Where to get backlinks, and which ones are worth your time
Most lists of backlink opportunities were written once and copied forward ever since, so you can spend an evening filling in forms on sites that stopped working years ago. Every entry here is checked by a person, and when a site stops being worth your time we take it off and note why.
Each entry also carries the two facts most lists leave out. The first is whether the link passes ranking credit to your site (a dofollow link) or tells search engines to ignore it (a nofollow link). The second is what it really costs, including free tiers that later became paid. If your business has a physical address, start with local citations. If it does not, start with web directories.
- Real link type
- Real cost
- Date we last checked
Pick the type that fits your situation
New to backlinks? Start here
Five short pages, read in order, that explain the terms used across this site for someone who has never heard of a nofollow link. Read the first two, then go and submit somewhere.
Web directories
General directories that take almost any website. It is the oldest category, and the one where other lists most often still recommend sites that have shut down.
133 entries118 free53 dofollow
Local citations
For businesses with a real address customers can visit. Start with the platforms every business should claim, then move on to the directories for your country.
26 entries26 free13 dofollow
Before you start, it helps to know what directories can and cannot do for you. Submitting to them will not move a competitive keyword on its own. What it can do is give a brand new site its first few links, help Google find your pages sooner, and keep your business details consistent across the web, which matters if you want to show up on Google Maps.
So treat directories as groundwork for a new site rather than a ranking strategy, and be wary of any list that promises more than that.