeper into the warning signs.
What the columns on Bloghints lists mean
Every site on our lists was added and live-linked by hand. That is what made Bloghints different from lists copied from other sites without checking, and it is still the rule. The tables are kept short on purpose, so here is what each part tells you.
Website
The site name links straight to the directory, so you can check it yourself before submitting. Some lists also show a price, category or short description column where that helps you choose. Long lists have a filter box above the table, so you can type a word or domain and find a site without scrolling.
IP Address
This is the server address the directory's domain pointed to when we checked it. If it says "Not updated yet", we have not recorded it. The IP address is not a quality score. Google staff have said for years that shared IP addresses are normal and are not a ranking problem; years ago I paid extra for hosting with a dedicated IP out of fear of a "bad neighbourhood", and I could never tell whether it made any difference. The column is useful for something else: when several directories on a list share the same address, they may be run by the same owner on the same server. Submitting to all of them is closer to one listing than to many.
Featured listings
Rows marked with a star sit at the top of a list. These are featured listings that directory owners paid for. Everything below them is a free listing, ordered by us, and free listings go through the same hand review. A featured spot buys position on our list, not our opinion of the directory.
Links verified
The date under each table shows when the links in that list were last checked. Since the move to our new CMS, a link checker revisits listed sites on a schedule and flags ones that are dead, moved to another domain or parked. Links that keep failing can be hidden until the site works again.
If you want to see how we use these lists, start with the free directory list or the paid directory list, and read our directory submission guidelines before you fill in any forms.
Knowing what makes a good web directory saves you hours of submitting to sites that nobody visits. Check for human review, clear rules, working listings and indexed pages, ignore the rest, and if you run a directory that meets that bar, you can submit your directory to Bloghints for a hand review.
Frequently asked questions
Are free web directories still worth using?
A few are, mainly for discovery and, for local businesses, consistent citations. Most free general directories send little traffic and many listings are never indexed. Pick a small number of reviewed, relevant directories instead of submitting everywhere.
Does the IP address of a directory affect my SEO?
Not directly. Google has said shared IP addresses are normal and not a ranking factor. On Bloghints the IP column mainly helps you notice when several directories run on the same server, which often means one owner.
What is the difference between a free and a featured listing on Bloghints?
Both are reviewed by hand before they appear. A featured listing is a paid spot shown at the top of a list with a star; a free listing appears in the normal part of the table. Neither one changes how we check the directory.
