The Dofollow Backlink Directory
Nearly every "166 dofollow backlink sites" list ends at row twenty and asks for your email. This one doesn't. Here are 109 real link sources, each with the domain rating, the link type you actually get, what it costs and how hard it is to land — in one table you can sort, search and export. We use this list to build links for our own clients.
Filter it down to the ten links you'll actually build this month
Sort any column, search by name, or narrow by category, link type, cost and difficulty. Export the exact shortlist to a spreadsheet and work through it.
| Source ↕ | DR ↓ | Link ↕ | Category ↕ | Type ↕ | Cost ↕ | Effort ↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com Free blog subdomain. Add the link in your author bio box, not the body copy. | 100 | Mixed | Publishing | Web 2.0 blog | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Blogger Google-owned. Fast to set up, good for branded keyword mentions. | 100 | Mixed | Publishing | Web 2.0 blog | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Tumblr Still drives real traffic. Treat it as distribution, not link equity. | 99 | Nofollow | Publishing | Web 2.0 microblog | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Weebly Free plan gives you a subdomain page with a dofollow footer link. | 95 | Mixed | Publishing | Site builder | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Substack Best used to build an audience you can later pitch to. | 93 | Nofollow | Publishing | Newsletter | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Ghost Trial accounts index publicly. Good for a niche publication you own. | 92 | Mixed | Publishing | Blog platform | Freemium | Medium | ↗ |
| LiveJournal Aged domain. Low effort, low reward — only for brand mentions. | 91 | Nofollow | Publishing | Web 2.0 journal | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Jimdo Free site builder with an indexable subdomain. | 89 | Mixed | Publishing | Site builder | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Strikingly One-page site. Sits well as a campaign landing page. | 87 | Mixed | Publishing | Site builder | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Hashnode Cross-post technical articles with a canonical back to your site. | 85 | Dofollow | Publishing | Developer blog | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| HubPages Expect editorial review. Long-form only, and keep it original. | 85 | Mixed | Publishing | Web 2.0 article | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Penzu Public journal entries. Rarely worth the ten minutes. | 60 | Nofollow | Publishing | Web 2.0 journal | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Medium Great reach, nofollow. Use it for syndication and audience, not DR. | 96 | Nofollow | Publishing | Web 2.0 blog | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| GitHub Profile website field. Free SEO-adjacent credibility plus referral traffic. | 98 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Stack Overflow Answer real questions in your stack. Links stay nofollow but rank in LLM answers. | 96 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Q&A answer | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| npm Ship a small open-source tool and put your site in the package metadata. | 95 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Package page | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| GitLab Mirror your repos here for a second brand-controlled profile. | 92 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Bitbucket Same play as GitHub, useful if your team already lives in Atlassian. | 93 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| SourceForge Project page links are dofollow. Only list software you actually maintain. | 93 | Dofollow | Tech & Dev | Project listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| CodePen Portfolio pens with your site in the profile. Good for design/dev credibility. | 92 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Kaggle Publish a notebook on your niche data and link the write-up. | 92 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Replit Host a tiny free tool as a public repl with your brand in the description. | 90 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Hacker News No link equity, but one front-page thread sends qualified traffic all week. | 90 | Nofollow | Tech & Dev | Community post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Dev.to Publish a build log, not a sales pitch. Links in the body often pass. | 90 | Mixed | Tech & Dev | Community post | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Product Hunt Launch a free internal tool. The badges and referral traffic are the prize. | 93 | Nofollow | Startup & Launch | Product launch | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Crunchbase Claim your profile. It is a trust signal investors and journalists actually check. | 90 | Nofollow | Startup & Launch | Business listing | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| AlternativeTo Get listed as an alternative to a tool your buyers already use. | 87 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Directory listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| BetaList Only for unreleased products. Queue it before you go live. | 85 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Product launch | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Indie Hackers Post revenue and build breakdowns. The community punishes obvious link drops. | 85 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Community post | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| F6S Startup profile with a site link plus access to perks and programs. | 79 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Startup listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Peerlist Designer/dev profile. Keep it updated, it gets crawled often. | 70 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| SaaSHub Fast approval, indexed badges. Fine as a supporting listing. | 60 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Directory listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Startup Stash Curated tools directory with a long queue. Submit