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If the queue is super long for that category (the correct category), would it be better to try and submit to a lower category? Or would they just kick me upstairs and make the wait even longer?
If they have a thousand sites in queue, that could take months! Or maybe they would never even get to the end of that list.
Can anyone view the queue lengths? Or do you have to be an editor?
Thanks,
SkinnyJoe
If the queue is super long for that category (the correct category), would it be better to try and submit to a lower category? Or would they just kick me upstairs and make the wait even longer?
The latter.
But worse than that, it may make a few detours before actually getting where it belongs.
It is always best to do as the submission guide says and simply submit to the category where it is most appropriate.
From those guidelines [dmoz.org]:
Identify the single best category for your site. The Open Directory has an enormous array of subjects to choose from. You should submit a site to the single most relevant category. Sites submitted to inappropriate or unrelated categories may be rejected or removed.
An example: two business owners submit their sites to the same category at the same time. The first one (A) gives the correct name of the business as the title, and writes a factual, hype-free third-person description about what the site contains. The second one (B) fills a list of keywords in the title field, does not mention the actual name of the business, and writes a first-person description which at once sets off the editor's bovine-excrement detector (absurdly hyped claims, lists of keywords, but no actual information about what the business does and what is on the site).
The following is very likely to happen:
When an editor comes along to the category and views the unreviewed list, he will click on A's submission, surf the submitted site a bit to verify if the submitted texts represent the site accurately, perhaps dot an i or cross a t in the description, then publish the site.
B's submission, meanwhile will languish in the unreviewed list until some editor steels himself to force the aggravation of reviewing the site (with a critical eye, as the spammy title/description have created an expectation of a deceitful/dishonest business) and writing a totally new title/description because the submitted texts had to be discarded.
Any editor can edit their category, plus any "below" it in the direct heirarchy.
Any particular category can therefore be edited by a meta, editall or any editor on a direct link above on the tree, as well as any listed editor.
That lot means that even if you knew how many sites were queued in a category, nobody knows when a passing editor will choose to edit it.
So even if you got an answer it would not help. A bit Alice in Wonderland :(
That is true, but it is only true if an editor alights on that category with editing in mind.
It still does not tell the submitter when or if an editor will edit there.
At worst there could only be 1 site queued in unreviewed, but it could sit for a year or more until an editor came to edit. (equally well there could be 100 in the queue at a category and one editor could clear them tomorrow)
it's nice to see an ODP editall posting here, welcome to WebmasterWorld ;)
Thank you all for the information (a much bigger answer than expected!).
I will make sure the Title and Description are as correct as possible, then submit to the most appropriate available category.
One of the category titles is actually part of our company name! So that is probably a good fit :-)
-SkinnyJoe
I often scan down the list to good descriptions, and publish those first. Then I take a deep breath and tackle the rest.
Also, try and make your site fast loading. Sometimes when reviewing a site, if it takes forever to load, I'll get sick of it, close it, and moved onto the next unreviewed listing.
If all else fails, and your site truely belongs in that huge unreviewed category, remember you can always submit a copy to your appropriate Regional category, maybe it will be published a little quicker (or not). :)
But even if you have a polished submittal don't be disheartened if it takes months to get in. Sometimes I get lucky and they're in within weeks, and others, like a site I submitted a while ago, seem to have disappeared into a black hole.
:(
And, the editor guidelines DO state "The site should load in a reasonable time and be consistently available." What is a reasonable time is a matter of editorial discretion. Thus, if it takes too long for that editor's taste, he may hit the delete buttom. Many ODP editors are on dial up, so assume you'll get such an editor. As such, make sure that excessive load time isn't a problem for your site, lest it be not added. This is good website design advice period. Most people on the Internet aren't on dial up. They may be less patient than ODP editors.
True, although Zeal guidelines are definitely different -- don't depend on the details to know what to do, but do depend on them to see what sort of things directory editors think might need to be known about a site.
I've reviewed sites, cleaned up titles, cleaned up descriptions giving what I feel is an accurate review of the site and listed them in the directory.
Instead of being glad their site was finally listed after months of sitting there, I receive, usually within a couple of days, a change request wanting to add back the key words that I just removed.
It's not going to happen. It didn't work the first time, it won't work the second (or third or forth) time.
The description written is no better or worse than the one written before or after it. It is equal to the rest of the reviews I've written in the category.
It's not written to sell your merchandise or to give you good placement in key word searches, it's written so people looking at our directory will know the name of the site (it's not my fault your named your site "Doors Place" when you really sell "steps") and what is included in your site (not "I sell blue steps, red steps, long steps, great steps to walk on at fantastic prices" but "steps in a variety of colors and styles").
I'm not ranting at the original poster, please don't take offense, I'm just ranting in general! :-)
I did pick up a some good ideas from this thread on editing priority - thanks tschild, rfgdxm1 and shangri_la
I followed the advice here, trimmed my description and submitted to the best category under Shopping:Health, even though there is no editor listed.
The title is just the non-spammy name of my site (2 words). And the description is 18 words, which is more than average for the category (about 11 words).
How important is the number of words? Do editors count the words?
How wary are editors of keywords? To the extent that Widgets is a synonym for DooDads, I used the descriptive word that tested best as a keyword, while making sure the description made for a natural read. Everyone else uses widgets, but lots of people search for doodads, so I prefer to use doodads.
Thanks.
Editors don't remove keywords per se, but they would probably do so in these circumstances:
1) where the word appears in the category or category tree, e.g. the words 'blue' and 'widgets' if the category was Shopping/Widgets/Blue.
2) where the word appears in the title, e.g. the word 'widgets' if your company is called 'Greatest Widgets'.
3) if you've put in a long list of individual products that could be better summarised, e.g. if you've put "sells pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, rulers, rubbers, paperclips and hole-punches" it might be shortened to "sells a variety of stationery products".
If your company is called 'Green Tomatoes Inc.' and you sell widgets then there's no problem with the description saying "sells widgets".
It gives you an idea as to what you are up against!
It is unlikely that your suggested title will go through on the nod if it has been "optimised"
