Submitting to the Open Directory (DMOZ)
by Jason Mills
With the growing search traffic generated by Google and their continued
relationship with the Netscape funded Open Directory, a listing in the
Open Directory is arguably one of the most valuable backlinks that your
website can achieve. Because the Open Directory is a human-edited database
of categorized websites there is some confusion of the rules for successful
submissions.
There are, however, a few simple rules to follow that should help alleviate
some of the confusions and errors commonly associated with submitting
a website to the Open Directory.
1. Choosing a Category
Begin your category search by searching for a few keywords that are relevant
to your site. More than likely, the categories suggested at the top of
search results will make a starting point.
Once you've established the general area of interest, visit a number
of sub-categories that might also apply. As a rule of thumb, a submission
to an actively edited category is more likely to be reviewed sooner than
one to which no editor has been assigned. Most Open Directory editors
don't have the freedom to edit categories other than their own which means
that a submission to a category without an assigned editor could lie dormant
for months before a more experienced "Greenbuster" reviews the
submissions. So, if possible, try to submit to those that have an editor
listed at the bottom of the page.
If you're participating in an active search engine optimization campaign,
you might also want to consider the Google PageRank of the category to
which you intend to submit. The Open Directory should be treated no different
from any other site in that a link from a DMOZ page with a high PageRank
is more valuable to your site than one with a low page rank.
2. Creating the Listing
Since the Open Directory does not spider the content of included sites,
search results and rankings are determined solely by the keywords located
in the title, description and URL of your submission. The ability to control
these variables is invaluable to the ability to rank well in DMOZ and
Google Directory search results.
Take advantage of your opportunity to suggest the title, description
and URL when submitting your site. If your listing already meets the guidelines
for inclusion the editor should have little or no reason to change the
words, grammar or content of your listing. The Open Directory publishes
a straight-forward list of guidelines for its volunteer editors, available
here, that you can use to help optimize your submission request.
Be content with one or two keywords in your listing. Editors can see
when you're spamming the system… the more you try to bend the rules
by adding several instances of the same keyword, the more likely that
the editor will write the listing for you and then you'll have no control
over the keywords.
3. Be Patient
This point cannot be stressed enough… treat your submission to the
Open Directory as you would any other link request. If your site doesn't
appear in a day, week or even month(s), don't re-submit. The DMOZ editors
are constantly backlogged in submissions and few have the ability to edit
the category to which you might have submitted.
Keep in mind that when ANY editor types in the URL of your website into
their editing control panel, whether they intend to add your site or not,
they will see a log of every occasion where your site has been submitted,
deleted or otherwise edited within the directory. Many editors frown on
sites that have three or more submissions pending and will likely delete
all of the submissions rather than waste their time reviewing each one
individually to find the correct match for your site.
Remember that the purpose of The Open Directory Project
is not necessarily to provide the fastest or most
relevant search results, but to provide the Internet's
most extensive directory of resources. A listing
at DMOZ.org is a privilege reserved to quality
websites offering unique content and abuse of
the directory cheapens the entire resource. Follow
these three simple rules and you should be able
to maximize the value of your Open Directory listing.
Jason specializes in search engine research and
strategy application as an Account
Manager for Top Site Listings. His primary
roll also includes management of client PPC campaigns
as an optional compliment to traditional search
engine optimization strategies.
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