How can I get my site listed on DMOZ???

[jasse]

Hi everyone,
It seems that the DMOZ- open directory project is very popular. I have been trying, since the get-go of my website, http://www.arc4life.com, to get listed, but to no avail. Can anyone provide any advice for getting into DMOZ? I thought about becoming an editor, but it seems like it is too time consuming.
Thanks

[mhalloran]

Jasse,

Although not directly advertized on the submit screen at DMOZ, they do have a wonderful forum setup for reviewing site submissions:

http://resource-zone.com/forum/

They are quick to respond, but _please_ read the rules first. If you've submitted within a 30day window, you'll just be told to check back later, with the traffic they get, I understand why.

Cheers,

Mark

[cbp]

You said you hvae been "trying to get listed" - if this means that you have been resubmitting --- that is a big mistake --> resubmiting overwrites the previous submissions, so if the editor reviews the pool of suggested sites by date, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage by moving your site to the back of the list.

I assume your site has been submitted to a shopping category --- then don't hold your breath - shopping is so spam prone, that it may take a very very very long time to get reviewed.

Its really a 3 step process:
1. Suggest it
2. Check after 1 month if suggested site has been received at resource-zone (as suggested by mhalloran)
3. Forget about it

Check this thread for more advice:
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=12039

CBP

[sarahk]

I agree with posting a request at resource-zone, don't keep resubmitting!

As for being an editor, you can do as much or as little as you like. It gives you an insight into another side of how the web works and you can ensure that the sites of all your mates are submitted correctly (although they will not get edited any more quickly). Given the huge benefit you will get once your site is accepted I recommend to everyone that they do a little bit as payback. After all, the listing is free!

Sarah

[podman]

I wouldn't worry about your site. It looks like ODP editors (who are really nice people) read this thread, and all you need know is patience. You might try asking at Resource Zone in a month or so.

[ACross]

I had the same problem as Jasse. After three years, I gave up, signed up (and was accepted) as an editor for the category I wanted to be listed in.

After becoming an editor, the first thing I realized was my site didn't belong in that category! :(

I diligently researched the rules for accepting a site into the directory in general, as well as the category I was editing. What an eye opener!

As I worked through the massive backlog of submissions, I realized that most people doing the submitting never bother to read the guidelines.

Here are just a few things you can do to make life easier on the category editor, which in turn will speed things up.

1) Don't bother to submit until your site is up and running. Under construction pages and code that doesn't work will most likely get your submission deleted from the queue. If your site is otherwise fully functional, leave off the links to areas that are still being worked on. You can add the links back in when the area is completed.

2) Forget the hype. Create a solid site description without the marketing hype and keyword stuffing. Be accurate. If the editor has to rewrite your description it will slow down the process, regardless of how good your site is.

3) Ditto #2 for the Site Title! Commercial sites should only list the official company name as the site title. Titles that do not follow the guidelines for that category force the editor to do more work.

Unlike other directory editors, DMOZ Editors are volunteers, with varying degrees of time available to review submissions. When a submission doesn't follow the guidelines, the editor must spend more time on that submission, slowing down their response time for the other submissions.

Just a quick sidebar: DMOZ guidelines ask editors to only list unique content. If your site is full of affiliate links, it will only qualify for inclusion if it also provides a reasonable quantity of high quality unique content, no matter how good the site looks.

This information is less than the tip of the iceberg. It is important that you do research before you submit. The resource zone forum previously listed by mhalloran is a great place to start.

AC

[acornwebworks]

I have a problem I've never seen addressed.

I have attempted to submit my Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com site several times, and always end up with an error message! I don't have the error written down any more, since it's been at least 6 months since the last attempt, but it looks like one of those database errors you get when, say, you enter a $ or commas when the field only wants numbers. (I hope you catch my drift.)

I've tried figuring out the problem, to no avail. Any suggestions?

By the way, the business name *is* a URL. Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com is a subsidiary of my corporation (boy, doesn't that all sound fancy) but my corp. title (Acorn WebWorks, Inc.) wouldn't be helpful or accurate since the FSBO stuff is only a portion of what we do. I guess I could always leave off the dot com, even though that's not the business name.

[sarahk]

I suffered the same problem and my site submission suffered with me.

To get around it either
* become an editor (you don't have to use that page)
* turn off your firewall and antivirus software when you submit. Crazy? I know, but trust me...

[cbp]

I have attempted to submit my Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com site several times, and always end up with an error message!

sarahk is right - turn off your firewall or use a different computer with a different IP addresss. Before you do that, check at www.resource-zone.com to see if the submission was received anyway (please read the instructions there first).

By the way, the business name *is* a URL. Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com is a subsidiary of my corporation

That may make the site ineligible for listing if the main corporation site is already listed. Generally, the rules are interpreted to mean one company = one listing. I am not saying you will not get listed, but the barrier for "unique and valuable content" may be much higher than usual, due to this being a 'subsidiary'. Also 'real estate' seem to have there own set of rules that I am not familiar with. Suggest you chek over at www.resource-zone.com

CBP

[sarahk]

The real estate guidelines are publicly available at http://dmoz.org/realestateguidelines.html

[podman]

Don't bother to submit until your site is up and running

Very good point, with all the posts about sites waiting months to get reviewed, people often throw the sites in to ODP ASAP, thinking that way they get in the "queue" and assuming they will have plenty of time to work on it before it gets reviewed.

Big mistake. What you never see posted is all the sites that get reviewed in less than a month, since none of those site owners ever post a complaint.

Once I've worked through a category, and taken care of the backlog, then about 50% if the submissions get reviewed the same day, many within hours. Any of those found to be under construction get immediately deleted with a warning note, no sympathy, zero tolerance.

If they get resubmitted, the warning note shows up, and they get reviewed with extra care, to ensure they are 100% working.

[sovidiu]

Jasse said about ODP editing: "but it seems like it is too time consuming".

Volunteering for DMOZ is a free act, so there should be no real motivation to speed editors up, just because you need your web site listed. If no one likes editing, I would strongly suggest people to leave the editors do their job. Select a category that best suits your web site, and wait for it to get listed. We all know you like DMOZ because it gets you a good PageRank (two links, actually: ODP and Google Directory), but do understand that editors actually do this without commercial interest.

[jasse]

Thanks everyone for your response. I guess i will give DMOZ one more try and then just wait it out for a few months. When I have submitted in the past I have done it to the most relevant category, with no hype. I totally agree with many of you that it is worth the effort; On any topic you type into google, dmoz pops up no matter what.

[acornwebworks]

I have attempted to submit my Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com site several times, and always end up with an error message!

sarahk is right - turn off your firewall or use a different computer with a different IP addresss. Before you do that, check at www.resource-zone.com to see if the submission was received anyway (please read the instructions there first).

I will do that. Never crossed my mind (although I have tried from different locations with different IP addresses.

By the way, the business name *is* a URL. Sell-Your-Home-FSBO.com is a subsidiary of my corporation

That may make the site ineligible for listing if the main corporation site is already listed. Generally, the rules are interpreted to mean one company = one listing. CBP

Nah, the main business isn't listed. I've never tried, nor do I want to. It's just the FSBO stuff I'm interested in.

Thanks for the advice, folks! As always, much good stuff.