Dmoz Listing - Need Help

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89
Hey I am doing work for a couple clients and want to get there sites listed on DMOZ. I have tried it a number of times but for some reason did not get listed. Does anyone think they could help me out with my situation. I would really REALLY appreciate the help.
#search engine optimization #dmoz #listing
  • I tried getting listed there a long time ago. Never did happen.

    I wonder how much weight Google actually attributes to a DMOZ listing. Why reward a site for doing something anyone can do... (considering, pretty much any site can eventually get listed.)
  • It does carry a lot of weight to have a DMOZ listing though. The problem is you have to get accepted. Maybe there are some tricks to the trade I don't know .
    • [2] replies
    • It carries virtually no weight, if any at all, and it hasn't for years and years.
      • [1] reply
    • There are no tricks (unless you are personal friends with the editor for your particular category).

      Submit it and forget it. It does absolutely no good to resubmit it ever 3-6 months. The backlog at DMOZ in some categories can be hundreds of thousands of sites. You just have to wait until the editor gets around to looking at it.

      If the category you're submitting to does not have an editor, you may try submitting to a slightly different category (but still relevant) that does have an editor. Or apply to be an editor yourself so that you can approve your client's submission.

      But other than that... there's not a lot you can do.
      • [1] reply
  • When did you list? It can take months to get listed there.
  • It was about 5 months ago. Then I tried another one 3 months ago. I don't understand why they won't accept a business I am doing SEO for .
  • There will also be some categories which you cannot submit to, found this out by spending way to much time on DMOZ!

    Anna
    • [1] reply
    • lol....almost getting to the point where I will pay someone to get it listed in DMOZ.
      • [1] reply
  • To get listed on DMOZ these days seems almost impossible, there is no rhyme or reason to their decisions.
    Just keep trying you might get lucky, try different categories.
    • [2] replies
    • Well supposedly it's human editors who are making decisions as to what goes in or not. They want, from my understanding, sites with good original content which aren't designed to try to entice people into buying something. That's my guess anyway based on which of my sites were accepted and which were rejected.
    • You should then offer them a refund. Why did you submit more than once for? Why did you not follow the guidelines that you agree to when you submitted them for?

      All resubmitting does is overwrite the previous submission with the new date and will only lengthen the time before you get reviewed. Too many resubmissions and you run the risk of a ban. Your clients will not be happy that you hurt there chances of a review.

      There is NEVER a need to resubmit. Doing so will hurt you.

      Once you have submitted ONCE to the ONE best category, there is nothing more that can be done and there is no help that can be given.

      Some time between now and never, when an editor decides to work on the category, they may or may not look at the suggested sites as one of the sources that they can use to find news sites to build a category.
      More than half the sites that get listed in DMOZ were never submitted in the first place. The role of the editor is to find sites that add value to the category. To do that they use numerous sources to find sites. It just so happens that the submitted sites are so full of crap its an inefficient way to find the good sites, so some editors will not even look at them; some might scan them; and some will use them. The role of an editor is not to process submissions. If you want that service, you will have to go to other directories.
      9000 sites got added in January and 6000 in february.Try explaining that strategy to all those sites that were so desperate for a listing they tried it and are now banned. ... really bad move.

      • [2] replies
  • Banned
    5 years ago, I managed to get a site listed. 4 years ago, I actually had a site I didn't submitted added by an eager editor.

    Now, it's pretty much impossible. I don't think they add any sites there.

    But if you want to improve your odds, try contacting an editor and bribing them to put you in. The worst thing they can do is say no....or bait you into giving your site and banning you forever...which is probably not a big deal considering you wouldn't get listed in the first place.
  • The whole listing where you get Google love if you can get listed at DMOZ or you pay hundreds every year for someone to list your site in one of the big boy directories is totally whacked.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • unlike other sites, approval in dmoz takes time or sometimes its just rejected without prior notice and that...
  • Personally speaking, I think for our own sanity...better to submit and then move on. DMOZ is a hot topic around here and other IM boards and having been blasted more then once by editors when I've asked if the process involved any goal tending....I'll try and stay away from the topic. At least, I'll stay away for the most part lol.

    I'm not listed yet either, according to one editor my site is still in the approval que.

