Submitting Your Site to the OPD

Due to it’s importance, a listing on the OPD (also known as DMOZ) is generally considered golden. The OPD provides directory listings not only to Google, but also for the directories at AOL, Lycos, Teoma, AskJeeves, Netscape, AltaVista, HotBot and a score of smaller, specialized directories. As such, you should focus on getting listed in the OPD as soon as possible after your site is complete. It can take several months to show up in the OPD database, as the OPD is staffed by volunteers who get overwhelmed with work.

To submit your site to the OPD:

1. Go to http://dmoz.org/add.html.

2. Read the submission guidelines carefully – don’t skip this step.

3. Determine the single best category for your site to be listed under. Take your time and determine this carefully.

4. On your chosen category page, click add URL and go to the submission page for that category.

5. In Site URL, enter the URL to your site.

6. In Title of Site, be sure and include your best keywords.

7. In Site Description, be sure and include your best keywords.

Google normally uses what you have submitted to the OPD in the Site Description field and displays it in their search results. This means you should have a decent-sounding description that reads well. In addition, Google has been known in the past to sometimes display this information from the <META name= “Description”> tag instead. Because of this, and because other search engines read it, you should use this tag and duplicate the description of your site their too.

An ODP editor will review your submission. If applicable, submit your website to the OPD twice. Submit your site for the appropriate topic-related page in the OPD as well the appropriate regional or geographical page if your business is location-specific. Multiple submissions of the same or related sites to the same topical page may result in OPD deleting all your sites from it’s directory, so be careful. Also make sure your site is clean and complete before submitting it to the OPD.

Caution: If your site is comprised of separate product or service lines, or different topical content categories, you may consider submitting those specific pages to the OPD under separate categories. However, don’t overdo it, and make sure you follow the submission guidelines carefully.