Altering a DMOZ listing title

Is it possible, is it worth it?

[jamesa]

I finally got a site listed in DMOZ... not the exact category I wanted but good enough. Problem is that in the listing the link text just has the company name instead of "company_name keyword" like I wanted.

I had altered the sites logo to include the keyword when I submitted the listing but the site owner replaced it without telling me, probably about the time the editor reviewed the site. :-/

So would it be a bad idea to ask DMOZ to alter the link text or could I be opening a can of worms?

[Nick_W]

>could I be opening a can of worms?

Possibly.

What does the <title> tag contain?

Nick

[cornwall]

> the link text just has the company name instead of "company_name keyword" like I wanted.

I would say you were wasting your time trying to get it changed. The editor will have given it a title to help the user, not promote the site.

Probably all other sites in the category would like ""company_name keyword" for their own site, and really ODP will not make an exception to their own editorial rules for your site.

If you go for a review you are as likely to end up with a negative rather than positive change to your entry

My advice - let it be.

[jamesa]

title tag is "company_name keyword and keyphrase", as in "ACME Widgets and Outdoor Yuggets" (where Outdoor Yuggets is somewhat of a synonym for Widgets). That's how I submitted it originally, and altered the logo to read ACME Widgets.

[cornwall]

>>What does the <title> tag contain?

IMO its not relevant what is in the title tag when a site is submitted to a directory.

Most optimised sites have title tags designed to help the site on search engine algos, whilst the DMOZ title reflects the sites "real" title

[Nick_W]

Well, if you can echo that title tag with a prominent 'title' on the page (grahpic/h1 or whatever) you may well have a chance at getting it 'updated'.

But, as cornwall says, you're best off leaving it.

Nick

[jamesa]

Ok, I better play it safe for now and not rock the boat. Took long enough to get there in the first place :) Thanks both of you for the feedback.

[hutcheson]

The ODP guidelines are in this respect different from, say, the, Looksmart guidelines, which do encourage a "short description of company business" in the Title. ODP guidelines put that in the description instead. (This is not to say one is better than the other; the important point is that either style, applied consistently, would be better than a random mixture of styles.)

Asking for a change from an ODP-guidelines-compliant listing to a non-ODP-guidelines isn't a productive use of calories or electrons.

[Shak]

getting the keyword in the "title" at DMOZ really will NOT make that much of a difference.

concentrate your time and blood pressure on other worthwhile causes, as the rewards are far greater than what will be achieved with that little change.

Shak

[rfgdxm1]

It doesn't sound like the way you describe it the title specifically violates the guidelines. As such, not worth the effort.

[John_Caius]

dmoz.org/guidelines/describing.html#titles

specifically

"Do not include superfluous keywords, unnecessary symbols and letters, company slogans or promotional language as part of the title."

The title should be the name of the business, regardless of what you put in the <title> tag of the page.

So no, requesting an update to include a keyword in the title will not be accepted.

[skibum]

Plus it takes up the editors time so everyone else has to wait even longer for a review..........