A submission means adding a website, a business or a product to a directory, catalog or listing site. When the listing is published, its page links to your site.
Types of directories
- General web directories. Catalogs of websites sorted by category.
- Niche directories. Catalogs for a specific industry or topic.
- Local business directories. Listings of companies in a city or country, also called citations.
- Product and app catalogs. Listings of software, startups, apps and tools.
What submissions are good for
- A base layer of links for new websites.
- Local SEO: consistent business name, address and phone number (NAP) across listings helps search engines trust the business data.
- Product discovery in catalogs that people actually browse.
What to avoid
- Low-quality directories that exist only to sell links and have no real visitors.
- Different names, URLs or descriptions on different listings.
- Mass submissions to catalogs that have nothing to do with your topic or country.
Moderation takes time
Many directories review submissions by hand. A listing may appear days or weeks later, or be rejected. This is normal for moderated catalogs.
Are submissions worth it?
On their own, submissions rarely move competitive rankings. As part of a mix — together with crowd links, profiles and Web 2.0 — they add structured, relevant listings that real businesses have.