DMOZ Updates

Well I've had very little luck submitting to DMOZ in the past. I don't have spammy sites and I've been submitting to categories with sites that seem much poorer quality than those I submit. Anyway, I'm going to follow some advice from the fine folks at DP and be sure to submit to a category that actually has been updated lately. Question is: is there any trick to knowing when a certain category was last updated, or am I sentenced to monitoring several possible categories for a couple months?

 

Hi Carlito. The "fine folks at DP" have been giving you erroneous advice, I'm afraid.

Let me give you the scenario -
The assumption is that each site has one "best fit" category, and that that category doesn't have a named active editor, or the category hasn't been updated in a while (there is a date at the bottom of the category that shows the last activity in the category, but that doesn't really tell you much - someone could have been in deleting a dead site).

So the "advice" you have been given is that submit to a "non-best" category, because somehow you will get listed quicker.

Here's how this works from the "insider's" perspective:
* An editor starts reviewing sites in the "non-best" category you submitted your site. Realises that the site does not belong in that category.
* What they should do then is to find the "best" category and move the submission there, in order for another editor to actually review the site. What sometimes happens (which we discourage) is the editor just deletes the submission.
* Then the submission is sitting in the "best" category, waiting for an editor to come along and review the site.

In short, the end result is either that your submission gets deleted (not what you want) or the submission just ends up back in the original "best" category, after a delay while another editor looks at it (which is the exact opposite effect to the one you want).

I guess I really don't see how that gains you anything over doing it the way that is suggested, and I fail to see how it could possibly gain you anything. This is why I maintain that this is bad advice.

Could you please give me the reference where this post was made, because I would like to refer them back to what I just wrote, and would be intrigued to know how they feel that his might get them a faster review.

 

To be clear, I never read anything that said 'submit to any remotely close category that is being updated'. It was more like 'choose a relevant category that has shown some activity within a reasonable amount of time'.

Example:

I created a shareware game and made it available for download with a few others on a website of mine. So I go to find the best category, and narrow it down to:

/Games/Video_Games/Developers_and_Publishers/Independent_Developers/
/Games/Video_Games/Shareware/Developers/
/Games/Video_Games/Computer_Platforms/Windows/Downloads/

These all seem appropriate, especially since I see other similar sites scattered around these different categories, so my natural inclination is to choose one that's actually being updated regularly.

So don't get me wrong, it's not a way of sneaking into DMOZ, it's just the natural urge to get a timely response after no previous success.

 

In my opinion, screw DMOZ.

I have a couple of sites listed with them but a lot more that are not. Surprisingly I am seeing a rise in traffic and rank regardless of the fact that DMOZ seems to not be able to get to my submissions (some going on for a year and a half now).

If you can get listed right away then great, but if not no big deal. Just work hard in other areas on your site and be patient with the SE's. Work your ass off for links and carefully target keywords.

DMOZ isnt what it used to be. Some say it isnt even worth anything anymore.

I just get pissed off every time I think about that worthless directory so I have started to ignore it and focus on other things.

It seems to be working.

 

I agree with zman's approach - submit it and move on - spending time worrying about it is just going to cause you stress and not achieve any sort of different result.

But DMOZ has always been like this - you can go back years and years where SEOs complain that the ODP isn't doing for them what they want it to do. Followed by a bunch of editors saying "but we don't WANT it to do what you want it to do", and so on, ad nauseum.

If you get a benefit from a listing there, so much the better. If you don't, look for other ways to promote your site. It's better for your health, in the long run.