Any guides for getting into DMOZ?

[newsguy]

Try as I may, I have yet to be accepted into DMOZ. Is there some "dark secret" that I haven't learned yet for getting in?

[Buskerdoo]

I've not had much trouble. On one site I ended up submiting a second time 3 months after the first. Submited to a dif catagory and got in in 3 weeks.

I've also gotten in within 1 month.

Make sure you are in the correct catagory. Make sure your title is the naame of your site. Make sure to follow their suggestions and look at how others write their descriptions, etc.

[bull]

If the site and description is guideline compliant and no business rival is the editor of the category, it's all about time. I have successfully submitted 6 sites, one is still waiting.

[growler]

First - choose the best categroy
Second - make sure it's the best categroy
Third - spend more time making sure it's the right category.
Fourth - Write a good description
Fifth - Check the description and remove all the hype
Sixth - Remove all the keywords from the description that you added for search engines
Seventh - Remove all the words from the description that are in the category name
Eighth - Write a good title - that is the name of your company or the title of your site - not a description or what you want as a title
Ninth - make sure you spelled your URL correctly
Tenth - do not submit to more than one category
Eleventh - do not keep submitting
Twelvth - Don't hassle and annoy the editor by emailing

and finally if no editor is named at the bottom of the category - it has nothing to do with whehter anyone is actually editing that category - so do not let that influence the choice of category for submission.

[RLRay]

You can follow up on your submission one month from the date of submission at http://www.resource-zone.com. Be sure to read the guidelines there before inquiring.

After your first inquiry there, you can inquire again six months later.

Hope that helps--the guidelines above are excellent too, especially regarding the repeating of keywords in the title and description.

Randy

[SVB]

Best way to get in is to tell the admin that you submitted your site and the category isnt suitable, and they should make a new category. I did it, they made a new category, and put my site in it

[John Scott]

Tenth - do not submit to more than one category

I see many sites that benefit from submitting to several categories.

[growler]

And I make sure to review them last for violating the submission guidelines. I just spent two hours today getting rid of multiple submissions. They do not make me happy.

Without going into the reason why, it also increase the chances that all of the submissions get deleted.

[baldlygo]

I had to wait 15 months for my first - then additional sites got added without delay. I think it is pretty much pot luck. Just keep fingers crossed, wait and submit status posts after the six months.

[DebbieV]

And I make sure to review them last for violating the submission guidelines.

Typical knee-jerk reaction. One can only wonder if the quality of the directory is directly proportionate to the level of editor arrogance.

You'll hear editors tell you not to submit deeplinks - they'll add deeplinks if they feel your site is deserving. What a crock - if you would poll the current editors, the majority response would probably be that deeplinks aren't allowed. The average editor probably does little more than review a submission for relevance to the category where the submission was received.

You'll hear editors tell you about the number of sites listed every day that are never submitted. Great! Really. That's good news. But what are your chances that an editor from DMOZ will accidentally find your site? How many times do you hear about editors not being able to add to their category because they never receive any submissions?

It's sad to hear comments such as the one made above. DMOZ is a volunteer human edited directory, and as such, will always will be at the mercy of the arrogance and emotions of those entrusted with the privileges bestowed upon them.

[growler]

It's not a knee jerk reaction, I deal with thousands of sites, a lot of are straitforward submissions sent in by well meaning people who simply want to list their site. Not only do I review them, but I take the trouble to send an extra copy to a Regional category if appropriate. I also get a lot of multi-lingual sites, and I take the time to ensure that a copy of the site has been sent to each language in World.

I also deal with a much too large number of site owners who send their sites to multiple categories. To deal with this requires much more of my time. I'd rather deal with 10 legitimate submissions and get them published, than take the same time to sort out one spam creator in ten categories, so I make sure to review them last . It's a logical way to deal with the problem.

There also is a high correlation with multiple category submitters and general abuse. These same people are the ones who will atempt to sneak in mirror sites with equivalent content. So they require much more work to weed out the legitamate ftom the sludge.

As far as finding sites, I have two categories that were specifically created from a request from me, to hold a large number of topic spcific sites, that were never submitted. Most of these sites owners probably do not even know about DMOZ, or even that their sites is listed.

It's time to stop whining and complaining about editors, and start complaining about those who are generating the extra work by multiple submissions and spam.

ODP may be at the mercy of human editors, but Google is at the mercy of those that play games with SEO. For one of my sites in ODP, it gets a single listing next to all others in the same category. Thats fair. That same site of mine in Google, gets listed in the first ten for a number of keywords, not because it's the best resource, but because I can outsmart the other site owners in that category.

[Crichey]

What if the site is appropriate for several categories? Still only one submission or would multiple submissions to different catagories be allowed?

[DebbieV]

>>It's not a knee jerk reaction

Excuse me, I must have had my rose colored glasses on earlier.

>>I deal with thousands of sites, a lot of are straitforward submissions sent in by well meaning people who simply want to list their site. Not only do I review them, but I take the trouble to send an extra copy to a Regional category if appropriate. I also get a lot of multi-lingual sites, and I take the time to ensure that a copy of the site has been sent to each language in World.

