Sites like Facebook and Twitter have overwhelmed the blog scene of the late 2000’s, so the associated services and directories for blogs have sort of dwindled away also since then.
The most well known was Technorati, but even though it’s still high in Google search results for a number of blog-related queries, it’s a bit of a mess with only a half-working system and a bunch of broken links.
Which is a shame, simply because Google’s algo still seems to give it unwarranted relevance.
Here’s the pick of blog sites I’ve found (as of March 2014) when trying to submit a new tech blog, Zipso.net.
You’ll most likely also find a ton of useless directories and sites that haven’t been updated since 2002, but I won’t list those here… also we’ve only listed a small number of the directories that charge fees or ones that require their own backlinks/widgets/buttons on your site.
These are general sites/directories. You should also search out sites that are interested in more content that is specific to your niche.
Note that the sites listed here are distinct from blog RPC ping services like twingly.com.
I’ve linked to the profile page for the Zipso.net blog on each site to keep track of how useful that site is. If you find this list useful, please considering following Zipso.net on one of the services below – I will re-post a similar list on to it in the future, instead of here.
The List
(links open in a new window – higher priority sites listed first)
- Bloglovin’ – Probably the best replacement for what was the idea behind Technorati or Google Reader. Has tons of users, but you still need to do your own marketing.
- BlogCatalog – This might be a little more similar to Technorati, but it doesn’t have anywhere near as much traffic as Bloglovin’. However the site is nice, well designed, and doesn’t look spammy. You can also add your blog quite easily, and they do seem to keep the low-quality stuff out. So it’s quite a good option, however don’t expect a ton of visitors to come from this one site.
- The Old Reader – Funny name, nice cleanly designed site along the lines of Bloglovin’. Seems to work well.
- Technorati – Not exactly sure why Technorati is still online. It probably still somehow manages to get enough traffic to its main pages. Another annoyance factor is that claiming your blog takes an age. The settings page for your account is fantastically broken too – once you login, it doesn’t properly timeout the cookie to go back to your profile page – however, it will break once you try to update your settings. The solution is to actually logout and login again, even though it seems you’ve already logged in!
- StumbleUpon – StumbleUpon is maybe not as much in the limelight as it used to be, but it’s still a really popular site. You might have seen people complaining that links had been made “nofollow” in the past. Well it doesn’t really matter – anywhere you can post content that can get some exposure is worth it. It can be difficult to get an initial few stumbles for your blog posts though, so their Paid Discovery service is interesting, although they have raised the prices recently.
- Reddit – Reddit is actually an awesome place to submit blog posts, but only if they’re really relevant to the community or sub-reddit you’re posting in. Something both attention-grabbing and genuinely interesting will have the best chances of getting upvotes and visitors. Remember to check back in every so often and reply to any comments instead of just posting and leaving.
- Alexa – Alexa will eventually pick up your site or blog when it gets enough traffic, but it’s no harm adding it at the start.
- Adobe News Aggregator – It’s a bit of an oddity seeing Adobe maintain a feed aggregator service, but there you go. Not sure if this is being actively maintained, and it seems to be only for Tech/Graphic Design/Photoshop/Mobile etc. style content.
- BlogHer – Popular, well organised site for female bloggers, or blogs catering to a largely female audience.
If you insist..
- Blogs Collection – Not sure about this one. It seems to be maintained. It’s limited to blogs so I guess that cuts down on spammy submisions a bit.
- Globe of Blogs – Being maintained but may take a while to get listed.
- AddYourBlog – Seems to be well run/popular, but requires widget.
- Alltop.com – Seems to be working. Probably a high barrier to entry though.
- Bloggeries – Seems to work, but paid only.
- BlogFlux – Another broken directory listed highly in Google. New signups appear to be broken.
- Blogorama – Works.
- BlogNation – Works, although requires you to add a widget, at least for site verification.
- BlogRollCenter – Seems to work.
- BlogRateDirectory – Seems to work.
- BlogSearchEngine – Appears updated, costs $14.99 for a review.
- Bloggernity – Works.
- Feedlisting – Works, seems a bit spammy however.
- Feedgy – Works, seems a little spammy.
- Feedage – Might work, didn’t receive verify email though.
- FuelMyBlog – Appears to work, but may require a widget.
- BlogDigger – Seems to work.
- RSSBuffet – Appears to work.
- RSSMotron – Works.
- SpillBean – Works, small charge for non-reciprocal link.
- BlogMetrics – Possibly works.
- Plazoo – Possibly works.