Wow - am I confused!!
I normally don't like posting to forums - I am not really great at being 'sensitive' and usually say something wrong
but I will try to do better here. This will be a looooooooong post - more like a mini-novel really.
The reason I even found this thread was because I, perhaps like others here, was trying to
suggest my site for inclusion and was directed to the forums to find out the status of the submission function. Actually I was trying to figure out why my site hadn't been listed yet since I applied 5 months or so ago. I thought maybe I did something incorrectly and was researching a little on how to
resubmit my site. Something that I now know was wrong to do thanks to PVGOOL:
pvgool said:
1) You can't suggest any sites at all here (here = Resource Zone)
2) there is no need to resubmit at all, suggest a site ONCE
Which led me to the understanding that there is nothing I can do but wait another 18 months and hope. Or, I am sure that if I search around a little more in the FAQs and Forums there will be a nice post telling me how to follow up on the status of
my suggestion.
But then I read Hutchenson's post and now I have lost hope. Hopefully I am misinterpreting the comments in his post.
hutcheson said:
The guidelines are all about significant unique information. But that doesn't resonate with some people, so if you prefer thumbrules:
Signs the site really won't fly:
(1) You describe it as a "great" site or a "quality" site or a "useful" site or one that "adds value to the net" or something "you spent days or weeks on".
(2) You think of sites already online and established as "your competitors".
(3) You think, without an ODP listing, it won't have a fair chance.
(4) You think the site is in a "competitive niche".
(5) You think of website production or marketing as an "industry".
(6) You resent seeing sites listed that are (to your eyes) less attractive than your own.
(7) You spent hours doing research (online!) for the information on your site.
If none of those apply, then some signs that a site might be listable:
These points aren't too bad, however ....
1) I took me 9 months to launch our site - not sure if that's better or worse than "days or weeks"
2.
I personally do consider some other Web 2.0 businesses and hence their sites, as competitors.
3. This is tough, most articles I read on search engine marketing recommend inclusion in the ODP as a key marketing strategy.
4. Every business falls within a niche - and if it's not a
competitive niche I'd really like to see that.
5. I do think of website production as an industry. Not mine, but still an industry. And I imagine most people feel marketing is an industry. And just in case
I misinterpreted what you wrote, even 'website marketing' is at least becoming a specialized area within the marketing industry.
6. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
7. Whoops - some of my clients do include articles on my site that are reprints of their own material from their websites and I do have a list of helpful links that I did spend hours online researching.
Now Hutch, I think you can see that as an ordinary business person (not an SEO expert, techie or web developer) my immediate thought is that maybe, just maybe, ODP doesn't want my Web 2.0 based businesses included in their data. Especially since SOME of those points do apply. But I am not convinced that is true ... yet ... read on.
hutcheson said:
(1) You describe a site as "the only site that has (some kind of information.)"
(2) You think of other informational sites as "collaborators"; or, before you even started the site, you thought of real people working in real buildings to provide real goods and services for surfers, as your competitors.
(3) You don't care what the ODP does with your site: it's an expression of yourself--your knowledge and skills and experience and professional aspirations, and that is enough justification for any site! You'd like like-minded people, or prospective customers, to know about your site, but if you need business advertising, you know how and where to purchase it.
(4) You are the guru of your niche: the person other professionals in the niche naturally gravitate to for help, when they're out of their depth. Your site can't help but be in that niche, because that's where your experience is.
(5) Your "industry" has nothing to do with the web; if the web didn't exist, you'd still be the same expert (enthusiast or professional) that you are now. The web is just a tool you use to express your pre-existing skills and tastes.
(6) You build your own site to your own standards, and you expect everyone else (including the ODP contributors) to build their own sites to their standards. But you can learn something from someone who knows something you don't, even if you think you know something they don't also.
(7) Before you began preparing your information for online publication, you spent hours researching the web to make sure it hadn't been done before.
My thoughts when applied to my website:
1. My site is the only one selling what I am selling at the price I am selling it for so in a way it fits, but 'information' is a tough term to define here so I am not sure.
2. Huh? Most websites have a real person, sitting in a real office somewhere don't they? Sorry - I read this one a few times and I am not sure I understand it.
3. Wrong - I care. Small businesses tend to rely on organic marketing (at least in the start up phase) and can't always afford to purchase normal advertising. Since a large number of people use search engines to either shop, or at least locate the businesses that provide products and services they need, this is a legitimate use of the internet. Since many search engines suggest being included in the ODP this it is a very fair expectation of real business owners to be able to be included - whether they own traditional businesses or Web-based businesses.
4. I wish! But actually - no other business in North America (that we know of) does exactly what we do so maybe it fits.
5. Upon refection I realize my business
could exist in a different format with out the web - just not as effectively. But does that really matter? Could YouTube exist without the web? Or could the ODP itself?
6. Two part question. Yes to building to your own standards and yes to being able to learn from others - wouldn't any answer other than yes be a little arrogant?
7. Hmm - is this saying that - if I research the web and see another website already doing something - then I shouldn't try to do the same with my own personal twist or that might exclude me from the ODP? What about Google, Yahoo, ODP and all the over variations of search engines?
I'm not picking on what was an obvious attempt to give some valuable guidelines for website owners to use - I appreciate the time you took. But I must admit that I get the feeling you think the web, or more specifically the OPD should only be used to index sites that lean towards academic or perhaps non-commercial pursuit. I think that is unfair considering the deep impact the web, and specifically website marketing, has had on the way we do business. As I said earlier, since search engines are the predominant vehicle for finding businesses online, and since they suggest strongly that
our websites should be included in ODP in order to rank higher I think that it is only fair that commercial websites have an equal chance of being included in the ODP.
I am sure I have misinterpreted your intentions here. If I have, I imagine I won't be the only one - especially amongst those of us who are simple business owners trying to use all the tools available to be successful (
there is no harm or foul in that).
I still know what I can or will do about my site being included ... but thats a topic for a different thread.
By the way I won't ask when the repairs will be finished - I know you don't know
