Getting listed in Dmoz 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. by Akash Kumar, October 2006 Getting listed in Dmoz 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. by Akash Kumar
2012: Do not bother... 1: many editors disregard the guidelines, so submitting to the wrong category, can result in getting your site rejected, but according to some it will get moved. Submitting to the ODP is a crap shoot at best. 2: At least one site has thousands of listings all that have nothing but a header, footer and syndicated content in between.... so while they may say content in king, in the ODP it's sometimes 1000% optional. Submiting to the ODP is a crap shoot at best. 3: What? I have a page written in HTML 2.0 (and even broken at that) that has been listed... but I also have some professional sites not listed. Submitting to the ODP is a crap shoot at best. 4: Only in (parts of) regional... outside of regional I do not believe it's required... but hey, if you wanna put your name on things so editors have an easier time to ask you for a paid listing, be my guest... but even then, submitting to the ODP is a crap shoot at best. 5: If your professional designers are leaving you with misspelled words and broken links, you paid too much. Either way, would you happen to have any original worthy of reading because it's current information to share? (also note, another member already copy pasted that here: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=896690&p=8223542#post8223542)
Yes you really need it, its the most important thing for you right now! You work real hard to get listed in the 1987 directory!!
I worked hard and my geocities site (or is it angelfire) with the blink tags and the star background got accepted last week! Yay me!
Wonderful post....Thanks a lot. I just need to know 1 thing. How long one should wait to be listed in Dmoz. I have posted my website 1 month back and its yet not listed. So I should wait or repost...please suggest.
How much traffic ( daily new visitors or daily page views ) is needed to get approved in dmoz ? There are many other directories out there then why everyone prefer dmoz and if you say google crawl pages from dmoz then why google likes dmoz ?
The T&C, that you read and agreed, forbid repeat suggestions. We have no interest in traffic, caring far more about useful and unique content.
Sometimes... a forum or blog just starting out may not make it in till it gets a little time under its belt to show the editors that its established & the owner is willing to keep it up. generally though, it's not something that is taken into account, or rather its something based on the editor looking at it.
I think Dmoz is dead. I've worked years and years on many sites and it's a high possibility that they've let it sink. After all, Google might not give that much importance to it in 2012. Back 2003, 2004 it was still a "big thing" to get in...
I just want to add something. Make sure that your site has a TOS, Contact us and Privacy Policy pages. I can't stress how important this is. Additionally it helps if you make a page on your page where you put information such as a telephone number and address. They don't have to be real.
none of that is within the guidelines (cept under some regional categories) so it's optional at best... though they all are good ideas and are highly recommended for issues of trust... but are not required for the ODP.
I said this because some people are afraid to put information about them online. Of course that if you own a small/medium business it's much better for you to include your real address and phone number I just gave those who aren't willing to put such information online an option. I do not care about DMOZ as I didn't see a big change in my SERPs but I've made a few tests and this is what worked for me. I got 12 out of 20 websites listed in DMOZ in about a month so it's not 100% sure that you'll get a listing but it definitely helps and I am sure about this because the results of previous tests that I ran were much worse (3/18) So my advices won't guarantee you listing in DMOZ but it isn't hard to do any of the things that I mentioned. Plus in an update a few months ago google stated that every website must have a TOS and Contact us page and I am 100% sure about this. I think Google released this information in a video on youtube. If anybody wants it just PM me.