Many websites which are included there have not had a single visitor referred to them from the directory. An online straw poll carried out by HelpMySEO amongst over 3,000 online users showed that just 10% were aware of the existence of the DMOZ Directory and fewer than 1.2% had ever used it to try and find anything (and 0.8% of those were actually checking for their competitors’ listing). So why is the DMOZ Directory so important?

The short answer is because Google uses the DMOZ Directory to build its own Directory, in fact the Google Directory is nothing more than the DMOZ Directory downloaded onto Google’s servers. So if your website is listed in DMOZ you have two high-ranking authoritative sites linking to you: the Google Directory and the DMOZ Directory and this is quite significant for your site’s PageRank and the way it is viewed by Google which means you need it but (and here comes the caveat) it is not easy to get listed in it.

Why not? Because the DMOZ Directory, also known as the Open Directory Project is so highly valued because it is entirely human reviewed. This means there is no way you can get round it with clever SEO techniques. If your site is not up to scratch it simply will not get listed. This strength is also its weakness. The DMOZ Directory is staffed, entirely, by volunteers. Because of this, its editors, each of which is responsible for a particular category, work on an occasional, voluntary basis which they control themselves.

This means that there is a huge backlog when it comes to reviewing sites, particularly in the business and commercial categories and, should a site be rejected because it has either been submitted into the wrong category or because it violates the DMOZ guidelines you get no warning.

This means that after months and months of waiting (and here is simply no indication about when you should expect to see your site there if approved) you may have to start the whole submission process again.

Ok, now that you know the why you realize why it is a frustrating exercise submitting to the DMOZ Directory. There is nothing you can do to make it less so, you know you need to submit it because of the benefits it will give you in terms of the SEO status of your website. You also know that realistically results are not going to happen overnight. It has to be part of your long-term SEO strategy.

Now let’s see what is the process you need in order to make sure that, at least, you have done everything possible to guarantee the inclusion of your website in the DMOZ Directory.

1. Check to see if your site is listable. If your site has no original content, is mainly advertisements and articles that are syndicated or contains illegal content that violates copyright, is of illegal adult content nature (such as underaged pornography), then it will not be listed in the DMOZ Directory. Check the conditions of listable sites here: http://www.dmoz.org/add.html

2. Be prepared to spend some considerable time drilling down to the best possible category for your website. If your site, for instance, is not in English you will need to submit it to the language-specific category under World. This stage is really important because if you suggest your site to an inappropriate category one of two things will happen. If your suggestion is not even near where your site should be the editor reviewing it will simply delete your entry and you will never know. If it is close to where you should be the editor reviewing your DMOZ Directory submission will then submit it to the appropriate category where it will join a queue once more and have to wait until an editor can review it and approve it.

Because the reviewing process can be as long as months or even years any delay caused by submitting your website to the wrong category can be catastrophic. Indeed, websites have gone out of business by the time they were approved and listed in the DMOZ Directory.

This brings me to another point. The DMOZ Directory is for websites which are original and add true value to the web rather than use it as a simple online market place. This means that you need to make sure that by the time you submit your website to be listed you have high quality, original content which will convince the reviewing editor that your website actually deserves to be included in the Directory.

3. Keep your listing suggestions relevant to your site without hyperboles and subjective descriptions. This is so obvious it should not really need to be mentioned. It does need to be mentioned because so many webmasters still get it wrong, listing a site with a description such as “best darn site since the invention of sliced bread.”

Make sure you have followed all the above rules and spent some time looking at all the submission aspects listed by the DMOZ Directory and you can at least be satisfied that you have done everything that is humanly possible to get your site listed there.

Summary: The DMOZ Directory is one of the most powerful SEO sites you can be listed in, on the web. Getting your site listed there requires perseverance, careful thought and attention to detail.

Action Plan: Read the article above carefully. Make sure you have given yourself plenty of time to complete the job of listing your site in the DMOZ Directory, so you are under no undue, self-imposed pressure. Then go to  http://www.dmoz.org/add.html read all the instructions there and suggest your website for inclusion.

David Amerland is the author of the Search Engine Optimization book: SEO Help: 20 steps to get your website to Google's #1 page published by New Line Publishing and available to buy from Amazon.com and any quality bookshop. The ebook version of the book is available for Amazon Kindle as well as  Mobipocket, smartphone and Sony eBook Reader formats and available to purchase from any quality ebook retailer. You can also purchase it directly from this website. He masterminds winning SEO strategies for complex online business and helps the average webmaster get their site to the position it deserves. David has been instrumental in taking websites to the top of Google's first page in a way that has kept them there year after year. If you would like David to work on one of your SEO projects drop us a line with your request.