Are you in agreement that the typical editor does little to determine if a site offers significant listable content beyond the root? Many sites offer quality content whose pages would enrich more than a single topical category (within the guidelines, of course). Your comments encourage me to suggest that (quality) deeplinks should be submitted by site owners as the average editor doesn't take this into consideration when reviewing a site. (please note that I'm not suggesting submissions to multiple levels of any single category).

>>I also deal with a much too large number of site owners who send their sites to multiple categories. To deal with this requires much more of my time. I'd rather deal with 10 legitimate submissions and get them published, than take the same time to sort out one spam creator in ten categories, so I make sure to review them last . It's a logical way to deal with the problem.

There also is a high correlation with multiple category submitters and general abuse. These same people are the ones who will atempt to sneak in mirror sites with equivalent content. So they require much more work to weed out the legitamate ftom the sludge.

I'm inclined to believe that multiple submissions to various categories are more likely the result of ignorance (submitter) and the time it currently takes to have a submission reviewed rather than spamming. The lack of any mechanism confirming the reciept of a submission may be a contributing factor. A number of directories offer a simple confirmation with the details of a submission.

>>As far as finding sites, I have two categories that were specifically created from a request from me, to hold a large number of topic spcific sites, that were never submitted. Most of these sites owners probably do not even know about DMOZ, or even that their sites is listed.

As I said previously - this is great. How many editors take this initiative? I see various posts by (albeit former) editors regarding the lack of submissions to the category where they once edited.

It's time to stop whining and complaining about editors, and start complaining about those who are generating the extra work by multiple submissions and spam.

Please don't take offense by my comments and views - they're not intended as complaints. I have nothing to whine about.

>>ODP may be at the mercy of human editors.......

Glad we are in agreement.

For one of my sites in ODP, it gets a single listing next to all others in the same category. Thats fair. That same site of mine in Google, gets listed in the first ten for a number of keywords, not because it's the best resource, but because I can outsmart the other site owners in that category.

Nice to see that editors are able to get multiple sites listed in the directory. (I couldn't resist and I'm sure that the listings are appropriate).

Crichey - I'd suggest that you submit your site to the most relevant topical category as well as the appropriate Regional category if applicable to your site (ie. have a physical location or regional focus). If you have other content that may be suitable for a listing in an unrelated category, I would consider submitting the pages. As you can see from the comments above, the average editor will most likely not take this into consideration when reviewing your site. They'll only consider the relevance to the category where the submission is made.

Don't submit the root to one level and then a deeplink on the same subject to one or more of the subcategories. If you have quality content suitable for a different category altogether, then you should consider submitting it for review. A few submissions won't get you labeled as a spammer.

While this is normally not the case, I can show you sites that have multiple listings (35 ) in several subcategories instead of listings in a parent category. Some categories have more than one page listed from this site. We won't mention the affiliate links on the pages as well as the "directory" located at the footer linking to pages with nothing more than affiliate links. But I'm sure they'll tell you it's appropriately listed as the categories are non-commercial.

[growler]

>>Nice to see that editors are able to get multiple sites listed in the directory.<<

I'm not sure what you mean by this - you must have misunderstood what I said. I own or manage many many sites, I own sites that are mirrors of others of my sites.

I have five sites listed in ODP, three of them were added before I became an editor. [Only one of those has two listings, one regular and one Regional.]

Only one site is in a category I can edit.

I have one site waiting to be reviewed, it's been waiting for two months. I wait just like any other site owner.

Of the rest of my sites, they are not eligable to be listed, they are lead generators, mirrors, not enough content, or generally unsuitable.

I have added almost 5000 new sites to the directory, none of which had any connection with me, I have probably edited and changed another several thousand.

One of my sites really covers three other categories besides the one it's listed in. I woul love to be able to list individual pages in other categories. One of those other categories I happen to edit. But it will not be listed there.

So as far as your advice to submit individual pages, don't do it. It's a very bad thing to consider.

[DebbieV]

Apparently you missed the smiley and the comment in parenthesis. It was meant in jest - didn't mean to get you worked up.

As far as submittting individual pages - there are a number of (non-commercial) categories within the directory that are comprised primarily of individual pages or deeplinks. I doubt that there are more than just a few "web sites" to list there, and would be seriously lacking if not for the individual pages. If it were inappropriate to do so, I don't think categories such as these would accept submissions. I'm sure that quite a few of the listings were submitted by the site owners, rather than being added by editors when reviewing the root URL.

[sundancerz]

It really depends on the content and the category you submit to whether a deep link is going to be looked at and perhaps listed.

[ATLien]

Well I waited 5 months before I submitted a second time, and then 2 months later, I contacted a editor in a similar group, made friends with him, and asked. He oked my sites that night. For 2 different Categories.

[sundancerz]

When an editor looks at a site that someone email them, (at least in my case) I've already gone through the site and it may be a bad/unlistable or a good site that should be listed, I too list it at that time. What I don't get is an editor that looks at a site and tells the person that it's a good site and it will get listed soon...hopefully, like a lot of them do at the Resource Center. Why waste the time looking at it and not listing it, if it's good. That's just my opinion.

[Dave Hawley]

I contacted a editor in a similar group, made friends with him, and asked. He oked my sites that night. For 2 different Categories.

Kind of sais it all.

[John Scott]

Originally Posted by newsguy

Try as I may, I have yet to be accepted into DMOZ. Is there some "dark secret" that I haven't learned yet for getting in?

PayPal the editor $30