once, follow up by email. | 62 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Directory listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Dev Hunt Weekly dev-tool launch board. Less noise than Product Hunt. | 56 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Product launch | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Sideprojectors List a side project you are willing to sell or showcase. | 46 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Directory listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Launching Next Free launch post that stays indexed for years. | 39 | Mixed | Startup & Launch | Product launch | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Google Business Profile Not a backlink source. It is the single highest-leverage local signal you have. | 100 | Nofollow | Directories | Local citation | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Bing Places Ten minutes, and it feeds Copilot answers too. | 96 | Nofollow | Directories | Local citation | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Yelp Review profile. Matters more for trust than for DR. | 94 | Nofollow | Directories | Review listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Yellow Pages Check the category and NAP match against your other citations. | 92 | Nofollow | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Foursquare Feeds map data to dozens of downstream apps. | 92 | Nofollow | Directories | Local citation | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| G2 Needs real customers to review. The buyer trust is worth more than the link. | 91 | Nofollow | Directories | Review listing | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Capterra Gartner-owned. Good for software categories with comparison searches. | 91 | Nofollow | Directories | Review listing | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Justdial Essential for Indian local search. Free listing, aggressive upsells. | 88 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| IndiaMART B2B supplier listings. Only if you sell a physical or productised offer. | 86 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Freemium | Medium | ↗ |
| Clutch Paid verification plus client interviews. Still one of the best agency links. | 86 | Dofollow | Directories | Agency listing | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Software Advice Same G2 family. Claim it for consistency, not for DR. | 86 | Nofollow | Directories | Review listing | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Manta Small-business directory with a described profile field. | 85 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Sulekha Indian services directory. Match your city and service categories. | 84 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Freemium | Easy | ↗ |
| GoodFirms Agency and software listings. Free tier is enough to start. | 82 | Mixed | Directories | Agency listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Hotfrog Free local listing, quick approval, low competition. | 82 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Brownbook Global business directory with an editable description. | 82 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Cylex One of the more reliable citation sources in India. | 81 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Alignable Small-business network. Useful if you serve US-based clients. | 81 | Mixed | Directories | Business listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| DesignRush Free listing with a portfolio. Paid placements do exist — skip them. | 80 | Mixed | Directories | Agency listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Trustpilot Review velocity here helps conversion more than rankings. | 93 | Nofollow | Directories | Review listing | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| YouTube Channel description link plus the first line of every description. | 100 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Video profile | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Instagram Bio link. Link-in-bio tools pass no equity either. | 99 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Social profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| LinkedIn The contact-info website field is the strongest use of it. | 98 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Social profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| X Profile link. Treat as distribution, not authority. | 96 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Social profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Facebook Page profile. Needed for local credibility and ad eligibility. | 96 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Social profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Pinterest Surprisingly good for visual niches like interiors, food and design. | 94 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Social profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Behance Adobe's portfolio network. Strong for creative service businesses. | 92 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Portfolio | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Dribbble Design credibility. Clients do look you up here. | 92 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Portfolio | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Gravatar Your author image everywhere. Not a link play, but a brand one. | 91 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| About.me Rare free profile that still passes equity. Ten minutes, do it. | 78 | Dofollow | Profiles & Social | Profile link | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Wellfound Startup profile with a site link. Decent crawl frequency. | 82 | Mixed | Profiles & Social | Startup profile | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Awwwards Submit a site you built. A nomination is real client-facing proof. | 85 | Nofollow | Profiles & Social | Portfolio | Freemium | Medium | ↗ |
