DMOZ (The Open Directory Project or ODP) is a human managed directory that sends results or data to search engines. The human editors are mostly unpaid volunteers so getting your site listed at DMOZ might not be very easy. Sites have been known to take up to a year to get listed. Don’t get frustrated though, because being listed at DMOZ is almost as important as being listed at Google. Arguably many webmasters view that a listing at DMOZ is even more important than a $300/year paid listing at Yahoo.
DMOZ data is now used by the majority of major search engines on the net. This fact alone makes DMOZ the most important submission you will ever make and is the reason thousands of individuals will spend months begging and pleading with DMOZ editors trying to get their site listed in the directory. The benefits from a quality listing in DMOZ will eventually come from a ranking’s boosts from other search engines than the DMOZ site at http://www.Dmoz.org alone.
The above is pretty much the crme de la crme of the internet search engines. There are also hundreds of smaller engines and directories that use’s the DMOZ data too.
Once your site is indexed at DMOZ, it will (in time) also start appearing on many other search engines. Google’s directory is taken directly from DMOZ. The search engines and other directories that use DMOZ’s data make their own adjustments, but there seems to be consensus that being listed at DMOZ boosts your rank at those search engines – especially the ones that take link popularity into account (Google for instance).
The benefit of getting listed in DMOZ will result in hundreds of links pointing to your site from other directories and engines. As a result, your rankings will increase for that engine because of the perceived value of your site by the engines and directories. Why not, if two hundred individuals told you to shop at a specific store for a gift, you’d take that into account very seriously, wouldn’t you?
How to get the Most out of DMOZ
Many webmasters make the mistake of submitting only their homepages to DMOZ. DMOZ does not have a spider that follows links from that homepage, so only the homepage is added to the directory.
But you can have many pages from one site in different categories at DMOZ. As long as those pages:
Preparation for your Submission
With the above facts under consideration, it is highly recommended that you and all whom are considering submitting to DMOZ take the extra time and care in preparing your web site. Your site will be reviewed by human volunteers coming together in essence to provide quality content to their directory and to bring some order to the web. Most of them are unpaid and do it for no other reason than for editorial status on the web and maybe to contribute back to the internet community at large. Some editors are only in it to get their sites listed and break the balance and harmony DMOZ is trying to create. If these editors are caught listing unqualified sites, not only will their site get removed, but possibly all other affiliate sites associated with that editor will also get removed or worse banned from the directory. So, it’s best to get in legitimately and make sure your site provides unique value to the internet community. If your site is unique, provides resource articles or tips and tricks, no broken links and is up 99.98% of the time then soon your site too can be a member of the DMOZ community. The volunteers at DMOZ symbolize the best of what an internet community should be and thus, so should your site.
For more information on DMOZ submissions, please see my article on Submitting to DMOZ the Open Directory at http://www.kosmoscentral.com/seo-articles/submitting-to-Dmoz.html
I am a developer, designer, dmoz volunteer editor and consultant. I have been working in the computer networking industry since 1991, providing training, technical support, project management and consulting services. After working for 4 years for a major online company providing web development technical support services, I was offered a directors position in a large real estate corporation utilizing my web development and management skills. A few years later I decided to start a side business for myself and created Kosmos Central LLC a web promotion consulting company. Currently I provide my consulting services for the same company and a few more.
I’ve lived in the Portland Oregon Area the majority of my existence on this planet and occasionally Ill take time off to enjoy life
