Two very similar DMOZ categories -- which one to choose for Google?

which web hosting DMOZ category for Google

[PPCforHosts]

Hi all:

We'll be releasing an informational site for web hosting in January, and we're trying to decide which of two DMOZ categories is best, from both a relevance and an SEO perspective.

The site is NOT another "web hosting directory", like TopHosts and the rest. It is MUCH more informational and less commercial, somewhat FAQish. I'm inclined to submit to the web hosting directory category in DMOZ ([dmoz.org ]), which seems to include not just hosting directories, but purely informational sites as well. Plus, many of the first sites listed for "web hosting" in Google--FindMyHosting.com, HostIndex.com, WebHostingRatings.com--are listed there.

But there is another category, in the Consumer Information hierarchy, that might be more relevant: [dmoz.org ]. From DMOZ's point of view, I believe the site could qualify for either category, so it really comes down to which will benefit the site most vis-a-vis search engine placement.

Both categories are cited by Google when the phrase "web hosting" is searched for, but the Directories category is listed first AND has a PR of 7, whereas the other's PR is only 6. Is that the most important consideration? I thought that the latter category, the PR 6, might be better because it is actually named "Web_Hosting" (vs. the PR 7, named "Directories").

Any advice?

Thank you!

[PFOnline]

At first glance, my thoughts were to go with the PR 7 category for SEO reasons, but if you notice, the PR 7 category has many more links to sites than the PR 6 category.

As you may know, a link from a PR 7 page is worth less if there is many more links to other sites on that same page.

Therefore, the PR 6 may be better than the PR 7 as far as transferring of PageRank goes.

If it were me, I would go with the PR 6 category.

Or since they're both about equal, just pick the category that best fits your site. :)

[seindal]

As you may know, a link from a PR 7 page is worth less if there is many more links to other sites on that same page.

Therefore, the PR 6 may be better than the PR 7 as far as transferring of PageRank goes.

Since the PR scale is logarithmic, the PR7 page would have to have ten times as many links as the PR6 page to give less PR to each linked sites.

If the base of the logarithmic scale is not ten, the factor has to be changed accordingly.

René.

[Marcia]

Do they both have active editors? And how long ago does it indicate at the page bottom that it was updated?

Added:
If it's actually a directory, that's the category that's the closest and best fit.

[steveb]

Both categories have editors, but the bigger one was updated this week while the smaller one was updated over two months ago. The bad news is that may not mean anything. The queue in the bigger one may be huge (or the queue in thsmaller one might be huge too).

I'd choose which fits you best. The bigger one might be subdivided at some point and you could be moved to a PR6 smaller category so you would be in the same boat.

If a gun was to my head, I'd take the PR7 with the edits as recent as this week.

[The Contractor]

If you are a hosting company your site will be moved to the proper category no matter where you submit it ;)

[edited}
Without seeing the site it is hard to say where it will be listed... or if you have a lot of affiliate links to hosts it may not be listed. Like I say without seeing the site no one will be able to tell you where it may be listed.

[Laisha]

Home/...Web_Hosting [dmoz.org] is, according to the official description [dmoz.org], is for

reviews and consumer opinions about web hosting services

.

Computers/...Hosting/Directories [dmoz.org], on the other hand, is, according to that description [dmoz.org], for

sites which offer directories of hosting companies

So:

If your site is about hosting, submit to Home/...Web_Hosting. If your site offers hosting, then submit to the appropriate letter beneath Computers/...Hosting/Directories

[PPCforHosts]

No one has mentioned whether the title of the category matters. Would being listed in the "Web Hosting" category (Consumer Information hierarchy) make the site more likely to come up for a search for "web hosting" than being listed in the "Directories" category? Or does it all just come down to page rank?

[Marcia]

Sure it pays to look at the category title, but how it will affect rankings is not something the editors pay attention to, according to every post I've seen on the subject. They'll decide based on where it fits best, and the way I understand it, it's far better to submit where it's a better fit than to have it moved over to the back of the line of the more suitable category, which I suppose is exactly what would happen, from what I can gather.

[crunchy cajun]

Debating which category might get the most searches is fine, but editors decide which category is appropriate, not submitters. If you would like to increase your chance of getting published and to expedite the process, I would recommend you submit to the category that features those sites which most closely match your own.