If you’re looking for additional exposure and traffic for your blog, blog directories can be an excellent source of relevant, qualified web traffic – not to mention more backlinks to your blog. Not all blog directories offer quality, however, and Google’s latest webspam-focused update has left bloggers scratching their heads as to whether being listed on blog directories is still beneficial.
What is a blog directory?
Think of a blog directory as a kind of supped-up online version of the Yellow Pages, providing information exclusively about blogs.
There are a huge number of blog directories online, and submitting your blog to be listed in these directories may be either completely free, dependent on the inclusion of a reciprocal link, or by premium payment only.
Directories have been a popular means of bloggers increasing their visibility and reach online for quite some time.
However, with much of the web flying in to a flap about Google’s newest Penguin update, the relevance and endurance of blog directories is being called into question.
Are blog directories still beneficial for bloggers?
In short, yes. Quality, maintained directories can offer some great benefits for bloggers – the two key benefits being targeted visitors, and quality, relevant backlinks.
Targeted visitors: Because the people who browse blog directories looking for particular subject areas, expertise and niches have found your blog in a specific category, it’s more likely they are actually looking for the information you provide.
Quality backlinks: Almost all blog directories offer backlinks to the blogs listed in their categories, along with relevant information about those blogs. Quality backlinks from decent directories can help to improve search engine results rankings, thus strengthening your blog’s performance online. The flipside of this is, with Google’s latest updates and focus on reducing the rank of webspam, backlinks from irrelevant, poor quality directories are being suggested to have the potential to actually damage your blog’s search performance. So submitting your blog for inclusion in every overstuffed directory on the web is not a good promotional strategy.
Four general blog directories to consider
Technorati
Technorati boasts listings of more than 1,300,000 blogs, has a Page Rank of 8/10, and an overall global rank, as measured by Alexa.com, of 1901.
Opensiteexplorer.org measures 50,577 linking root domains via Technorati, and 4.80million total links. It scores Technorati a domain authority of 100/100.
Categories listed in the Technorati directory include:
entertainment [celeb, comics, film, anime, music, gaming, television, books] | business [finance, real estate, small business] | sports [baseball, tennis, football, golf, basketball, motorsport, hockey] | politics [US politics, world] | autos | technology [info tech, gadgets] | living [health, food, religion, family, arts, home, pets, travel, fashion] | green | science
Claiming your blog will add it to Technorati’s blog directory. Simply sign up for an account and add your blog in the personal profile section.
Blog Catalog
Blog Catalog has a Page Rank of 3/10, and an overall global rank of 9263. Blog Catalog features 7952 linking root domains and 935,000 total links, and has a domain authority score of 92/100.
Categories listed in the Blog Catalog directory include:
art | artists | books and writing | business | eats | elearning | entertainment | eye candy | family | fashion | fn funny | gaming | geek | good | health | higher power | how to | iNews | journals | kick ass blogs | life | men’s stuff | movies and tv | music | opinionated | pets and animals | photography | politics | relationships | rides | science | self | society | sports | tech | travel | video collections | wanderlust | women | zombies
You can submit your blog to the Blog Catalog directory by creating an account for free.
Blogarama
Blogarama boasts listings of more than 177,000 blogs, has a Page Rank of 6/10, and an overall 23,617 global rank. Blogarama features 7687 linking root domains, around 1.26million total links, and has a domain authority score of 81/100.
Categories listed in the Blogarama directory include:
arts and entertainment | blogging | books and literature | business and professionals | design and photography | education | fashion | finance | food and drink | friends and family | gambling and games | green | health and fitness | home and garden | internet | life | marketing and emarketing | politics and current events | software | spirituality and new age | sports | technology | travel
You can submit your blog to the Blogarama directory by signing up.
BlogTopSites
BlogTopSites has a Page Rank of 6/10 and an overall global rank of 11,421. BlogTopSites features 3296 linking root domains, more than 783,000 total links, and has a domain authority score of 84/100.
Categories listed in the BlogTopSites directory include:
academics | arts | automobile | business | celebrities | computers | dating | entertainment | environment | family | fashion | finance | food and drink | gambling | games | health | home and garden | humour | internet | law | lifestyle | literature | local | marketing | music | outdoors | personal | pets | philosophy | photo blog | politics | real estate | religion | resources | science | shopping | sports | technology | travel | web design
You can submit your blog to BlogTopSites by signing up.
Three niche blog directories to consider
TopMommyBlogs
TopMommyBlogs is a niche directory boasting more than 4500 listed blogs. The site has a 5/10 Page Rank and an overall global rank of 35,136. TopMommyBlogs features 1286 linking root domains and in excess of 279,000 total links, and a domain authority score of 65/100.
Categories listed in the TopMommyBlogs directory include:
adoption blogs | art and décor | contests and giveaways | coupons | crafts and diy | graphic design | eco-friendly | family life | fashion and style | frugal living | food and drink | humour | health and fitness | hobby | home and garden | home schooling | marriage | military wife/life | twins and multiples | photography | political and activism | postpartum depression | shopping and review | single parent | special needs | spiritual and religious | stay at home | travel and activities | work at home | working mom | everything else
You can submit your blog to the TopMommyBlogs directory by signing up and following the specified guidelines.
BlogHer
BlogHer is an online community and blog directory, boasting more than 45,000 listed blogs. The site has a 5/10 Page Rank and an overall global rank of 9303. BlogHer features 5449 linking root domains, in excess of 430,000 total links, and a domain authority score of 90/100.
Categories listed on the BlogHer directory include:
blogging and social media | career | diy | entertainment | family | feminism | green | health | life | love and sex | money | news and politics | sports | tech | friends
You can submit your blog after meeting the directory requirements.
SportsBlogs
SportsBlogs boasts more than 8000 listed blogs, has a Page Rank of 2/10, and a 430,990 global rank. SportsBlogs features 244 linking root domains and more than 40,000 total links, and a domain authority score of 51/100.
Categories listed in the SportsBlogs directory include:
major league baseball | national football league | national basketball association | national hockey league | golf | tennis | ncaa basketball | ncaa football | major league soccer | world soccer | boxing | nascar
You can suggest your blog by filling in the online form.
Sorting quality directories from… the rest
If you’re not sure which directory or directories to submit your blog to, a good rule of thumb is to trust your gut instinct on the quality and relativity of that site to your own. If you stumbled across this particular directory while browsing the web, would you stick around? Does the directory seem up to date? Does it have a category relevant to your blog? Does it specialise in promoting your blogging niche? If you test a few links of other blogs listed, are there are high number of broken links?
You can check the Page Rank of the site, see how it stacks up by Alexa.com, and view the number of total links site wide for more detailed technical information, but trusting your first impression of the site, and your intuition as to whether you would want your blog to be associated with a particular directory, is likely to be a good compass.
*Given the nature of blog directories, the number of blogs listed, Page Rank and domain authority scores and the number of links measured can change frequently. All figures outlined were correct at the time of publishing.
One thought on “Blog Directories”
These sites are ones to access when initiating a blog. Check them out. I have found that the first two are great not necessarily that the others listed are not. Check them all out to determine if they are right for you. As I have more interaction with these sites, I will post my comments.