One of our content sites has such great and unique content in it that it gained 6 listings in dmoz to seperate parts of the site (only one to the homepage). The primary keyword for the site was used in all the listings as part of the anchor text. (widgets this, widgets that, brown rolly polly widgets, etc) The listings have been added over the past 3 to 9 months and have all since migrated to the google directory. So far we have seen almost no traffic from dmoz and ... for all those webmasters crying over their keyboards thinking "if only I could get 6 listings in dmoz to my site," the effect on our serps has been negligable also. The categories range from pr4 to pr6 so some pr benefit has occured, but other than that... not much else. I have other applications pending for other sites and as I have become more experienced with the effects of a dmoz listings or lack there of, my anxiety over the outstanding submissions not having been added yet has decreased to a bare 'well, if they add it they do, if they dont they dont.' The seo value of a dmoz listing from my experience only comes into play if you get only the exact keyword or phrase as the anchor text. PS - I'm not knocking dmoz, they have never claimed to be able to offer webmasters anything... I'm just sharing this to balance out some of the myths from other webmasters about how a listing in dmoz is so powerful for seo and so on and so on (you have heard it all I'm sure).
What I have seen as the value of a DMOZ listing is the number of backlinks you get from other directories which copy DMOZ content. Shannon
I think the main benefit of dmoz is all the scrapers out there: who just use dmoz content for their own site - so you end up with all kinds of backlinks.
Sure, heaps of backlinks... great. But I guess what I'm saying is the only help in the serps all these wonderful links will give you is for the exact phrasing of the anchor text used in the dmoz listing. Like if one of Shawn's pages was listed as "Digitalpoint Keyword Tracker" the only search the listing and tons of subsequent links would really help on would be "Digitalpoint Keyword Tracker", not "Digitalpoint" or "Keyword Tracker" to any great effect.
Dominic, Great and not so great. I've never heard of six listings in DMOZ, so your feedback is great - I'd have thought the BL's would be a significant asset. In fact - the BL's are the biggest advantage - except of course where deviation from your chosen anchor text is concerned. But even then, heavy on-page seo (ie - internal links to highly optimized pages from the landing page) can save the day on partials (searches against a partial anchor). It's never quite as effective as a complete anchor, but then you said your area was unique in that it warranted six entries ? Either way - the feedback is great - I've not heard it all before Cheers, JL
The only way DMOZ could help would be if it would let you in... say 2 days after you lauched a site... If it let's you in about 3-6 months... it really has no effect then
Just shows if you have good unique content then they have no problem putting you in more than one category.
I found these stats fascinating. The stats are better explained when you know that ODP is owned by TimeWarner who owns CCN and AOL. DMOZ is still a must submit but I have noted some interested tidbits in my DMOZ review.
Thanks. Like they say, "you only have one chance to make a good first impression". It helps if you can get the first sentence right.
It's true, have a brandnew domain, get a dmoz, yahoo! directory and joeant (or skaffe) listing before anything else and you will not even be in a sandbox