DMOZ problems

[RobinJames]

Hi,

I've been trying to get my sites listed in DMOZ for years.... does anyone have any experience with them? They seem to block anything I submit, and it's been years now, with me not pestering them.... helP!

 

[fisicx]

Why are you even bothering? DMOZ is now so out of touch with reality that any listing you do get may not even reflect the submitted site.

It's unlikley to help your ranking and the chances of you getting a visitor from the directory is virtually zero.

 

[harryboon]

fisicx is right on the button - why bother, people still think by having a DMOZ listing you will see massive results - well not in my experience

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

Mine was listed 2 years after submission.

 

[harryboon]

You have to follow their guidelines big style, fussy buggers really - 2 years is a long time to wait

 

[Mystro]

Submitted a few times and nothing

then i actually read the whole inclusion process and followed to the letter and was listed within 6 weeks.

they are fussy and any excuse not to list you they will

 

[deniser]

Do you have business premises?

If so apply geographically. You may be listed within days.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

you can apply to DMOZ for two listings. first by genre of site, second by geographic position.

One thing though, unless you read and follow the guidelines it will likely never be dealt with.

Most common errors for rejection are
1. wrong category - this is the single most reason why sites get rejected. dont guess, dig down, then look at the other sites in the cat, if theya re a perfect match, then you are probably in the right place.

2. bad title. - Your title should be your business official website title. so having 'Bills car repairs, repairs to all makes of vehicles', will get you rejected, as that is sales pitch, and classed as spam.

3. bad description. - 'Bills car repairs, repairs to all makes of vehicles at low prices' is spam and will see you rejected. Your description should describe the content of the site. Information and photographs of car repair facility based in sunderland' is fine.

4. use of superlatives. - again classed as sales pitch and will see your application left for 'later' which rarely comes.

The thing with DMOZ though is the same today as I have ever said. 'do it right, do it once, and forget about it.

 

[zigojacko]

The thing with DMOZ though is the same today as I have ever said. 'do it right, do it once, and forget about it.

Here Here!

 

[bdw]

they are fussy and any excuse not to list you they will

Not true!

I am an editor and I think you would be surprised at the stupidity of some submissions. The rules are quite clear. Follow them and you will have a good chance of being listed. I would say that most submissions have to be edited in some way because people think we will make an exception for them and allow them to use promotional language.

Site Title
Please supply a short and descriptive title.

• Always opt for the official name of the site.
• Do not use ALL CAPITAL letters.
• Exclude promotional language in the title.

Now what could we be clearer than that? I get stuff like "Hairdresser Bradford for the best Perms, Curls and Cheapest Deals"

Description
Keep the description of your site brief - no longer than 25-30 words. A well-written, objective description will make listing your site easier.

• Do not use any HTML tags
• Write in complete sentences and/or descriptive phrases using proper grammar, punctuation and correct spelling.
  • Do not use ALLCAPS in your description.
  • Avoid capitalizing every word in a sentence.
  • Don't repeat the title of your site in the description.
• Avoid using promotional language and strings of key words and search terms. Words and phrases like "cool" and "best darn site" will be removed.

Once again despite the perfectly clear instructions many descriptions submitted include blatant promotional language. To submit these sites editors have to take the time to look at them to see what they actually do and rewrite the submission. Editors do not get paid for this. They are volunteers and they will obviously prioritise their work putting the ones that follow the rules to the top.

Here's an actual description of a site currently waiting to be dealt with in one of my categories.

"Their Business Name | Web Design and Hosting at affordable prices | We can provide with a simple refresh or a full blown website to your specifications. We can also supply your site with affordable hosting with guaranteed uptime of around 99%."

Now this is a web company that clearly should know better. Why are they unable to follow the simple rules for submission? What part of "Avoid using promotional language" is it that they cannot understand? Can't they count 25 or 30 words?

I can tell you that it gets very frustrating for editors and I would be willing to bet that some of you who have failed to get listed made the same mistakes whether or not you acknowledge this.

.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

You are a brave man admitting to being an editor at DMOZ. many wouldn't

Everything you say is true, and the simple fact is that when an editor logs on to the control area, they look at the proper titled sites, and those are the ones that get dealt with. Everything else waits or is rejected.

 

[Andy Walpole]

I just checked all the available sections for my borough in London and they are not even in the Google cache

 

[OldWelshGuy]

The google cache reporting is no longer working properly, hasn't fgor a couple of months. Pages that are in the index are not showing a cache reported, but turn up for searches on unique text from within the page. (supplemental maybe? )

 

[Coppock]

When you're looking for a category to submit too check the footer - it will ask if you want to volunteer to be the editor of that section or give you the name of the editor for that section.

I tend to submit to the ones with a name listed and tend to get better results that way, but I don't lie awake at night worrying about dmoz listings... every little helps!

Good luck!
Jen

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Anyone above the category can (and does) edit it.

 

[MASSEY]

bdw approve my site

 

[deniser]

I can tell you that it gets very frustrating for editors and I would be willing to bet that some of you who have failed to get listed made the same mistakes whether or not you acknowledge this.

.

I can also add that if you are a shopping site then you won't get listed if:
1. you have no products for sale
2. no prices are displayed
3. you do not display any contact details at all - no phone number, no email, no address
4. the site is still in draft with incomplete pages and broken links
5. it is an Ebay shop or similar (with some exceptions)

 

[NellyUK]

If you've been accepted by Yahoo dir $299 use this as your "template" for Dmoz submission as Yahoo almost always edits your original submission to fit their criteria, rewriting the description almost always works when submitting to Dmoz.

Submit then forget, set your calender for 1 year then try again - dont loose sleep over poor old dmoz!

or if your category looks like its under-maintained apply to be an editor - then you can walk around as if you are really somebody and as a bonus supplement you regular income with another regular income by charging poor unsuspecting fools for "guaranteed Dmoz inclusion"