| HubSpot Blog Inbound-led pitches only. One published post here outlasts fifty profile links. | 93 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Search Engine Land Needs a genuinely new data point or a named case study. | 91 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| VentureBeat Founder-voice opinion pieces, usually tied to a funding or launch moment. | 91 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| YourStory Indian startup media. Founder journey stories, no product pitches. | 90 | Mixed | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Smashing Magazine They pay per published article. Highest-authority design/dev byline available. | 90 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Paid | Hard | ↗ |
| Content Marketing Institute Practical, example-led pieces. Read the last twelve posts before pitching. | 89 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Social Media Today Open contributor program with a real editor. Good for social and content angles. | 88 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Creative Bloq Design and creative contributor network. Pitch a tutorial, not an essay. | 86 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| SitePoint Pays for tutorials. Strong author bio on a DR 86 dev site. | 86 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| A List Apart Slow, heavily edited, permanent. Worth one carefully written piece. | 86 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Inc42 Indian tech and startup coverage. Story angle, not SEO copy. | 85 | Mixed | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Social Media Examiner Very strict originality rules. Evergreen how-to angles only. | 85 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| CoSchedule Marketing workflow and content ops topics. Include a real screenshot walkthrough. | 85 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Mailjet Email marketing angles. Usually accepts one or two dofollow links. | 85 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Business2Community High volume contributor site. Quality varies, but the domain is aged. | 84 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| MarketingProfs B2B marketing audience. Needs a takeaway readers can use on Monday. | 83 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Hard | ↗ |
| Mangools SEO tooling blog. Practical, tool-augmented tutorials do well. | 82 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Webdesigner Depot Design opinion pieces with a strong point of view. | 80 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Jeff Bullas Paid submission with an author bio. Vet any blog with a fee. | 79 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| Tweak Your Biz Small-business growth topics, quick editorial turnaround. | 70 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Addicted2Success Motivational business content. Paid, but consistent publishing. | 69 | Dofollow | Editorial | Guest post | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| Quora Answer the buying-intent questions your clients actually type. | 92 | Nofollow | Forums & Q&A | Q&A answer | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Reddit Pick one subreddit and be useful for a month before linking anything. | 92 | Nofollow | Forums & Q&A | Community post | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Webmasters Stack Exchange SEO and technical questions, answered properly. Great for AI citation. | 96 | Nofollow | Forums & Q&A | Q&A answer | Free | Medium | ↗ |
| Warrior Forum Old-school marketing forum. Signature link, low competition. | 84 | Mixed | Forums & Q&A | Forum answer | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| GrowthHackers Share experiments with numbers. Generic posts get ignored. | 78 | Mixed | Forums & Q&A | Community post | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Digital Point Older SEO forum. Signature links, but keep posts substantive. | 78 | Mixed | Forums & Q&A | Forum answer | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Craigslist Service listings in your city. Traffic only, no equity. | 91 | Nofollow | Local & Classifieds | Classified ad | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Gumtree UK and AU classifieds. Useful for local service offers. | 90 | Nofollow | Local & Classifieds | Classified ad | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| OLX India-focused listings. Expect low-quality enquiries. | 88 | Nofollow | Local & Classifieds | Classified ad | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Locanto Multi-country classifieds with an indexable ad page. | 78 | Nofollow | Local & Classifieds | Classified ad | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| FreeAds UK classifieds. Only relevant if you serve a UK market. | 79 | Nofollow | Local & Classifieds | Classified ad | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| There's An AI For That Big AI directory. Paid fast-track, but the referral intent is strong. | 79 | Nofollow | AI Tools | Tool listing | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| Futurepedia Rank and file listings. Only worth it if you sell an AI product. | 76 | Nofollow | AI Tools | Tool listing | Paid | Medium | ↗ |
| FutureTools Free submission queue. Approval is inconsistent, apply twice. | 70 | Mixed | AI Tools | Tool listing | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| Toolify Huge auto-generated catalog. Low authority, quick listing. | 68 | Nofollow | AI Tools | Tool listing | Paid | Easy | ↗ |
| TopAI.tools Paid listing with a dofollow trial sometimes. Verify after publish. | 65 | Nofollow | AI Tools | Tool listing | Paid | Easy | ↗ |
| AI Tool Hunt Smaller directory. Only useful as part of a wider launch push. | 50 | Nofollow | AI Tools | Tool listing | Paid | Easy | ↗ |
| EIN Presswire Distribution, not ranking. Real journalists do read it. | 80 | Nofollow | Press | Press release | Paid | Easy | ↗ |
| openPR Free release with an indexed brand mention. Keep it newsworthy. | 82 | Mixed | Press | Press release | Free | Easy | ↗ |
| PRLog Free tier is enough for a launch announcement. | 82 | Mixed | Press | Press release | Free | Easy | ↗ |
DR is an Ahrefs-style Domain Rating estimate and drifts every time a site's link profile changes. "Link" is the attribute we last observed for a normal submission — attributes change without notice, so check your live link before you count it. Difficulty is our read on editorial gates, not a promise.
