If you’re looking for a graphic designer, web designer, illustrator, photographer, copywriter, or other creative professional, check out this list of directory sites. More importantly, if you’re a designer or creative pro of any type, you’ll want to make sure you list your website in as many online directories as possible.
There’s a lot of competition out there. Listings in design directories count as backlinks. Those backlinks add weight to your rankings in search engines. I’m convinced that you have to do more than great work to be successful in our interconnected world. You need to get noticed. And getting noticed means getting exposure for your work. You just never know how one extra link to your site is going to make a difference.
I still think about the freelance gig I took back in 1993. I agreed to work for half my going rate, because I needed the work and this particular startup company intrigued me. Over the course of the next 10 years, the relationships I built from that one underpaid gig generated a seven digit amount of money for me. That’s no typo. I made over a million dollars that I can directly attribute to that little $3000 writing job. That job came to me by way of a woman I happened to sit next to at a professional organization networking dinner. We chatted for about 15 minutes and two days later, she called me about the job.
Without that connection, the opportunity never would have come my way. That’s why it can’t hurt to get your name out there in as many different ways as you can. Especially if those ways are free or inexpensive. Directories may not bring you the job of a lifetime, but one thing is certain: if you don’t get listed in a directory, nobody will ever find your company there.
Some of the following directory sites tend to service a particular geographic region, others are more heavily weighted toward one type of design over another. Still, take a look and get yourself listed in some of them. The more exposure the better.
The links, in no particular order:
- Graphic Design Blog » Freelancer Focus 16th November 2007—Ok, this first one isn’t a directory, it’s a blog. A very good blog, by the way. And it runs a regular Freelancer Focus feature. If you’ve got something interesting to say, contact the editor.
- Denver Graphic Design Directory – Denver.com—Regional directory for Denver, CO designers of all types.
- BOTW Directory – Arts > Graphic Design—Best of the Web directory covers thousands of topics. But their list of graphic designers is slim at this point, so you might be able to get a listing if you ask nicely.
- Dallas Graphic Design Directory – Dallas.com—Regional directory of Dallas, TX designers of all types.
- Graphic Design – Directory of Massachusetts Businesses for Graphic Design—Regional directory of Massachusetts designers of all types.
- Los Angeles Graphic Design Directory – Los Angeles.com—Regional directory of Los Angeles, CA designers of all types.
- South Bay Graphic Design Directory – San Jose.com—Regional directory for San Jose, CA designers of all types.
- East Bay Graphic Design Directory – Oakland.com—Regional directory of Oakland, CA designers of all types.
- Seattle Graphic Design Directory – Seattle.com—Regional directory for Seattle, WA. Designers of all types in the Seattle area.
- BlogCatalog—BlogCatalog is the place to list your blog, if you maintain one about graphic design, or your own design issues, philosophy, portfolio, and so on.
- WDS Web Design Stuff—Geographically organized directory of designers, mainly for the web.
- San Francisco Graphic Design Directory – SF Station—Regional directory for San Francisco designers.
- Print Design Planet—Directory listing primarily print designers.
- Slack Alice—A simple directory of listings and descriptions.
- Core77/BusinessWeek Design Firm Directory—Directory branded by BusinessWeek, so they are likely to highlight more traditional business-oriented design.
- 1234 Find—Web designers and eCommerce designers directory.
- Design Agencies—Small directory of web design agencies. Offers Premium listings for about $30.
- Web Design Office Directory—Geographically organized by state.
- Xemion Designers Directory—Geographically organized lists of designers, including UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S.
- Total Online Media Directory of Graphic Designers—Large directory aimed at commercial graphic design, including advertising, illustration, marketing and PR, tradeshow, web and more.
- Hexadesigns—Categorically organized lists of all sorts of designers, from graphic and web to jewelry, calligraphy, body art, interior design, animation, and lots more.
- The Directory of Graphic Design Consultants – EDI Ltd—Simple UK-based directory of graphic designers.
- Web Designers Directory—Geographically organized list of web designers.
- Design Directory – The Designers Network—Easily add your site to the Designers Network. Adds a link with description. You cannot link to free hosting sites but must have your own domain name.
- FreelanceDesigners.com—Geographical organization of designers, writers, photographers, and more.
- Indexed Visuals—Stock and Custom Illustrations and Artists Stock. Stock repository, that is aimed primarily at illustrators.
- AF Work—Provides a free online portfolio to freelancers. Apparently, you can even email this portfolio to customers and prospects. I didn’t try it, so approach at your own risk
- DesignFirms—Large directory of web-related designers, mainly, including other related services like web hosts.
- Design Directory | made by designers for designers—Lots of categories for designers and even ancillary creatives, such as copywriters, photographers, architects, and others.
- Graphic Artists Guild—Resources for members of the Graphic Artists Guild. Nice directory for Guild members. Not cheap if you are just getting started, but they do offer many excellent resources on pricing, ethics, project management, and more.
- Graphic Design Resources Directory—Educational resources site with a number of tutorials on design topics. Graphic design forums are interesting also.
- Dexigner Design Portal—More geared toward industrial design, but provides an online directory for all types of designers. Good news and events site, as well.
- Portfolios.com—General purpose design directory with online portfolio capabilities, thmnails, categories, and specializations.
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