    I've decided to build a part of my wine site specifically to get a free Yahoo Directory listing as well as a few others.
  • I'm going to tell you what a DMOZ editor told me awhile ago:

    You can submit your site to DMOZ all you want, but none of the editors there are required to ever even look at it. All submissions go into what is essentially a trash bin to languish there for eternity - DMOZ editors will only look at them if they want to (which they rarely if ever do).

    So to sum it up, you aren't getting your site listed there unless you bribe one of the editors or get extremely lucky.
    • [2] replies
    • Dosen't make sense. On the one hand you think that a link is not that important and then on the other hand you seem to think its worth paying money for.

      Where did you get the .0001% from. Are you making it up?
      then could you explain how the 9000 sites got listed in January and the 6000 sites got listed in February? That makes DMOZ the fastes growing directory on the web by a substantial margin.
      • [2] replies
    • Or unless you become an editor yourself. That is the only sure way.
  • Consider DMOZ a luxury. If you are accepted and listed, great. If not, then focus your efforts elsewhere.

    If you have time to sit around and whinge about it, theres something wrong with your business model.
  • The only way to get into DMOZ is to become an editor. I applied to be an editor for the insurance niche in my state and got it within a week. It is very simple. Just find a spot in your niche that has an opening for an editor and apply. Imagine how many more DMOZ insertions you can charge for when you are the editor.
    • [1] reply
    • Way to go to the source, thanks for sharing that. Confirms what everyone suspected from the mouth of Cutts himself...
  • Have always been amazed at the level of heated emotion on this topic. It's just a web directory. Having witnessed most of its history closeup, I wrote a bit of its history and answered a few FAQs about it at DP at the request of some mods that hoped to quell some of the vitriolic / repetitious threads there.

    [It's a sticky in that section still, but it did zip to even slow the fighting. LOL]

    I won't bother repeating the whole thing, but bottom line, despite its warts, it's a good link to have. It's far from the magic bullet it was in the early days of SEO, but a good link nonetheless.

    Given the age of the dir it faces a "link rot" issue that'd empty a smaller directory, and despite the amount of sites added in a given month there's an ongoing battle between the links-checker that kills dead sites and the editors adding them. Just a function of age.

    That probably negates a claim to "fastest growing" since a look at the wayback machine confirms the overall number of listing to be below figures from years past, but the directory still has active editors and it still adds many sites regularly. The common conception that the only sites added are editor sites is a bit of an urban legend. It happens, as does editor-as-competitor, but it isnt the norm.

    Takes a couple of minutes max to submit a site, and yeah, the odds of inclusion and the time it takes vary dramatically from one category to the next... so the answer is to submit and walk away and forget the whole thing. If it gets in, good, if not, you wasted a few minutes.

    And re: Well, not currently, but they do leave the profiles up ya know.
    See: http{colon //}editors.dmoz.org/editors/profile.cgi?editor=cbp

    All just fyi stuff, I'm not arguing a point here, just saying it's not a topic worth haggling over. Submit & forget" is the best possible advice. Don't waste time trying to game the system, dont worry about if it gets in or not. The time wasted on those activities is best spent on SEO/SEM items you have control over.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • cbpayne, this is the only post that you did not respond to. Why not just tell everyone that you WERE an editor instead of getting involved in a 'pissing match'? You would have gotten a lot more respect in this thread.

      Also, I think Rob Jones has a good point: It's not worth mulling over...just submit once and forget, then focus on other SEO strategies

      Kevin
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Yeah no big deal on the dmoz. I have found many other great directory listing. This list will show you a bunch of good directories to help your seo:

    Strongest Directories
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Deaddogdesign----Thanks for the directory list!
  • No problem, have been using it a lot to build strong links for clients
  • I have never gotten a site listed there. However I do remember seeing something everytime I tried getting a site listed there.

    Once I submitted my site/s there on the thank you for submitting to dmoz page it says they are looking for individuals/experts in that field to review listings for that particular category. If you can land that gig then how can they stop you from accepting your own sites. It may have changed since the last time I submitted one of my sites though.
    • [1] reply
    • There is nothing stopping editors listing their own sites providing they follow the guidelines.
  • I made bank with dmoz 7-8 years ago but now it is not worth the time. It was also extremely corrupt then because of the weight it carried and the amount of AOL traffic to be had. The editors control the listings and it can be hard to get in but why bother now? It is really not worth it. Go get some hr pr backlinks and forget dmoz.
  • 1) Read the guidelines, 2)submit your site properly, 3)then forget about it.