What to do with this list for the next 30 minutes
Link building fails when it becomes a pile of open tabs. Pick a small batch, finish it, and only then open the next tab.
Claim the free wins first
Filter to Free and Easy, then work down the list. Profiles, business citations and About.me-style pages take minutes each and complete your brand footprint.
Pick one context link per week
One genuinely useful community post or guest article beats twenty directory drops. Choose the category your buyers actually read.
Point links at pages that can convert
A link to a page with no offer wastes the authority. Send traffic to a service page that has a clear next step. Run a free page audit first.
Log it, then forget it
Export your shortlist as CSV, add a status column in Sheets, and review it monthly. Half-built links are the normal failure mode.
The one rule that matters
A backlink is a recommendation, not a transaction. If the page you're linked from would embarrass you in front of a client, it isn't worth the DR. Public link networks, mass-generated guest posts and "500 backlinks for $49" gigs do more damage to a founder-led brand than having no links at all.
Three tools that make this list faster to work through
They run in your browser and they don't ask for an account.
Technical SEO
Backlinks don't fix a crawl, index or speed problem. See how we handle technical SEO before you spend a month on outreach.
Local SEO & GBP
For service businesses, the map pack outranks organic. Local SEO and Google Business Profile optimisation usually beat another round of directory links.
Content that earns links
Nobody links to a service page. They link to a useful answer. Our content writing service builds pages designed to be cited.
Book a call and we'll map your first ten links together.
Twenty minutes, no pitch deck. We'll look at your current backlink profile, pick the categories from this list that fit your market, and tell you which pages deserve the links — plus what to fix before any outreach starts.
Backlink questions people actually ask us
Are these links actually dofollow?
Every row carries the attribute we last observed when a normal submission or profile was published: Dofollow, Mixed (depends on the page or plan) or Nofollow. Attributes change silently, so check your live link with a browser extension or a link audit before you count it. Filter to Dofollow only if that is all you want.
Is this list free, or is there a paywall after the first 20?
The whole directory is free and ungated. No email capture, no unlock link, no drip feed. There are 109 sources on this page and you can filter, sort and export all of them.
How many backlinks should I build per month?
For a founder-led consulting or coaching business, 8 to 15 genuinely relevant links a month beats 200 directory drops. Build slowly, keep the anchor text natural, and make sure the page you link to can actually convert a visitor.
Do web 2.0 and profile links still work in 2026?
Mostly as brand mentions and referral traffic, not as ranking fuel. A WordPress.com profile link will not move a competitive keyword. Editorial links, real business citations and links from communities your buyers read are what still move rankings.
How long does it take to see results from backlinks?
Indexation usually happens in days, ranking movement in four to twelve weeks for a page that already has some authority. If a page has thin content or no internal links pointing at it, no amount of link building will save it.
Should I buy backlinks or guest posts?
Paid placement is legal, but links sold at scale are usually discounted by Google and can put you on the wrong side of a manual action. If a site charges a fee, ask whether the fee is for editorial work or for the link itself. We only pursue paid placements where the publication is a real audience.
Compiled and maintained by KGP Hustle House — a website and search growth partner for founder-led B2B businesses. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Spotted a dead link or a site that went nofollow? Tell us and we'll fix the row.