5 Basic Tips For DMOZ Listings

October 6th, 2006 by Loren Baker, Editor | 40 Comments

5 Basic Tips For DMOZ Listings

With all of the recent buzz about linkbaiting, social media optimization, and the wealth of new vertical search engines launching on the market, sometimes it’s easy to glance over the basic do’s and don’ts in the world of search engine optimization. We’ve discussed link building and directory submittals before in the past, and it’s time to revisit some of this discussion.

Hands down, the top three directories where a site should be submitted are Yahoo.com, Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory and the Open Directory Project (DMOZ).

Quality sites can be added instantly into bCentral and Yahoo via payment, but a link in the DMOZ can be a little difficult, especially if you don’t know any editors.

Akash Kumar, CEO of Search Engine Optimization Company Vista Divine Inc., was awesome enough to lend the world his 5 tips for getting listed in DMOZ:

1. Submit your site to a proper category. Most of the sites submitted to Dmoz are rejected due to having submitted to improper or wrong categories, so you must find out the most relevant category for your site before submitting it to Dmoz. If you are unsure about which category you should submit to then just do a search in Dmoz for the sites similar to yours and note down the category to which they have been submitted to. If you have done this one correctly then you are having the most relevant category for your website. Now just go on and submit to the category you have got.

2. Make sure that your site has original and quality content. People nowadays are looking for more and more quality content and they get annoyed with the sites having nothing more than a bunch of affiliate links or sales letters. If your site lacks in content then you have no chance of making into the directory as the directories nowadays are looking for the sites which have a strong base of original and quality content, if your site doesn’t has sufficient content then make sure to add a few reviews, articles and other additional information about your services and products.

3. Get your web site professionally designed. If you have done the above two steps properly then your site is already deserving a listing in Dmoz and it adds more to your credibility if your site is professionally designed. You might have seen many unprofessionally designed sites making into Dmoz, so this not really a factor for your inclusion in the directory but as we know that the editors of the Dmoz directory are also human beings so a professionally designed site does make a good impression on them and thus increases your chances for inclusion in Dmoz.

4. Be sure to put your contact information on the web site. Now just putting an email address is not enough. If you are doing a business you need people to trust you by showing them your physical address, so that they don’t think that you are a run away business. Many times the editors reject sites if they don’t see any physical contact information on the site, so it is very much necessary for you to put up at least your phone number on your contacts page, also putting your physical address would be much better.

5. Check your site for broken links and spelling errors. Before submitting your site to the Dmoz directory make sure to check your website for broken links and spelling errors, though the editors are looking for quality but they are also human beings and will be annoyed by lots of errors and clumsily designed sites, so be sure to check and correct the errors if any before you submit your site to Dmoz.

Do you have any more tips on how to get approved for a listing in the Open Directory Project? If so, please share with us below.

Comments

40 responses so far ↓

Dave on Oct 7, 2006 at 10:09 am

Some good points there. Although I think #6 should be “Patience”.

Thanks.
Pete on Oct 7, 2006 at 12:17 pm

Some exellent pointers. I have to say, that the amount of “patience” required is not to be under estimated. There is no way of contacting DMOZ and it can many months before being listed.
DMOZ Editor on Oct 7, 2006 at 3:19 pm

we try to be fair to the sites we view- but to a point you are correct. Dave’s addition of “Patience” is important. My very strong small niche category gets 25+ submissions a day and I just dont have time to look at 150+ sites a week. I get to as many as I can but realize we are doing this for free :)

That said a friendly well written email to the editor can do a long way!
Mr SEO on Oct 8, 2006 at 5:17 pm

Read my article for more tips. I got this info right from DMOZ
Stephen Snyder on Oct 9, 2006 at 9:02 am

Mr SEO’s article adds some more valuable points.
Akash Kumar on Oct 10, 2006 at 3:52 am

Hello everyone,

I hope that you liked my article I might be writing some more interesting articles on SEO, Search Engine and Directories, so do keep an eye on my site.

Cheers
SEM Basics on Oct 12, 2006 at 7:49 pm

Nice post, it inspired me to finish up my own guide on how to get listed in DMOZ. You can read the article here: http://www.sembasics.com/sem-guides/link-building-strategies/directory-submission/11-tips-to-getting-your-site-listed-in-dmoz
Patrick on Oct 21, 2006 at 7:37 am

One very important point is to have a good description, which follows the DMOZ Guidelines in http://dmoz.org/guidelines/describing.html . If the description doesn’t follow the Guidelines, we’ll write a description which does, but as said, we are human beings, and if there are a long queue of submissions to be reviewed, many of us will choose first the easy ones, that is said the submissions with a description which doesn’t need to be altered, or does need to be altered only a little.
Tom Hunt on Oct 21, 2006 at 2:28 pm

The tips are generally good. However, as a DMOZ editor, I don’t particularly care whether a site is “professionally designed.” My primary concern is content. A website needs to say SOMETHING relevant to the category.

I have observed that approval in some categories is quicker than in others. I try to have a decision on a submitted site within a week or two of receiving it. But I believe delays are multipled when sites are submitted to the wrong category. An editor reviewing the site will forward it to the correct category (or something he/she feels is closer to being correct), and the process starts over again.

I’m not sure what prompted Pete’s comment (#2). Each category with an assigned editor has a contact mechanism. Editor IDs should be found at the bottom of each category page. If one is not there, I would recommend that a visitor move up a level in the hierarchy and check for an editor there.

