Dmoz

Google

[Eriklange7]

I am finding it very difficult to be ranked highly on my important, competitive keywords. I think the problem is that I am not listed in DMOZ, while all of the sites above me are. Granted, I have only been up about 3 months, but I have optimized my site pretty well and expect to do better. I have applied for DMOZ a few times, even tried to be an editor.....anyone else have any thoughts on this!

Thanks in advance!
Erik

[Marcia]

Erik, the DMOZ listing isn't an automatic rank booster, there are sites without an ODP listing that outrank sites with one. Sounds like it's a matter of needing more good links, more PR and more time.

[greenfrog]

Hey Eric,

My advice is don't put too much hope in the DMOZ. I have tried for a period of over 9 months to get a site listed in the dmoz and it hasn't happened. The site I am trying to list is a one of a kind, very professional, and there aren't any seo tricks going on. Basically said, there isn't really any reason for them not to list the site.

My advice is forget the DMOZ and move on ( Not really -- just frustrated over here ).

[trillianjedi]

My advice is forget the DMOZ and move on

Actually, that's good advice. But try re-submitting to dmoz in a few months time.

In the meantime, as Marcia has said, get some quality inbound links.

dmoz is just one source of getting a quality inbound link. There's many others.

TJ

[Imaster]

My advice is forget the DMOZ and move on

I agree. But I would submit once and forget. There are some places where you always get a positive response if you are good, and some where you get negative response most of the time.

Good luck.

[Eriklange7]

I agree......speaking of inbound links, what is the best way to find sites that have a PR of greater than 5 and how do you actually get them to link to you?

[Marcia]

Being able to tell how much PR sites have isn't always easy nowadays, and some sites can be PR3 and end up PR6 eventually. Unless there's a good reason not to link to a particular site, quality and usefulness are probably the best criteria for linking - the PR just naturally follows along.

For ideas on finding and getting links, try reading through the Link Development Forum [webmasterworld.com]. Loads of good ideas, some very valuable information and insights have been posted.

[rogerd]

Erik, those simple questions cover a lot of territory. I suggest you go to the Link Development Forum [webmasterworld.com] and start reading. There is no trivial way to find high PR sites, but you'll find good suggestions. You'll also get ideas for how to request links with a maximum probablility of success.

One quick suggestion: to get links, make sure your site is something that people WANT to link to. That means unique, useful content. A great site will make your request process more fruitful, and will result in unrequested links as people discover your site.

<added>You beat me to it, Marcia! :)</added>

[Eriklange7]

thanks guys!

[ericjunior]

I find getting listed on dmoz frustrating beyond belief. I have had sites take over a year to appear - and at the moment most times i go to dmoz it tells me to come back later as they are experiencing periods of high usage! - is there anyone there?

[jranes]

It wouldn't do you a bit of good if the editor called you personally and made you live in DMOZ today. I am in DMOZ but have been waiting for five months for G to update their version of it.

Almost like getting in the Yahoo directory used to be. Speaking of which you should try Yahoo, them seem to be adding quality sites to their directory without much post haste at all.

[Imaster]

It would be good if Google would purchase Dmoz (or even make its own directory) and then make things more systematic. The current scenario is pretty bad.

[penfold25]

You have to understand that many sites pull dmoz results directly and not through there dump so this plays a big factor. I think DMOZ being independent of google is a good thing, the scenario with google directory could be a pay per inclusion like yahoo.

Also people rely highly on DMOZ for their popularity, it is a great directory but its not for popularising sites, im sure if it wasnt made out to be DMOZ being so important in PR many people wouldnt submit to DMOZ.

[vincevincevince]

But try re-submitting to dmoz in a few months time.

ONLY do this if you have made some changes that will alter how the dmoz editor regards your site. Please don't just resubmit in the hope that the old submission became "lost"! If you submitted and are not listed it's either because A) the backlog on the category/less active editor (=wait!) or B) your site was not accepted.

[RFranzen]

It is taking the Google Directory an unusual amount of time to complete an update. It was noted in another thread about 10 days ago that the Google Search itself is using fairly current dmoz.org data. However, Google's Directory is still out of synch with this newer category information.

For example, search Google for "A.M. Best". It reports that the company is in category Home/Personal_Finance/Insurance. But if you then click to that category, the listing does not yet exist. (It does exist at dmoz.org, though.)

In other cases, Google is reporting categories which don't even exist at the Google Directory yet. I wonder what is taking so much time.

-- Rich