One of the simplest ways to get your site listed by search engines is through the Open Directory Project (ODP). This is a non-profit, volunteer-managed directory with nearly 5 million sites listed.
As the only directory that feeds directly into the Google search engine, it carries a lot of weight. If your site is listed in ODP, then you likely get pretty good ranking in search engine listings. Sites that are listed in ODP automatically have fairly good popularity ranking just because they are listed in the directory.
| It's free to submit your site, but it can take a while for your site to get approved.
There are a few steps you will need to take in order to properly submit your site. 1. Choose the best category. |  |
ODP is a hierarchical directory. This means that there are many categories organized within a hierarchy.
There are 16 major categories, example: ARTS, SPORTS, REGIONAL, SCIENCE. Under each major category there are many subcategories. Under each subcategory there are more subcategories.
| Examples: A general site about ballet would be listed in this category: Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Ballet/Reference/
A site about a ballet school would go here: A site about a ballroom dance school would go here: |
When submitting your site, find the closest category to where your site should be listed. If you submit to a higher category rather than the one that fits your site more specifically, this could result in your site being rejected, or the acceptance being delayed, possibly for months.
To find the category, go to http://www.dmoz.org/ . You will see the list of main categories there. Choose the one that best fits what your website is about. Then follow the links given to find the subcategory that best fits.
If you aren't sure where to start, try searching for keywords that fit your site. For example, if you sell handknit items, you might not know where to start. If you use the search window in the home page of http://www.dmoz.org/ you will see a variety of sites and categories show up.
Some of the handknit websites show up in the REGIONAL category - which would be appropriate if you have a website about a storefront, as in the below example. In that case, you would find your neighborhood and submit your site to that category.
| If, on the other hand, you have a blog about knitting as an activity, you may feel your site best belongs under ARTS, as in this example:
Or, you may find the Shopping category best suits your particular site:
| Warning: DO NOT submit your site to multiple categories, even if they fit the different pages in your site. This will annoy the editors who may decide to blacklist your website entirely. |
When you find the category where you wish to submit your site, go to that page. Then click on the "suggest URL" link at the top of the page.
You will then be taken to a screen where you can submit your site. There are extensive guidelines on that page. Read them. Follow them. Your submission will be read by a knowledgeable, experienced editor who will delete or revise your submission if you do not follow the guidelines.
These should NOT be a list of keywords. Rather, this is what human visitors will see when your site shows up in search engine results. You need to give the search engine user a good idea of what your site is about through the title and description.
TITLE:
Normally this would be the name of your website.
DESCRIPTION:
This should tell the reader, in a sentence or two, what your site is about.
Here is a very good example of a Freewebs site description as it is listed in ODP:
The Title is: Crochet and Knitting Corner.
The Description is: Features handmade shawls and ponchos made from unique patterns.
Warning: Keep your descriptions impersonal and concise. Do not use phrases such as "the best...", "the most...", "and more..." That will get your listing deleted or edited.
| When you search in Google or other search engines the results you see generally include the title and description. Normally these are placed on the site by the web designer. If your site is listed by ODP, however, the title and description they have in there for your site will be the one that shows up in Google (and some other search engines as well). The ODP title and description take priority over the one listed on the site by the web designer. |
ODP has over 75,000 volunteer editors, all of whom manage one or more individual categories. When they see the sites submitted by website owners, it makes their job much easier if:
If any of these requirements are not met in the submission, the editor has the power to delete the submission (and will not notify you if they do so), or correct the submission. Sometimes busy editors will ignore those submissions that require editing until they feel they have time - this could mean the submission languishes in a to-be-edited-later pile for months.
Multiple Submissions.
If your site is already listed in ODP, there will be an automatic note attached to your submission stating this, as the computer will recognize that your site is already listed. Unless there is a very good reason for it, an ODP editor will not approve a site that is already listed in another category.
It can take weeks - or even months - to get your site approved to the Open Directory Project. While they have over 75,000 editors, they also have listed over 4,800,000 websites. This means that they have categories that have hundreds - or even thousands - of submissions waiting for approval. If your submission was good, but your site is not getting listed, you may wish to volunteer as an editor yourself, especially if you are extremely knowledgeable about the area (such as knitting, as in our above example) and feel you can be fair when asked to approve or disapprove the sites of your "competition". Or, there may be a category not related to your website at all that you would like to edit. This is a great way to help make valuable websites more popular, and to help internet users find high quality websites when they are looking for them.
