Directory choice

This has probably been asked a thousand times

[duhboy]

Hello everyone,
I am striving to improve the results to SE's from the listing of my site
in the ODP. I am reading some conflicting info and am trying to get a
definitive answer.

Just how far down in the directory should I go?

The ODP primer here at WW says:
"Find the highest directory that is appropriate for your site and not
lower. If your site is about blue fuzzy widgets then submit to the
blue fuzzy widget category and not the higher fuzzy widgets category."
Am I simply confused by the terms higher and lower?

Yet common advice also says to drill as deep as is relevent.
If I go too deep will this have a negative impact on results used by
the SE's (specifically Googles PR)?
Obviously, I don't want to request a change which will have any negitive impact.
Thanks for your time, Duhboy.

[vmcknight]

That sounds like a misprint to me...you should submit to the most specific category, which will usually be a "lower" one.

People sometimes mistakenly think that it's better to be listed in a higher category. However, people using the directory can find sites more easily if they're in smaller, more specific categories.

Also, submitting too high will slow down the review process. Fewer editors can edit in higher categories, and if a site is in the wrong place it ends up sitting in two (or more) unreviewed queues until someone finds where it should go.

[Beachboy]

The point to being in a higher level category has little or nothing to do with being found by directory users. It has a whole lot to do with being found in Google. It's about Google PageRank. Google spiders the ODP and assigns PageRank to pages of sites found in it.

On average, the PageRank level of a directory falls about a notch for each level deeper you go. It is very much to your advantage, where Google is concerned, to be on an ODP directory page that has a PR of 7, than farther down on a PR 3 page.

But of course, you still need to be in an appropriate category. If that happens to be a lowly PR 3, oh well. ;)

[ettore]

>> It is very much to your advantage, where Google is concerned, to be on an ODP directory page that has a PR of 7, than farther down on a PR 3 page

Not always. Remember that the fraction of PR passed by a page is divided by the number of links found on that same page. A site listed in a category with PR7 but with 100 listed sites will get less PR than another one listed in a category with PR 3 together with only 4 other sites.

More important, the category path counts for theme relevancy. If a site sells Elbonian blue striped widgets, its relevancy will be higher if it is listed in Shopping/Widgets/Elbonian/Blue/Striped than in Shopping/Widgets.

[teeceo]

in applying to be a editer, is it better to list your site that on topic or act lick your just in it for the pure fun of it(and power trip too)?

teeceo.

[Beachboy]

Ettore:

Yep, true. I didn't want to get too technical with the concept.

Teeceo:

Before you apply, work on spelling, capitalization and punctuation. Don't take that remark personally, but believe me you need to be very, very good with the written language.

[q_b_p]

In answer to your question, absolutely not. It is always for the best that you list your site _on the submission form_ in the "Business Affiliations" line. Lying about that sort of thing is never a good idea.