DMOZ Listing

[silverpuresilver]

I notice that the DMOZ directory is always recommended here on UKBF. I have been listed for some time with them, but I need to update my listing category and they ask for a description.

Should I put a lovely description of www.silverpuresilver.com or should I just put in major keywords (for the the search engines to use?)

Any advice?

Thanks

Karen

[Ozzy]

Lovely description of 2-3 sentences stands the best chance of approval.

[epiphany]

And be patient it can take a long time to get listed depending on how busy your category is...

At lot of the categories have the entry descriptions edited into a consistent structure.

[Tin]

Hi Karen

I've always found there's 'sweet spot' of words in terms of the actual number of words you should use. What actual words you ultimately use is a different matter.

In my opinion 12 words within just 1 sentence is a pretty good to start with but if you need a bit more room to say what you need I'd suggest you don't go over 16 words or 160 characters in total.

When I'm doing subs at DMOZ I always do a rudimentary check in each specific category that I'm submitting to, to see how 'that category editor' views submits as your's will most likely be edited to some degree. By making a nice cup of tea and sitting in front of a DMOZ result page for a minute or two you can always see a pattern of working and then all you do is work that pattern into your description.

A quick check searching for silver jewelry in DMOZ shows the top 10 results with a 'description' word count as follows;

#1 12 words
#2 12
#3 14
#4 19
#5 13
#6 14
#7 8
#8 12
#9 11
#10 11

This gives you some idea of how long to make your description.

As far as what words to use I suggest you read the submit guidelines fully before you contemplate your description. DMOZ is especially fussy that you follow their guidelines so think the description through otherwise you might find the description you end up with is not what you would have preferred. If you think out of the box a bit you'll find that you can craft a nice description using words that are very closely related to your preferred keywords and still slip in a useful word or two.

Hope that helps a bit. :)

[silverpuresilver]

Thanks very much for the advice. I'll put together some sentences and see how they work, rather than just a list of keywords.

As we are already listed, I'm not sure how successful I'll be in changing category, but it's always worth a shot.

I know that many people have asked about free directory listings in the past, however, do any of you know other directories that the search engines regularly use???

Karen