DMOZ Tips
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Many great articles, such as
this one, by Wayne Hurlbert, that explain how and why to submit your site to the
Open Directory Project (ODP) have been written. While it is highly recommended that you what the ODP is all about, what’s so special about it and how to get listed in it, this article attempts to provide further advanced tips on how to optimize your submission to the ODP, also referred to as DMOZ. This article is intended for the SEOs that know the elementary things about submission to DMOZ, and provides advanced tips on how to optimize your submission to DMOZ.
Optimizing Your Submission by Choosing the Right DMOZ Directory Category
Once you decide what search term(s) you’re targeting, you should try to find a directory category that includes that term. Usually, you will find your to-be-submitted site matches more than one of the directory’s categories. Try to identify a category with a category name that includes the singular of plural form of your targeted search term. Many experienced SEO professionals believe that the Google rankings of your site for that targeted term will improve if you do so.
A second thing to look for is the list of sites that are enlisted in the potential category you’re looking at. If you choose a category that is too general, not only have you got less control over a “relocation” of your site by a DMOZ editor (who would submit your site to a different category, which is more specific), you may be listed with sites that have a theme that diversifies from the theme of your targeted keywords. In the extreme case, if you are submitting a site that targets a primary search term of “travel Germany”, a category of: Regional: Europe: Germany: Travel and Tourism is better than Recreation: Travel: Travelogues.
A third aspect to be aware of is the PageRank of the category page and the number of listings on that page. Given a category that is specific enough to your targeted keyword(s), less listings (and thus, less “PageRank leakage”) on a category page with a higher PageRank is better than a lower PageRank category page with more listings.
Last, submitting a site to a category that is manned by a dedicated editor is better to one that isn’t. Note that an unmanned category may actually be under the responsibility of an editor of a higher category. Still, submitting your site to a category with a dedicated editor introduces a lower risk of having your site put on the queue and lost in DMOZ space.
Next: Optimizing Your Submission by Choosing the Right Site Description >>
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