Directory index · Guide · checked October 2026
How to raise your DR without wasting links
Most advice on raising your Domain Rating ends in the same place: submit to a hundred directories. We researched the 538 directories and launch platforms on Submit.co, including the link each one gives you and what it asks in return. Many of those submissions won't move your DR, and some cost you a link of your own.
What raises DR
DR is Ahrefs' score for a site's backlinks. Ahrefs explains how it's calculated: only followed links count, only the first link from each website counts, and each linking site passes on roughly its own DR divided by the number of websites it links to. Three things follow:
- A nofollow link adds nothing to your DR, however strong the site.
- A second listing on the same site adds nothing.
- A directory that links to tens of thousands of products passes each of them very little. A site that links to few others passes more.
What our data shows
Directories and launch platforms on Submit.co, by their DR:
| DR | Sites | Nofollow | Ask for a link back | Free dofollow, no link back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 and up | 114 | 35 | 32 (28%) | 31 |
| 50 to 69 | 146 | 43 | 44 (30%) | 37 |
| 30 to 49 | 130 | 36 | 16 (12%) | 46 |
| Under 30 | 148 | 46 | 7 (5%) | 59 |
Ask for a link back: to list you at all, or to make their link dofollow. Live from our database.
The stronger the directory, the more likely it asks for a link back. 28% of directories with a DR of 70 or more ask for one, against 5% of those under 30. Every founder who adds their badge raises the directory's DR a little more, and Google treats links like these as link spam. Why a high DR doesn't always mean a directory is worth it.
Nofollow is common at the top too. 35 of the 114 directories with a DR of 70 or more link to you with nofollow, so a listing there adds nothing to your DR, whatever else it does for you.
Directories that ask for a link back get fewer visitors. 13% of them are among Similarweb's top million sites by traffic, against 35% of the free dofollow directories that don't ask.
What a dofollow link costs
173 directories and launch platforms give you a dofollow link for free, without asking for one back. Most of the rest sell one: directories without a free listing charge a median $25.95, and those with a free listing charge a median $19 for their cheapest paid option.
A plan
- Start with the free dofollow directories that don't ask for a link back, strongest first. There are 173, and the ten strongest are below.
- Skip link swaps. A badge in your footer costs you a link, and the link you get back likely doesn't count.
- Pay only where there's an audience. A paid listing on a site with real traffic can send you visitors as well as a link. On a site Similarweb doesn't rank, it buys a link and little else.
- Then earn the links directories can't give you: press, guest posts, and pages other sites want to cite. Directory links help a new site get found and give it a base to build on.