How to submit your website to The Open Directory Project

Back in the day, The Open Directory Project (aka DMOZ) was considered by webmasters and SEO experts as the ultimate directory. Nothing else could touch it in terms of the quality of the inbound link it provided.

The current value of a listing in The Open Directory is debatable, but it is still worthwhile submitting your website as some link juice is still passed and The Open Directory database is used by numerous other websites from around the world.

The process of submitting your site to The Open Directory is quite straight forward, getting it listed is quite another. There are strict guidelines to follow and you should not submit a URL more than once.

THE SUBMISSION PROCESS

First of all find the correct category for your site. Take a bit of time doing this to make sure it is the most appropriate. If your site is targeted at a local region, look for the page for that area.

Most sites could sit comfortably in a number of different categories, but if you select the wrong one you could be waiting an eternity for a listing.

At the bottom of each category page there is a line of text which states when the page was last updated. Not all pages are updated on a regular basis, so take the date as an indicator as to whether or not the category is the correct one for your site. 

Any page that has been updated within the past few months is pretty good, but take into account the topic of your site. For example, the category for Museums in Maine, North America was last updated on 29 September 2007, which also sounds pretty good.

When you have located the correct category look for the “Suggest URL” link at the top of the page. Clicking on this will take you to the submission form. Take time to read the information on this page and follow the instructions rigorously.

There are five pieces of information required when submitting a site:

• Site URL
• Title of Site
• Site Description
• Your Email Address
• User Verification

The details for each are obvious. If you can get your major keywords into your site title then you should do so, but the most important section is the site description.

This should not be a sales pitch, it should not be spammy and it should be no longer than 25 – 30 words. Keeping your description factual and on topic is more likely to get you a listing than a description filled with adjectives such as “best” or “fantastic”, and claims about being the “number one website in the whole wide world for blue widgets” is a definite no no.

Take your time with this form and ensure all of the spelling is correct. Before you hit the submit button, check everything again, just to make sure.

The next step is to sit and wait.

Once you have submitted the details you are in the hands of the DMOZ editors. I have seen websites get listed within in a few days, and I have seen other sites never get listed in years of trying.

You are advised to submit your website only once and anything more than that is considered spamming.

The problem is that you never know if your site has been rejected as the DMOZ editors do not respond to your submission by sending either an acceptance or rejection email. You are left guessing.

This causes a lot of unnecessary resentment between the people hoping to get a listing and the ODP editors (who, by the way, offer their services for free), which you can read about on the DMOZ related forum, Resource Zone.

Thousands of websites are submitted to DMOZ everyday, and no-one really knows how big the backlog is, but if you follow the guidelines to the letter and do not submit your site more than once, you do stand a good chance of getting a listing.

The Open Directory Project