With so many flame wars hovering around DMOZ, I find it hard to believe that getting in is as bad as some say it is, however I am still waiting for the true and final answer to my question: Will I ever make it in? I do not want to pitch my website, but I will say this, it is an arcade website which does not contain adult content. That alone in this day and age should be enough, but content is king, and these days arcade sites seem to be floating around in the dozens. Fair enough, but are there any DMOZ editors in the forum who can shed some light on the topic of getting into the DMOZ? Will someone be able to walk me through and tell me what roads to avoid in trying to get in? So far I have submitted the site twice, this after waiting about 3 months the first time around. I realize how swamped the editors must be, but I still want to see if there is light at the end of the tunnel at all? Thank you to any and all who can help. (Please no flame wars)
I tried to get a couple of sites into DMOZ for a couple of years, until I finally gave up. since it's so difficult to get in it, I don't consider it as a site you should consider for your SEO. Just post your request to be included once and go on to other directories and search engines
If you want to get editors' opinions as to whether the site is listable then you have to give the URL. Otherwise they are fishing around in the dark...
Wild guess: http://www.arcadecow.com/ Looks ok at glance, but dlow123 I would check those image placement next to Adsense: Can we have images above or next to our ads?
Thanks for the feedback thus far, and yes the site is Arcade Cow. I initially worried about the picture issue, until I recently caught wind of google actually implementing something extremely similar. However I can see how the border would help, and I will be more than happy to add that. Again thanks for the feedback.
I think someone wrote that the Games sections have editors that are working! You might be lucky. If Games has a living editor, all site submissions should be done in "Games" regardless of the site's subject matter. Why? If perchance the editor in Games that reviews your site is an editall, they might send your site to the proper category, and hopefully, it will be listed! Just trying to help webmasters here. No one gives them good tips like that one over at RZ. Sure, if the Games editors are swamped, it might be become counterproductice. SO RUSH!!! Be the first in line before the last loaf is distributed.
Well this is a concern, being that I have submitted in the past (3 months ago) and submitted about a week ago, and have heard no word? Which is why I question my site quality. However, I peruse the sites in that category and although I can see some as having very great respect/authority (i.e. aol online games, yahoo games, etc), others do not? Any light to be shed here?
Only do this if you want your site to take even longer to list. If I'm editing in Sports and I come across a site that belongs in Computers - I don't title and describe and list the site (even though I'm perfectly capable of doing that - but, it would interrupt my flow of work). In order to list that site in Computers - I would need to visit the Computers category and make sure it actually fits there and that it's not already listed there. If I realize that the site is a Computers site in the first few moments, I'm not going to make absolutely sure that where I'm sending it is the exact category it belongs in, I'll just make sure it's a lot closer than it is now.
lmocr has given good advice. Submitting to the wrong category will always make your submission take longer. Helleborine, you know better than that, are you trying to stir us up?
Me. Since I use to maintain several categories in Games I can say it worked pretty well at lest when compared to Croatian category which has only one editor which can cover everything and he isn't even editall, I was planning to advance high enough to give him a hand but... I don't think there are many editalls most editors are probably like I use to be limiting to there niche so picking right category should work faster. There weren't that many submissions in Games, maybe in gambling section, although I was maintaining some obscure gaming section even well known titles like Total War series got few submissions and I had go out and find websites to add.
Actually, no. When I was editing, I actually reviewed all non-spam sites, wrote a proper description for them, before shipping them off to their respective categories. If I didn't have permissions for the destination category, the site would be in the new queue, but at least with proper title and description. If I had permission, it was published. I bet there are other editors that work that way, too. So best is to submit to your actual category, and take your chances by submitting to a category, or categories, with an active editor. This INCREASES your chances. It's not great from a "common good" perspective, but it will be best for you personally. Caveat: remember that this is all in pursuit of a rather worthless link that will not make a measurable improvement in your rankings.
Yeah... I am chuckling and typing - it's like drinking and driving. I was just toooooo special for the ODP. Hahaha. But I am sure I was not alone, there has got to be other, currently active editors that work that way too. Guessing.
I used to do the same for the first year and a half. Then I lost sympathy for those who had clearly not read the submission guidelines and submitted to patently the wrong category with a keyword loaded description and title.
I didn't lose sympathy, because in my old categories at least, the overwhelming majority of webmasters had made an effort to submit to the proper category. 75% of the time, they got it wrong. Because of the vast number of categories. I thought it was my duty to be helpful. But in hindsight, I was wasting my time. (fulfilling my one-dig per post minimum).
Nothing wrong with that at all. But when you are at a point where it is impossible to clear all waiting sites and you have to prioritise I gave priority to those who clearly had read the guidelines on where to submit and how to word titles and descriptions. Least work to get most listings.
Uhhh, yeah...... no. OK....... no Unfortunatley I have to agree with Annie. Most do not edit before sending.
Well it's nice to see that some editors out there are atleast trying to be helpful.. I don't understand the mentality that you will sit back and do LESS work. In any humane company (charitable or not) when things get out of hand you DO something about it. Don't just sit back and say "well less work for me" this results in potential, quality websites, being rejected, and of course no explanation given. So the mistake will be repeated. Climbing the mountain that is DMOZ is no easy task, and all around assistance definitely helps. FOR INSTANCE... At my company, which shall go unnamed, there are numerous people who work in our administration dept. who refuse to take on the work of their peers, because quite frankly, it's not their work! The problem is that the customer on the other end of the phone can give two sh$%s about whose work is what... they want to see productivity and they want to see their issue being handled in a timely manner. So in the end, you have a complaining customer, less money coming in the door, AND you have a potentially angry co - worker. All that because you did not want to lend a helping hand. Now it may seem off topic, but remember your customers are not your peers in this instance, but the general viewing public who will appreciate the work you've done in tracking down the quality websites for your category. Can I get an amen?