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Is the Open Directory Project still important?
The Open Directory Project (ODP or DMOZ.org) has recently
received a lot of negative press. Is the ODP still as important
as it was?
What is the Open Directory Project?
The Open Directory Project is an Internet directory that
started in 1998 as an alternative to Yahoo's human edited
directory. When Google began using the ODP as the source for
the Google Directory, it was almost guaranteed that a web
site received better Google rankings when it was listed in
the ODP.
What is the problem with the Open Directory Project?
In contrast to search engines that use software programs
to index web pages, volunteer editors read and classify the
web sites that are submitted to the Open Directory Project.
Many categories in the ODP don't have a volunteer editor
anymore and the editors of the other categories cannot handle
all of the submissions they receive. Some categories have
a backlog of several months.
Rumor has it that some ODP editors accept money to speed
up submissions and that some people became ODP editors just
to promote their own web sites.
Is it still worth to submit your web site to the
Open Directory Project?
It is still worth to submit your web site to the Open Directory
Project but you shouldn't be disappointed if your web site
doesn't get through. Many web sites mirror ODP content so
a link from the ODP means that many other web sites will also
link to your site.
However, there are many other
Internet directories that can also have a positive effect
on your web site. Don't focus on the ODP alone but submit
your web site to many different directories and search
engines so that your web site is not dependent on a single
source.
More about the benefits of being listed in Internet directories
can be found in the recommended
resources section below.
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