Dmoz is a the ‘largest human-edited directory on the web’ and getting listed in it can hugely benefit your search engine rankings. This is because the major search engines use its data in there own databases.
However, getting your website accepted into the directory isn’t as easy as clicking a submit button – you have to fill out a online ‘application form’ and then your website will be manually checked by the directory’s editors. Some major websites struggle to get listed in it and so you have to be very careful with your application.
Here is a step-by-step guide to getting listed:
1. Check your website is not already listed! If your website is good enough, it may have already been picked up by an editor.
2. Choose your category carefully. Search the directory for websites similar to your own and see which category they were listed in.
3. Navigate to your category and click ‘suggest URL’ in the top-right corner.
4. Enter your site URL. Make sure that you get this right as one spelling mistake would ruin the application.
5. Enter your site’s title. Keep this as simple as possible. Use your company name if you have one; no matter how irrelevant it is.
6. Enter a site description. Treat this a bit like your main page’s meta-tag description. Remember: this is not an advertisement for your site.
7. Enter your e-mail address. This should always be your-name@your-site .com
8. Fill out the user verification.
9. Check your whole application again before you submit it in case you made spelling mistakes etc.
10. Submit your application!
What should I do if my site doesn’t get listed?
It can take months for your application to be reviewed and then, if it does not get accepted, you will probably not be notified. Because of this, you just have to be patient and hope for the best as re-submitting could be classed as spam. However, I would suggest re-applying if your site does not get listed after 6 months.
