Is Your Design Link-Worthy?
So what if I told you your design skills could gain you hundreds, maybe thousands of free backlinks and visitors without having to design anymore designs? Yes, you heard correctly, this isn’t the standard ‘create free themes with your link in the footer’ advice.
Admittedly this post doesn’t really apply to anyone who doesn’t have a custom theme, but it will still be an interesting read, I guarantee it!
Have you ever been to http://w3csites.com? Chances are you probably haven’t, but if you designed your own theme you probably should have! On W3Csites.com you can become a member then submit your site, if its approved you will get a free backlink. As long as it conforms with the W3C standards you should be accepted, which is pretty easy. You can check that your site is valid here - http://validator.w3.org/
Your probably happy with your new found free backlink eh? What if I told you we could multiply that ten times over? Here’s how:
Below I have listed all the big CSS directories I could find, a lot with there corresponding PageRank. As you can see you simply submit your website, and if it gets approved you get a free backlink, but that’s not all, if your design is really good you could receive hundreds of visitors. Lastly some of these websites have really high PageRank, which gives you another incentive to try this.
URL PageRank
http://www.cssvault.com/ 8
http://www.stylegala.com/ 7
http://www.cssmania.com/ 7
http://www.cssbeauty.com/ 6
http://www.bestwebgallery.com/ 6
http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/ 6
http://www.screenfluent.com/ 6
http://www.cssimport.com/ 6
http://www.thebestdesigns.com/ 6
http://www.cssbased.com/ 6
http://www.edustyle.net/ 6
http://www.cssdrive.com/ 5
http://www.cssremix.com/ 5
http://www.screenalicious.com/ 5
http://www.designlinkdatabase.net/ 5
http://www.cssheaven.com/ 5
http://www.cssglobe.com/ 5
http://www.cssreboot.com/ 5
http://www.mostinspired.com/ 5
http://www.csstux.com/ 5
http://www.css-website.com/ 5
http://www.cssclip.com/ 5
http://www.css-design-yorkshire.com/ 5
http://www.css11.com/ 5
http://www.cssimpress.com/ 5
http://www.cssprincess.com/ 5
http://www.cssblast.ru/ 5
http://www.coolsitecollection.com/ 5
http://www.stylegrind.com/ 5
http://www.w3csites.com/ 4
http://www.designshack.co.uk/ 4
http://www.ceeses.com/ 4
http://anjo.dekiteharu.jp/ 4
http://www.csshazard.com/ 4
http://www.e-motionaldesign.com/ 4
http://www.creative-pakistan.com/ 4
http://www.netzfruehling.de/ 4
http://www.najdizajn.com/ 4
http://www.csssmoothoperator.com/ 4
http://www.cssgalaxy.com/ 4
http://www.per.fectio.net/ 4
http://www.cssflavor.com/ 4
http://www.onepixelarmy.com/ 4
http://www.piepmatzel.de/ 4
http://www.submitcss.com/ 4
http://inspirace.dobrestranky.com/ 4
http://www.cssgallery.ro/ 4
http://www.cssgreen.com/ 4
http://www.alvit.de/css-showcase/ 3
http://www.csselite.com/ 3
http://www.designsnack.com/ 3
http://www.cssbloom.com/ 3
http://www.csscollection.com/ 3
http://www.my3w.org/ 3
http://www.artnetz.de/ 3
http://www.cssgaleri.com/ 3
There is at least 50 links there, which means 50 potential backlink opportunities, if that’s not enough to tempt you into designing a custom theme then I don’t know what is?
Over To You
Have you had any experience submitting to these? Have you created a stunning design, or would you like to in the future, leave a comment and let us know!
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October 11th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Thats a really good tip there Danny. Then again, I don’t think a lot of blogs do have anything to do on such a list. Blogs are in general boring looking. (I know, there are some that are good looking)
VikingBloggers last blog post..AdToll.com Acquired by a US Company
October 11th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I’ll have to disagree with you there VikingBlogger, admittedly there are some boring looking blogs, but there are tonnes of masterpieces out there, including free themes.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Hehe, I guess we just have different opinion what we call “masterpieces” then. Care to show a couple blogs that in your opinion have a slick design?
VikingBloggers last blog post..AdToll.com Acquired by a US Company
October 11th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Thanks for the tip! You are quickly becoming one of my favourite bloggers!
October 11th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Sad that I don’t know how to design. I only know basic css and coding. Not an expert in designing from scratch.
Husseins last blog post..5 Tools I Use For Search Engine Optimization
October 11th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Currently designing my own theme for my blog as we speak
– and it’s looking pretty good atm
– but I’m gonna stick it out 
I have good knowledge of html and basic knowledge of css, but can’t use these to make a wordpress theme
I never thought of css directories, but knew you could gain backlinks by having a unique design, such as in those lists that blogs such as SmashingMagazine and Noupe make
Otooos last blog post..Best Free WordPress Themes
October 11th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Update: I have just headed over to Balkhis and noticed I won Pimp My Blog, so I’m going to be getting my own customized theme
Otooos last blog post..Best Free WordPress Themes
October 11th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
http://freelanceswitch.com/ is one that instantly springs to mind.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Well done pal! If I hadn’t have designed my blog I would of wanted to win the Pimp my Blog.
