Today more than ever, in the field of search engine optimization (SEO), there is a very important step that needs to be taken in order to help a website's visibility in the major search engines. That important step is to submit it to DMOZ, sometimes called the Open Directory Project or ODP. The ODP provides a lot of search results for a good percentage of the most important search engines and directories, including Google. First, the ODP is NOT a robot-driven crawler but rather a large, human-edited directory of the Web. For any submission to be successful, a few important points need to be considered ahead of time.

Step A)
Your full contact information needs to be there. Make certain that your full contact information is easily accessible, preferably with the help of a clearly identified contact button. An e-mail address is certainly not enough. Many ODP editors will tell you if they don't see a real physical or postal address or telephone number, then that website in its particular category is usually tossed away and probably will never make it inside the directory. Most importantly, if you wish to sell anything, you need to build credibility and honesty with your clients. In such a case, providing proper and full contact information on your site is imperative.

Step B)
Do not attempt to SPAM the directory. You should only submit your site once and forget it for at least two to three months. According to DMOZ rules and regulations, you are only allowed to submit to one category. However, in certain isolated cases and, if your website happens to be a very large one and offers lots of information, you may be able to submit a second section of it to a different category. As a rule of thumb, it usually takes time for most submissions to be processed. This is especially true of categories where there are many daily submissions. It is recommended you not submit a website more than once, as it could end up at the bottom of a large list of sites awaiting review and approval, and sites are processed according to their submissions dates.

Step C)
Your website needs original and quality content. If you are trying to publish an assortment of affiliate links or, if your site happens to be a "mirror-site" of other websites that are common on the Internet, then the chances of your submission being accepted are poor. If in fact you really have to deal with affiliate products or services, we recommend that you add lots of new content, perhaps a product review category, an industry news section or any other additional information that will tell the DMOZ editors that your site has something original to offer and has ample content that will be of use to their users.

Step D)
Double-check your website for spelling errors and typos. Although DMOZ editors look for great content, they are only human and may be irritated by these types of errors. Our experience with the ODP tells us that professionally written and carefully built websites with great content almost always make it into the directory eventually.

Step E)
Keep a careful record of your submissions to DMOZ. We strongly recommend that you record the date of submission and the specific category to which the site was submitted. And, if the category to which you are submitting has an editor, you should always make a note of the editor's name. Such information can be useful, if you need to inquire about the status of your submission at a later date. One question we are fequently asked is: "How long does it take to get listed?" With DMOZ, predictions are difficult. We've seen sites added in as litle as three weeks while other submissions have not been listed for six months or longer.

Step F)
Select the proper category for any submission. When people submit a URL to such robotic search engines as Google or Alta-Vista, there really isn't much to consider since their crawlers or "spiders" visit and index your site automatically, generally in a rather short period of time. However, when submitting to a directory like DMOZ, a critical part of the submission process is choosing the right category. We recommend that you check where websites similar to yours have been placed in the directory. When you find the category that you believe is most appropriate, press the "add URL" button. Watch for notes from DMOZ editors citing additional category restrictions. These notes should be read carefully to ensure your site meets the mentioned parameters.

Step G)
Always contact DMOZ through the proper channels. If the category to which you are submitting does have an editor, this will most often be indicated at the bottom of the page and you should be able to send that editor a message. Failing that, another way to contact DMOZ editors is through their online forum. Once there, you can ask about the status of your submission, but you must provide the submission date and category of your last attempt. Additionally, you can ask some questions about general DMOZ procedures and rules.

Do your best to follow the steps outlined above and your site should eventually be included in the DMOZ directory.