Is it worth submitting to DMOZ anymore?

Another step that I do with all my websites (out of habit), is to submit them to DMOZ Open Directory Project (ODP).The DMOZ crew pride themselves on a high quality web directory that is maintained by thousands of ‘expert’ volunteers all around the world. Each site is scrutinized to ensure that it is worthy of inclusion then with equal meticulousness allocated to an appropriated category. I was a volunteer editor for a year or so and I can tell you first hand that each site is dealt with great (almost too much) seriousness.

DMOZ Image Link

Back in the day when sites like Excite, Alta Vista and Lycos graced the echelons of search engine supremacy, being in the DMOZ directory was fundamental for any website looking to be included in their search results. Even Google superimposed DMOZ listings in its searches.

One of the main reasons for getting listed in a directory like DMOZ was another link and traffic. The latter would only be a trickle and compared to the “Digg-effect”, seems trivial now. DMOZ seems so Web 1.0 and they need to take a hard look at themselves in order to break the mould and get with the times.

The big question is: Is it worth submitting your website to DMOZ today? My answer is yes.

Although not as important as it used to be, getting listed in DMOZ will provide you with the following benefits:

1. It’s a good quality incoming link: In days to come I’ll explain further on the importance of incoming links. To cut it short, incoming links are like votes for your website. The more votes you have, obviously the more popular you are. However, quality votes override lesser quality votes. Normally these weightier votes come from highly trusted websites. In the past these were .ORG and .EDU sites as they were considered non-commercial experts of their particular field.

2. Additional traffic from people searching your DMOZ category: Like many other directories, DMOZ organizes it’s directory into categories. Even though, it looks like it’s getting less traffic than it did in it’s Heyday, people who stumble upon their DMOZ category may end up looking at your link and therefore giving you some extra traffic.

I’m not going to even start talking about Google Page Rank possibilites as I believe, until Google specify otherwise, is a dead-horse and webpreneurs should no longer put emphasis on this.

Bottomline - Submit and Forget

In conclusion, my advice is follow the guidelines and submit your website to DMOZ then carry on building other incoming links. At the end of the day it’s a good link to get pointing to you but if you get rejected it’s not the end of the world. I submitted this website last week and it’s still not in the directory…

In the upcoming weeks I’ll provide you with a list of other free directories to submit your site to. Watch this space.

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July 8, 2008 · Filed Under SEO, Website

Comments

3 Responses to “Is it worth submitting to DMOZ anymore?”

LiveCrunch on July 9th, 2008 2:02 pm

I don’t think it is, because I send them so many times different pages to include in directory and even 1 year later NADA>.. What would it do good anyways if its in dmoz ? No traffic!
Michael Aulia on July 17th, 2008 5:07 am

Same here.. I’ve waited for several months but my submission seems to go to the bin or something
Matt Packer on July 31st, 2008 12:24 am

Does anyone who is not a blogger know what DMOZ is? Nope.

Does the general public know what Google is? Yep.

So basically it depends on your target audience in my opinion, but still these days most people who are doing anything online are so Google focused that it surprises me that DMOZ and similar sites even exist anymore.