October 11th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Nice one! Syed is a great designer!
October 11th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I wish I could design well enough to submit to these! Great list anyway. My specialiality is programming. We cant be good at everything I suppose!
October 11th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Good tip Danny. Unfortunately I don’t know how to design my own themes. I can tweak them and play with the settings but starting from scratch is beyond me for now.
Mike Collinss last blog post..Free vs Paid Website Hosting
October 11th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hey congrats for winning the contest!
Getting a new custom theme is always exciting and worth it.
Ben – frogstr.coms last blog post..Winning an iPod Touch for guessing the Dow
October 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Yeah, the Freelance site and other sites in its network all have great design.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..Where Is The Sly Guy?
October 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Great list you got there. I’ve submitted my site to one (just to try and see if they approve), and many more to go.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..6 Essential Elements Every Blog Must Have
October 11th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Great tip, I’m gong to submit all of my sites to those to get some nice backlinks from it.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
You don’t always have to start from scratch you know. Even just a few tweaks here and there can make your design unique in a way.
Sly from SlyVisions dot Coms last blog post..Quick Links – October 11, 2008
October 12th, 2008 at 2:21 am
I’d know a little bit but not enough to do a complete design. I just really hate looking at code personally.
I checked my site and it has an error so I guess I would be submiting until I get that fixed up
Bruno Augers last blog post..What Is Web 2.0?
October 12th, 2008 at 2:24 am
lol sweet
thanks for all those links 
bookmarked
MMORPG Forums – Runescape Forumss last blog post..Cat gets shocked lol
October 12th, 2008 at 2:44 am
[...] Linkers Blog – Is Your Design Link-Worthy? [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 6:00 am
[...] Is Your Design Link-Worthy? – This blog post of Danny Cooper is actually a benefit for web designers. This is a very seductive post and will really tempt you to learn designing. [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Thanks for this list, I submitted my site to a couple of them, lets see if it gets approved
October 12th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
[...] Danny Cooper – Is Your Design Link-Worthy? from [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Danny,
I don’t think I saw http://www.webcreme.com in your list. It is a great place to get listed or look for inspiration. Plus how come you didn’t mention my blog when speaking of slick designs?
Adam – Creadiv.coms last blog post..Just Some Site Updates
October 13th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I keep hearing about these directories and they are indeed awesome for links and traffic…unfortunately there’s no way for me
Dennis Edells last blog post..As Promised – More Link Love for Knowledge Link Love #1 Participants
October 13th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
It that a design site, or a porn site
Desk Coders last blog post..10 Reasons You’re Not Rich
October 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Wow, Danny! You are really awesome. Every time I come here, you have something totally different that I have never learned before.
Please keep it coming!
Freddies last blog post..Goal Setting Sunday: Week 7
October 13th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
There are so many blogs that have amazing designs. I think we just get stuck in our MMO niche, but especially outside our niche there are some fantastic creative designs!
Tom – StandOutBlogger.coms last blog post..5 Ways To Take Your Blog To A New Level!
October 14th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I do believe a custom theme, or at least, a theme in which a user has permission to edit and thus, has been edited to make it look different than the norm truly effects readership.
A unique blog design tends to stick into the minds of your reader, it’s eye-candy. Bring ‘em in with good eye candy and then get them to read your content and you’re getting there. At least, that’s what I think :p
As for designing my own, I don’t know if it will ever be possible. There’s just so much that I could easily mess up when it comes to PHP it’s not even funny. Though I have poked at some things, it’s generally pretty overwhelming for the completely clueless. (me
)
Great post, Danny! Thanks!
M. Pences last blog post..Beached
October 14th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Wow. I am going to bookmark this list.
I must get designing!
Joel Drappers last blog post..How to find dofollow blogs
October 20th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Great post Danny, but I think that there is not much chance that you will get a high-quality backlink because these sites are basically link farms and they link to a lot of crappy designs and google treats their links as that.
Tushar Dhoots last blog post..5 Reasons to Subscribe to My RSS Feed
November 14th, 2008 at 7:07 am
great tip. wish i knew how to make my own free theme. All i do is tweak whatever I can find… sigh.
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:29 am
Wow, I have never heard of this at all. Thanks for this information, this seems to be pretty helpful. I thought it was going to be about putting a link in the footer of the design and having people download it, but never heard of submitting it if it fits standards. Thanks.
Funny Junks last blog post..Weekly Recap – 01/26/2009 – 01/30/2009
February 9th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Thanks for so many links. Always enjoy your helpful posts mate.
Robby Gs last blog post..Cologne Mix and Match
February 14th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
internet marketing…
1. I am a total newbie to the ways of the internet. I’m in the process of building a website for my vacation rental home here in Ajijic, Mexico. One of my action items is that once the website is up, I need to get relevant links from relevant sites, b…
August 8th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Nice designs
August 8th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I see John Cow is still going strong..wasn’t this site sold recently?
Phil Hogan´s last blog ..Change Your Passwords Often
August 8th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Hmmm…let me check sitepoint
Phil Hogan´s last blog ..Change Your Passwords Often