GOOGLE HAS CHANGED their webmaster guidelines by removing these suggestions:
1. Have other relevant sites link to yours.
2. Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.
I, for one, am glad to see it. Getting listed in DMOZ was always one of the most important places you could have your site listed, as far as Google/SEO was concerned.
But when was the last time you went to DMOZ to search for a site? The only time I have searched DMOZ is when I am searching for my own site, which, btw, is not listed. I submitted it once a couple of years ago, but so far, nada.
They say not to resubmit, and not to send an email asking about it, so as not to irritate the editors. And to expect to wait at least 8 MONTHS before you might see something.
People say that since sites are added to DMOZ by live editors, if they don’t like you for some reason, you can just forget about getting listed. DMOZ does encourage you to volunteer to be an editor, and you can choose the category you’d like to edit. So, I supposed I could have signed up for the computer bookstore category, added my own site, and refrained from adding any competing sites. Maybe that’s why CBO isn’t listed? Oh well, it’s not important any longer!
Thanks, Google.
But what about having other relevant sites linking to yours? Isn’t it just common sense to have relevant sites linking to yours?
I am a web developer and have found DMOZ more than irritating over the years. The editors (if there was one for your category) seem to be on some sort of power-trip and enjoy throwing submissions out or being over zealous with the ‘rules’. Oh well, good job for us DMOZ is just an irrelevance nowadays then! Good riddance.
I have had mixed experiences with DMOZ – some bad and some good. I don’t think it is really used much nowadays anyway – I have gone with Yahoo.