Getting Your Website listed in DMOZ

Posted by Justin Smith at 30 October, 2006, 11:03 pm

What the heck is DMOZ???

It is a human edited directory of websites from every category imaginable from all across the web. For a long time, search engines have placed a high importance on any links coming from this directory. Since it is managed by humans, it has a very high success rate when it comes to filtering spam websites, and thus any links coming from it are considered very valuable.

The downside to DMOZ is obvious… how in the world can a small group of people expect to be able to manually catalogue all or most of the sites on the internet? It is a daunting task. During busy times, a submission can take as long as 3-6 months before it is considered for listing. One of the frustrating problems with DMOZ is the infrastructure. The site crashes often, or is so slow that it is unusable. Also, once your site is reviewed, and listed/denied… There is no system to contact the submitter. This becomes very frustrating after waiting 5+ months for your site to show up, and waiting in anticipation to see if you were accepted. I mean, how hard is it to set up an automated email??

There are other problems… Getting listed can be tough because if they don’t like you, you will be blacklisted forever, and won’t be able to be listed. Their reviewers tend to be finicky in my experience, and if they don’t like your website for some reason, you will be blacklisted. I happen to be one of the editors (it isn’t hard to become one, just apply), and I’ve seen how some of the other editors act sometimes on personal preference instead of acting appropriately within their category.

BTW, I didn’t mean to bash DMOZ in any way (it is a noble cause), but it is good to be aware of the problems, and be careful about your submissions.

Tips:

Never submit your site more than once. This will drop you to the bottom of the list or get your URL blacklisted. If you don’t hear anything for 6 months, go to the forum and ask one of the devs about your URL. They will be able to look it up for you to check status. (But for goodness sake, be nice to them, and don’t pester them about a submission you made only 2 weeks ago.)
Write accurate non-promotional titles and descriptions. Nothing flashy, just a basic description of your site. Remember, no one will probably find your website through looking on the directory… your primary purpose is to get the link.
Do some extra research to make sure that you submit your site to the proper category. This will help smooth along the process.
If you notice that the best category for your site does not have a reviewer, and it has less than 30 links, you are eligible to apply to be a reviewer or “editor”. This is a great way to get your site listed… just do it yourself! Just make sure that you disclose that you are the owner of a website that will fit in that category, and be upfront about your purpose.

Bottomline: You want your site listed on DMOZ. Just be careful. Follow the above tips.