Search Engine Forums, SEO Forum

by Akash Kumar, October 2006

Getting listed in Dmoz (http://www.dmoz.org) has always been a major concern for those webmasters who know what difference a Dmoz listing can make to their site's search engine positioning. As Dmoz is a free volunteered directory, it requires your site to be the best in your industry, if it is not then make sure to make it.

But many people are not aware of the things that are responsible for getting a listing in Dmoz, there are some dos and don'ts that make your site into Dmoz but what are they? what things you need to follow? and what things are to be avoided? following are few tips which would help you out.

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.

NOTE: please dont use this article any where else without my permission.

Akash

Ya everytime I reach a land mark I try to give people something new and informative. And ya I agree getting into Dmoz now also needs some luck and some patience.

Akash

Are there any forums or blog pages where you can meet dmoz editors- not dmoz forums

It also helps if dmoz is working correctly.

Indeed, there seems to be a persisting problem

http://www.mycampaign.gr

Agree, DMOZ is a very slow machine. Sometimes it even looks like editors don't care so much about the applicants.

I was trying to locate my link there many times with different categories, trying to be nice and friendly to editors. So far without success.

If anyone knows the real key to successful placement in DMOZ and share it with this forum, that would be very appreciated.

Have a great day

Is this a problem that happens often?

I'm new to this SEO game and i can't wait for the DMOZ rejections!!

DMOZ is the www. biggest waste of space at the moment.
It worries that eveyone is reliant on getting into DMOZ, but they haven't realised that those who haven't got listed so far are doing just aswell with out it.

It's true. I seem to be getting picked up by search engines within 2 days of registering. Who knows...this time next year i could have a top 10.

It looks like DMOZ has been broken for new submissions. Is anyone else seeing the same thing?

What do you mean by that? Do we have to try submitting again, and now it will be more successful? How can I see something is changed on DMOZ?

DMOZ has been down for months they have some sort of technical problem, I go on there once a week to try and submit my site,
I think thats all you can do at the moment.

I was wondering how long it will take to get accepted by DMOZ at this moment. Now I'm pretty sceptical about it, but I could be wrong. I really wish you successful results and will appreciate if you can share your successful story with this forum when you got accepted by DMOZ. That might encourage the other members!

Have a great day

Thats the point no one knows how long it will take to get listed in DMOZ as the site never works.

I obey all the laws and regulation while submitting the site in the Dmoz directory, Then why my site is not added in the Dmoz