    If your site is not listed in six months, go to step 2.
    • [1] reply
    • If you want to get listed, then PLEASE do NOT do this. When you resubmit, you just overwrite the previous submission and you just move yourself to the back of the pile!
      • [2] replies
  • It has taken me ages to get listed in dmoz, it cant figure it out myself...however I have seen some sites do very well and get alot of traffic without being listed there
  • I finally got one of my sites listed i submitted about 7 months ago. I think the only reason it got in is because i submitted it to about 6 different categories - and finally one of the mods there woke up and took a look at it. It really seems to be pot luck nowadays.
    • [1] reply
    • That would not have been the reason. Consider yourself lucky that all 6 submission were not deleted for spamming. The guidelines you agreed to when you submitted said that you submit once to only one category. You are lucky that you stayed under the radar scope. Your spamming just created a whole lot of extra work for the editors in deleting them and people complain that the "wait" is so long ... don't figure. ... editors are so busy with deleting your crap.
  • At this point i submit a site once and forget about it. I can't waste my time worrying about trying to get it submitted here. Submit once, then move on to others. If accepted great, if not - whatever.
  • Why not just look every few weeks or so at the number of editors listed on the DMOZ home page and see the number go up, rather than spread rumors that are not true.

    Your opinion is clearly wrong and not supported by the facts.

    What are you hoping to gain by starting rumors that are not true?
    • [1] reply
    • Re-read my prior post, no ulterior motive just my opinion.

      Don't like my opinion don't read what I have to say, simple!
  • I really don't worry about DMOZ anymore. When it comes to the criteria that helps with SEO, there are far more important things to address. In my experience, the keyword in title tag and page url, along with quality inbound links from other sites, have far more impact that a DMOZ listing. I'll still try for it, but if it never happens, it's not the end of the world.
  • I submitted a quality site well over a year ago and never heard a thing.

    I looked at it recently and realized the category did not have an editor. So I took the time to apply and never heard back.

    DMOZ seems very unprofessional and irresponsible.

    They don't appear to deserve the respect they are given.
    • [1] reply
    • You don't hear anything as DMOZ is not there to provide any sort of listing service to webmasters.No category is without an editorYou should have got an autoresponder to confirm your application. If you did not get that, then your application would not have been processed.DMOZ is not there to provide a service to webmasters. Have you not noticed that the only people whinging about DMOZ are webmasters who are expecting a listing service! ... don't figure! If you don't like the service that you are getting, ask for a refund and take your business elsewhere.
  • I am not whining. I am stating facts. Of course I don't like the service - there wasn't any. The category said it did not have an editor. I took the time to apply and submit an honest quality application and I never heard back.

    The whole site seems very unprofessional in the way they don't respond to submissions, applications etc.
  • You are whining! You are whining about DMOZ not providing you with a service! What are you providing in return for this service you are expecting? You get what you pay for ... you paying nothing to DMOZ, so DMOZ owes you nothing in return.

    Do you also complain about everyone else who does not provide you with a service, but have no obligation to provide you with one?
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    • To me the site is unprofessional. I don't conduct business by ignoring people whether I have an obligation to them or not. It is a shame that Google seems to like it so much.

      You can think what you like. I really can't be bothered to get all worked up over DMOZ nor is the site worth arguing about.
      • [1] reply
  • You don't get an acceptance, or denial confirmation. Just schedule a reminder to check every 90 or 180 days. What's funny if you search, 'Google Directory'...it goes to DMOZ. So, the DMOZ inclusion, still has weight in Google's eyes. Thanks again Matt for most of the story.
    • [1] reply
    • Why would you even want to waste your time doing that for?

      Think about; what will happen... either:
      1) Your site is listed --> there is nothing more you can do and life goes on
      2) Your site has been moved by the editor to anothe category --> there is nothing more you can do and life goes on
      3) Your site is still waiting to be reviewed --> there is nothing more you can do and life goes on
      4) Your site is rejected --> there is nothing more you can do and life goes on

      The advice above about submit ONCE to the ONE best category and forget about it is the best advice you can get.
      • [1] reply
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • According to the reviews of people on the internet, most people never got listed on DMOZ, never tried it out for myself though.

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  • 89

    Hey I am doing work for a couple clients and want to get there sites listed on DMOZ. I have tried it a number of times but for some reason did not get listed. Does anyone think they could help me out with my situation. I would really REALLY appreciate the help.