Finally, I believe the cause for many rejections is an incomplete site. There might be pages under construction or chunks of the site that simply don’t work. Broken links are terribly annoying. I won’t approve a site that can only result in frustration for web visitors. Webmrs should not submit unfinished sites.
Wrathchild on Nov 22, 2006 at 8:43 am

A minor point: Suggestions are not rejected simply for being submitted to the incorrect category. They are forwarded on to the correct category where they will wait with other suggestions. Submitting to the wrong category increases the wait time because the suggestion needs to be touched by more people.
Stephen on Mar 25, 2007 at 2:02 pm

excellent article, is there a waiting time on becoming an editor for a specific region?
Brandi on Jan 6, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Great article. I have a problem with having my physical address located on my website though. I work out of my home, and as a woman I don’t exactly want that information public knowledge and pasted all over the internet. I have a general city and province location, and there is a way to contact me through the site. I believe this is for my own protection. It will be a shame if I get rejected because of a lack of physcial address. Is there any way to get around that?
Briongloid on Mar 28, 2008 at 8:07 am

I’ve heard bribes work best.
Jason Fox on May 3, 2008 at 5:35 pm

I have one PR6 DMOZ listed site. I also have lots of other HIGH quality sites that should be DMOZ listed but never get included… If you know of a way to really get a listing then click my name and email me - I’ll pay for your help.
Rahul Sharma on May 10, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Some good points there.

Thanks
Moin on Jun 6, 2008 at 6:42 am

Thats really very very interesting and should help my site getting listed in DMOZ directory. I would be more than happy to follow these tips and will return back to this site after some time and will let you all people know how far these good tips helped me in getting a nod from DMOZ editors.Thanks for the information.
crazzy ustad on Jun 19, 2008 at 10:22 pm

hey nice article…thnx

visit indian mba for indian mba updates
Yoga-Meditation-Power Guru on Jul 25, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Great Article. I am going to submit my website http://www.yogameditationpower.com right now.
Yoga-Meditation-Power Guru on Jul 25, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Great Article. I am going to submit my website http://www.yogameditationpower.com right now.
Brett on Oct 3, 2008 at 6:58 pm

I had no idea how much value a directory provided for websites. I submitted http://www.louispurses.com a while ago but will try all of your great tips!
Marcus Layton on Oct 27, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Good article.. I’ve just tried to submit my new dry cleaning business. http://www.pinstripe.net.au I’m a little worried that some of our services are national and other are local (sydney vs. australia). Hopefully the DMOZ ppl figure that out easilly enough.
Mark on Nov 5, 2008 at 8:29 pm

Some good points, Thanks for the info.
tusshar on Nov 6, 2008 at 12:20 am

Hi
I tried to submit my site in DMOZ,my category is internet marketing in computers.But i see update listing instead of submit listing.I never submitted my site before.Can any one please help me out?
Barnaby Foster on Nov 15, 2008 at 5:54 pm

I submitted my site http://www.leatherman-store.co.uk yesterday and hope it will be accepted, if anybody has any pointers please let me know.
mainul on Jan 7, 2009 at 12:50 pm

my site is http://www.bdpplz.com where can i submit?
davido on Jan 8, 2009 at 5:04 pm

Yeah great tips, NOT. Only way to get listed is by paying money!
Tim on Jan 14, 2009 at 5:25 pm

What category should i submit http://www.MyBizZone.biz in?
S Buckinghams on Feb 17, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Ive submitted my site twice in the last two months but no luck. I dont wanna do it too often or they might ban me, i dont know. Its in the relevant category, well designed and well explained…there is not much i can do now..
Tina on Feb 18, 2009 at 12:02 am

I had a site that I needed moved because it no longer had a forum… we added content because I just didn’t have the time to commit to keeping peace on the forum. When I attempted to move it out of the proper category to the right one, the editor deleted it but then it never got added to the right category. Noone will write me back from dmoz and I lost $4K a month because my traffic dropped. It made a huge difference since my site only gets organic traffic. As a stay at home single mom, this really affected my family finances. How in the world do you get someone to answer your questions on dmoz?
John Caulfield on Feb 19, 2009 at 6:24 pm

Followed Akash Kumar’s list subitted no listing. Sublitted again and after six months I had given up looking then spotted the link under Zinureturns as YES to DMOZ so thankyou very much
Facebook proxy on Mar 1, 2009 at 5:08 am

Dmoz seems to be very corrupted. See how many people are trying to find a backdoor entry for dmoz at freelancing sites.
Kate Vickers on Mar 16, 2009 at 3:23 pm

I have tried to get onto DMOZ before and failed. After a major overhaul of my site I’ve just re-submitted. I hope the ‘Editor Gods’ like me this time. I’ve put a lot of effort in and it’s really annoying to get ignored!
alejojoe a.k.a. josewerkz on Mar 27, 2009 at 11:22 am

this is one interesting article. im almost done with my site and it will be completed soon…thanks for the useful info…cheers
DMOZ free open directory on Mar 31, 2009 at 5:16 am

thanks for article but I found doing and saying are tow different things , that’s I have created my own dmoz FDP

now ODP stands for other directory project lol!
Charlie on Apr 8, 2009 at 7:40 pm

I submitted my site (http://www.elites0ft.com) under penetration testing, though it offers other services as well, such as search engine optimization and web development :)
Mike on Apr 17, 2009 at 9:16 am

I think there should be a way of notifying submitters if their sites are rejected for inclusion so they could rework before submitting again. This would prevent multiple submissions due to simple impatience which in turn adds to the editors’ workload.
Manish on May 26, 2009 at 6:00 am

thanks for this article …
daddy design on Jun 4, 2009 at 10:58 pm

I have submitted to dmoz for the last 8 years and have yet to make it in there. I follow the guidelines perfectly too :(
Dublin Florist on Jun 11, 2009 at 6:33 am

yes, it took agesfor my site to appear any of my clients sites have not been approved. great service though.
Syd R. on Jun 16, 2009 at 9:16 am

Interesting info!