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I am new to this SEO thing, I had a freelance site and didn't care about SEO but now that I do I found myself in front of a dilemma. In ODP my site is put in the Freelance category but since now I am basing a company on that site domain that still deals with same thing I would like to change category to the Business->Internet one. My questions are:
1) is resubmitting the site to ODP a waste of time? will the appropriate category be helpful to my PR?
2) is there any way to change categories and not wait as long as I did initially?
3) how does the fact that in ODP the site is in a category that is not the most appropriate to the site's object affect my SE ranking?
Thanks so much for your time,
Carmen
My opinion would be if you are in you are in. Dont worry about it. It could be argued that the main reason for being in the ODP is the boost it gives to google listings. You could try for a regional second listing in the ODP which would help if it paid off.
Cheers
Thank you!
I think you can be listed in your cat and a regional cat.
In how many categories can one site be without being considered to be spamming?
Being listed in a category is up to the individual editor. That editor will (most likely) see that you are listed elsewhere, and will make a judgment call about whether you belong in his/her cat or whether your existing listing is sufficient and appropriate.
A couple of listings isn't spamming - the editors put these in. If you submit to many categories at the same time, or keep submitting over and over again, you might get labeled as a spammer. IMO, the worst that can happen if you submit to one additional, highly appropriate category is that the editor would turn you down.
As to the number at which it becomes spam, I do not know.
Listing a web developer's site in two "Web development" categories is basically not allowed. We list in the most appropriate category, and mention the services that (if done by someone who doesn't do web development) would cause the site to be listed elsewhere.
If you request a URL to be moved (via the "change URL" request), it is of course at the editor's discretion whether it should be. If it is to be moved, the editor SHOULD remove it from one category and add it to the other at the same time. (This last bit occasionally doesn't happen immediately, which makes conscientious editors angry, as well as frustrating the site owner.)
If you are concerned about falling through the cracks, then a submittal to the OTHER site with a note at the end of the description like ["the site owner's status has changed, we are now xxxxx ... and therefore this category is now more appropriate for the site. Please consider moving it here"] should protect you from both spending time in limbo AND being considered a spammer -- so long as you only do it once.
"One duplicate submittal is an accident, or perhaps insurance against it. Two looks like carelessness." Three is, frankly speaking, stupidity -- but we really try not to discriminate against stupid submitters. (After all, it's hard to tell the difference between stupidity and ignorance, and the whole point of the community is to try to harness diverse kinds of knowledge.) Half-a-dozen duplicates are (for some people) getting irritating -- and we try to protect editors against unnecessary irritations.
Another way of looking at it is: "Worrying about spamming" is showing consideration for the recipient of your missives. "Spamming" is sending stuff out without concern for the effect it will have on the recipient. So: people who worry about spamming, never do. People who don't worry about spamming are always invariably, inevitably, inveterate spammers.
