Submitting related sites to ODP

At the same time, or one by one?

[Robert Charlton]

I have a client that's a management company, with a bunch of sites for a chain of subsidiary companies that need to be submitted to ODP. While all the subsidiaries are separately established brick and mortar companies with different well-known business names, long histories, and different sites, they are in the same business and have similar profiles.

Roughly ten of these will end up in the same ODP category. I'm wondering how to handle the submissions... whether to submit them at the same time, or one by one?

There is a strong family resemblance in the descriptions... many are going for the same terms and the main difference is the word order and the adjectives. I don't want these descriptions changed, which I'm thinking might happen if I submitted them en masse. Right now, I'm ready to submit the first three.

There is a linking page on each site which points to other members of the chain, and there's no secret about the relationship. This suggests my other concern... I also don't want the editor of the category, seeing all these sites which belong in his category, to list them without my submission.

Are there any ODP editors or anyone who's done this before who can tell me how this might work and how it should best be handled?

[Brett_Tabke]

One by one Robert. Be sure to use a local email address from each domain (I wouldn't use the same one).

[smatsmax]

You could apply to be an editor for that category, just a thought

[brownsmurf]

If they are brick and mortar companies (like departments stores) in different locations, I'd submit one url to the actual Business category, and each subsidiary to the appropriate Regional category.

[Robert Charlton]

Thanks... The local email addresses are an excellent idea.

Yes, since the companies are in different locations, all the listings, except for the main company, are in regional categories.

[Robert Charlton]

I have a follow-up question and thought it would be best on the original thread...

The first site in question was ready for submission in January. I submitted and got no action for a couple of months. The category updated and my submission wasn't included. At that point, I sent the editor a very polite email, thanking him for being a volunteer editor and indicating that I understood from the number of categories he was handling that he must be swamped, etc etc.

That was about a month ago. As there's still no listing, over three months from the first submission, under normal circumstances I'd now go to the next higher editor. In this case, that's two levels up, under a Regional -->CityName.

But, I'm going to be needing to deal with this editor a lot (using local email addresses for each domain). I haven't even submitted the second of multiple sites I will be sending him. He's retired, got 13 categories, and from his profile seems to be the nicest guy in the world.

Would going to an editor above him be seen as an "unfriendly act," and would it complicate an already complicated situation, as I describe in my original question?

There's no question, incidentally, that these sites should be acceptable in ODP.

[apeuro]

Don't worry about going "over" this editors head. Many editors refuse to deal with submitters through email, others (especially in categories with LOTS of submissions) prefer to deal with sites in the order they were submitted.