At the end of 2014, I decided to get my first Software as a Service (SaaS) product underway called Workado after years of running an agency.
I spent months planning it all out. Mapping out the marketing ideas, content strategy, design mockups, and ultimately how the software would work. We already had an internal version we used at my agency, but this version would be rebuilt from the ground up.
I spent the better part of FOUR months mapping everything out. I would NEVER advise you to spend as long as I did doing this for several reasons.
1. Just get it built. Then talk to potential customers and see if they are interested. Start getting users, THEN you can spend time mapping things out.
2. For every day you spend preparing and planning is a day you aren’t developing it.
3. “All the best laid plans of mice and men entrepreneurs often go awry” anyway.
I think I spent that much time planning because, well, I really enjoyed it! I’m a marketer at heart, so thinking of all these great ways to grow the product was fun for me. In addition, it was my first venture into SaaS, so I wanted to learn as much as possible.
One of the things I compiled during this time was a list of different web app directories that I wanted to submit the product to once it was ready to be launched. The web app directories could bring new users, help the link count (I have an SEO background after all), get press, and help bring a little bit of credibility to your product.
I wanted to go ahead and share the list with you so it will save you the time. I compiled this list from various resources, but Lincoln Murphy of Sixteen Ventures was a big help.
Some of these sites are great for products in beta to help you get more beta users. Some are for post-launch. Many have specific submission forms, others have contact info where you will need to pitch them via email.
I’ll look to update this list as regularly as I can, so bookmark it!
As of today, all of these are active links. If you find dead links or have new directories not featured here – please leave a comment at the bottom of the post so others can see!
One note of caution: Getting in these sites won’t guarantee a whole lot of traffic. Some will generate more than others. This is one tactic to get started with and shouldn’t be relied on as your “marketing”.
You can grab yourself an excel file of all these web apps if you tweet this post! Download the List of Startup Directories.
Without further ado, here is the massive list of 100+ web app directories to submit your startup:
Tip: I would advise on hiring a virtual assistant through oDesk (or something similar) to perform these submissions for you.
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Thanks for this awesome list Justin! I guess there’s some work to do now…
You bet! Glad you found it useful 🙂
Hi Justin, great list! I would like to suggest adding http://softwarizer.com/ to your list. It is FREE, offers regular backlinks – ideal for software startups.
You can also promote your startup on my “Internet Startups” Google+ community, posting (only once) under the “Introduce your startup” category:
https://plus.google.com/communities/100445483815501942968
Thanks Giovanni – great resource as well!
I’m glad you like it! 🙂
You totally iimpressed this librarian archivist, if ok I want to send to SLA.ORG
Nice. Just what we need, more spam.
http://software.techendo.com/ will also get you in the door
Thanks @dpgailey:disqus – looks good. I’ll add it to the list.
Thanks for putting this together!
You bet Jason – thanks for reading.
Great list…already seeing results and I’m just half way through.
Disqus is quite the resource hog…keeps my macbook running crispy warm (maybe useful in the winter? =)…2 screenshots are attached: Disqus allowed to run in one, AdBlocked in the other.
Wow – that is pretty incredible. It’s a very common commenting platform so that’s strange. I’ll look more into it.
Glad to hear about the results though – thanks for sharing!
You can submit your iOS apps here: http://iosapps.com/submit-app
Thanks @tonixx:disqus
What a great list! Thank you for sharing!
You bet – thanks for checking it out Mary!
Hi Justin, great list!
I started a startup directory a few months ago called Newborn Startups. It’s free to submit, and the audience (so far) is comprised mainly of early-adopters, tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs looking for project inspiration, and are coming from Reddit, HackerNews and Twitter.
If you could include a link, it would be hugely appreciated!
Cheers,
Tristan
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Awesome list Justin! We recently created http://promotehour.com which hosts a list of 120+ places to submit a startup. We have also tried to include a short advice, and few metrics like audience segement and reach. Hope you find it useful.
Nice Jit – thanks!
Hi,
We used this site for our startup. I loved it. very useful
Nivedita K
Hi Justin,
This is a really great list!
We’re in the process of creating the world’s simplest and most effective platform to find and compare web-based applications.
We love to promote startups and focus primarily on the kinds of tools designers, developers and entrepreneurs would find valuable.
Chris.
https://crozdesk.com
Good one Chris – thanks!
Hi, if you can add a new free promotion website at http://www.freeappin.com to the list, it would be nice. Thanks!
Great – thanks!
thanks for sharing such helpful resources, can you share specifically start ups listing website list 🙂
Thanks in Advance
People like you are significantly making the web the most helpful source for every industry 🙂 Love your efforts, keep it up !! and Thanks for the Great and helpful resource ! 🙂
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Thanks Shajee!
Hey McGill, awesome list dude
Great list!
Another highly recommended and good resource for SaaS and Cloud based startups is with: http://research.cloudtweaks.com/cloud-vendors/ which provides complementary lisitng.
Cheers,
Lisa
Hi Justin
This is a great list. I wanted to suggest a nee directory. StartupBlink is a global map for the startup ecosystem.
Startups can register and pin themselves on the map @ http://startupblink.com/register. They can also create blinks to share their latest updates. And they can do them all for free.
Mine
Great content and selection !
Actually I have a website that lists and compares saas and web apps for business & startups. It’s free and users can review, evaluate and leave comments about the apps.
I’d be great to be mentioned on your blog or article.
Let me know how that sounds.
Cheers,
Steph
Really very useful information. I have also found a site named startup buffer . Where people submit url to promote their website. I have also submitted my site here.
https://startupbuffer.com/
Hi Justin,
Thank you for the great list. Would you mind to add to your list my project where all startups can submit their information. It’s free. This is his address: http://www.allstartups.info.
Thank you in advance.
I’ve found another list of places to submit your startup here: http://mystartuptool.com
Hi Justin,
there is another one that I’d like to suggest, I just submitted my business there, it’s webmenu.org. I hope it helps in building your mega-list 🙂
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Great article! By the way maybe you don’t know but Pitchenvy website is no longer available. It was awesome project. Anyway I found two alternatives to Pitchenvy: https://pitchdeckia.com/ and http://bestpitchdecks.com/ . Both of them have a lot of good pitch deck examples. So if you need ideas for your presentation you can use these websites for inspiration.
I agree, Justin – I was really impressed by the depth of this lists. Great resources!
Hi Justin,
You shared a very good list of App directories to promote startups. I think directory submission is a very good technique to increase Apps popularity.
It is a great list. You can also add Trendy Startups https://trendystartups.com. I hope it will be helpful to promote startups.