Jordan HarbourUpdate March 2017: The DMOZ project has shut down. “Curlie.org” has taken over, but it's not quite the same. You can read more about the shut down here, “The End of DMOZ and the Evolution of SEO”. Now, on with the rest of the original article:
DMOZ.org (now Curlie.org ) (also known as the Open Directory Project) was a highly respected directory listing on the internet.
Only quality websites that provide useful information will be listed and for this reason, Google values the websites on this list. Being on this list will your ranking authority.
Editors are volunteers who review the submitted sites during their free time. This is why it takes so long before getting approval from the editor. If an error occurs during submission, you may need to re-submit the website and unfortunately you’ll be back in a long wait again.
There are strict guidelines for submission. If found violating the guidelines, websites are deleted from the directory.
Below is a guide that you can use before submitting your site.
What You Should Do First:
- Check the directory to see if your site is already listed.
- Determine the correct category for the site; make sure it is highly relevant because choosing an incorrect category could get your site rejected for approval.
- Submit the site to the deepest level within its category; make it specific.
- Make sure your site is finished and not a single page is under construction.
Things You Should Avoid:
- Having more than one site with the same content but different URL.
- Sites that contain duplicate content from listed sites.
- The site you submitted must not be redirected to another site.
- If not approved, do not re-submit until 3 months have passed.
- Sites that contain inappropriate content will not be considered.
Submitting your Website
Once you have selected the right category for your site click the ‘suggest URL link’. You should have a brief and accurate description of your website’s content. Do not include promotional phrases in your description because this could threaten the approval of your site.
Avoid using automated submission software because this directly violates Dmoz rules and can be the cause of your site being blacklisted. If you are blacklisted, you will not be sent a notification. If you continually use auto description software, you may have your IP address banned which means you can no longer access the site.
If you don’t see your site in the listing after 2 weeks, contact the editors!
‘Click-Bait' or Link Baiting
Link baiting is all about getting people to link to your site without asking them to do so. Make yourself a source of vital information, entertaining posts or controversial content. Get their attention and they may start linking to you.
Here are some ways you could link bait:
Publicity–Write controversial or hot content for your site. Hit on the emotions. If you say something and it gets attention, whether it’s negative or positive, others will come to your defence or may even attack you. What better way to drive traffic (and links) to your site?
Competition – Try organizing a contest over the web. It could be about anything as long as it gets attention. Make sure there’s a reward for the winner so people will take the time to enter. Be creative in organizing the contest because if it works, you may drive some serious attention to your site.
Giveaways – Think of something with value that you can give away to your visitors in exchange for a subscription to your email list—like an eBook! This appeals to many people, especially when they hear the word ‘free’.
Guest Posts
Another way to promote your site is by posting to other blogs and pairing them with backlinks. Make sure the blog you are posting on has high readership and a good reputation. You will be able to leave a backlink at the end. Remember to write quality posts.
Post Interviews
Find someone in your industry and interview them. This is a good way to add authority to your site because the thought of getting ‘exclusive’ access is always admired. Whoever you interview is likely going to send you plenty of links as well as directing their traffic to you.
Wikipedia Links
Getting a link from Wikipedia is an excellent idea and well worth the effort. Create an account in Wikipedia and learn how to become an editor. It is a bit of a process so only start this if you have a few hours.
After you’ve practiced a bit, see if you can add an entry for yourself with a link to your site. If that doesn’t work, you might want to try making a reference within an article with a link back to your site.
Sending RSS feed URLs to Directories
Submit your RSS feed URL to feed services. This is a great way to drive traffic to your site and hopefully encourage people to link to your articles. Here are some sites you can send your feed to:
www.blogdirectorysubmission.com
www.metafeeder.com
regator.com
feedshark.brainbliss.com
www.badrss.com
www.rsstop10.com/directory
www.ezilon.com
www.urlfanx.com
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Hello. This post was really interesting – quick and to the point. Particularly since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last week, haha. But thank you all the same.