Web Directories

Web Directories

What are Web Directories – Various Features of Web Directories Listing

here in this article, we have discussed in details that what are web directories and how these are useful in building backlinks.




What are Web Directories?

Web Directories are also known as link directories which are very much concerned with the website’s listings in their index.




In olden days, I mean in the past decade, web directories had a great value in sense of search engines. Because whenever people type queries in search engines, these search engines often consult with the web directories for updated information.

All Directories sites follow a layered approach while listing the website i.e, the first one is the main category then followed by the subcategory and then another subcategory until there came a suitable one.

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Today, in the world of SEO, web directories are of no value, but it’s not the case that search engine has totally ignored them. While the search engines still consult with the high PR sites such as



  • yahoo directory
  • Dmoz Directory
  • Yelp
  • Bing
  • MerchantCircle
  • Yellow Pages
  • White Pages
  • Super Pages

Besides these, there are numbered web directories which we will discuss in this article.




There are millions of directories which differ in size and purpose. As above Yahoo and Dmoz are also called open directories. The open directories offer a vast range covering all types of websites.

There are numerous other which only cover specific search areas, for example, professional or academic or educational resources

Some are for storing the phone number and addresses online of a city, state or the whole country. These phone numbers may relate to a specific person, entity and an organization.

Remember web directories are not the search engine nor they display the list of available web pages based on queries or keywords.

While web directories list the websites by category and subcategory

The site owners submit their listing to these web directories, later the admin or the editors of these directories review the submitted links and then finally approve if they found informative and useful.

Various Features of Web Directories Listing

There are various features while listing the websites which depends on the price and duration.

These features include:

Free submission – these are free and nothing is charged for review and listing of the submitted links while it takes at least 3 to 6 months while getting listed

Reciprocal link – these need a link back to them from your website in order to get listed. These usually take 1 week for approval by the site admins.




Paid submission – they are paid for one time for a specific period or for a lifetime for getting listed at once.

No follow – rel=”nofollow” attribute is attached with the link, meaning that search engine will give no weight to these links.

Featured listing – link submitted in featured listings have premium value and are listed in one or more categories or on the homepage.

Bid for a position – these are listed on the base of top bid

Affiliate links – these directories earn commission from referred listed websites