How do I change my site's description?

I have been trying for nearly 2 years now to amend my website’s Open Directory description, which is now very much out of date. The current (old) description is proving to be an embarassment, especially as google is now picking up the same description.
I’ve submitted many revised descriptions over the last 2 years using the Open Directory pages, but for some reason, all my attempts to submit the new description are completely ignored. I feel that as I submitted the original description, I should be able to amend it.
Is my lack of success something to do with the human editor of my website’s category or is it something else? Grateful for someone giving me the necessary lowdown on this and also, hopefully, the way I can achieve my original description change.
Many thanks
Jokenik

>I feel that as I submitted the original description, I should be able to amend it.

You were free to make the original suggestion, and you are absolutely able to make another suggestion now.

The editor was free to take your original suggestion then, and the editor is free to take your new suggestion now.

In that respect, the ethics are perfectly symmetric and balanced.

What you could not do then, cannot do now, and won't ever be able to do, is amend any listing directly. Everything about the listing is the sole responsibility of the editor, who is always required to use his own judgment.

The usual reason that an update request isn't accepted is that the updater is asking for something inappropriate from an ODP point of view (e.g. asking for the title and/or description to be changed to something that doesn't meet our guidelines, asking to be moved to a category where it doesn't belong according to our guidelines, asking for the URL to be changed to something inappropriate according to our guidelines).

If there is something in the current description that is incorrect (as opposed to not being as spiffy as you want), then your best bet is to only address the inaccuracies in the update request. For example, say your description said "Sales and service of blue widgets. Includes information about widgets available, FAQs, and a history of blue widgets." but your site is actually for a manufacturer of green widgets, not a seller of blue widgets, then it would be acceptable to ask for the description to be corrected accordingly. Attempting to do anything except correct misinformation or a bad (by our guidelines) description will usually be met with resistance.

Motsa is spot on!

As an editor, I would rather see an update request that tells me what is incorrect about the existing description, than to get a "rewrite". This is because with the "rewrite" is is usually not clear if there is a problem that needs fixing or an ego that needs massaging.

And, since I am being blunt (and hopefully not rude), the writing of the title and description is not a cooperative event or team sport. When someone submites a descrition update to me, the burdon of proof is on them to convince me that the existing description (if guidelines compliant) is factually incorrect. Entirely too many updates are ego or SEO driven, and this editor is very quick to hit the flush lever on them.

Also, it is important to understand that if it isn't on the website that it shouldn't be in the ODP description. Say the business used to produce only green widgets, but now produces red, green, blue and yellow widgets and that an update request includes all those colors. When the editor checks the website, they'll check to see if the site says that they make red, green, blue and yellow widgets. If the site only mentions green widgets, or says that they'll be producing all colors in the future, the description will not change.

...and, the editor may choose not to list all the colors, but may instead choose to say "widgits in multiple colors" so that a new update doesn't get submitted every time a new color is added.

Imaging the number of updates Crayola would have sent in....

Thanks to all of you for all your help

I have noted the helpful advice you have all given and maybe I will try again
Jokenik

This is ridiculous

This is what's wrong with the ODP and editors.

Five responses, count them, five detailed and long winded, response from editors and moderators about a SPECIFIC case that they know NOTHING about.

I wish that you guys would do actual reviews instead of give your opinions on something specific that you know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about. You are making up responses based on NOTHING YOU KNOW. Did you do your homework on this person's initial submission and request for change?

Of course not!

Come on people. Grow up. Do the work that you signed up for, and stop wasting everyone's time with your self important and useless blabbing and blathering.

self important and useless blabbing and blathering.

Click to expand...

Hmmm. Pot? Kettle.

Wow, you took the trouble to sign up and register to post that. I'm astounded.

Do the work that you signed up for

Click to expand...

I signed up to do a minimum of one edit every four months and I'm doing that. Sometimes, I get overcome with guilt and do more than that. In my other waking moments I do whatever I want.

What else do you expect from me?

thank you

Thank you for proving my point.

I took less time than I expected it to. So, thank you for that as well.

Simply priceless.

Hello the Discription of my site gravitaexim.com is completly wrong Please have a look - Engaged in lead-acid battery recycling. Includes information on products. Located in Tehsil Phagi. As we are not located in Tehsil Phagi, From where this comes i don't know. I appreciate if someone will correct it to something like that
Environment friendly solutions for Lead-Acid Battery Scrap Recycling, Eco Friendly process for Lead Smelting, Lead Refining, Lead Alloying, Lead Oxide Manufacturing Plant & Process ..... or whatever you like as you are editors but please make sure to correct it as we are not from Tehsil Phagi.

Thanks in advance.

Well, it will most certainly not get changed as a result of a posting here -- you should go to the category where it is currently listed and submit an udate request.

My personal advice is to keep it simple:

We are not located in Tehsil Phagi, we are located in XXXXX

Do us all a favor and please do not suggest anything the example you just provided -- but if you insist on trying to reqrite the description, at a minimum not not capitalize every work. Maybe just the first one in each sentence.

Like, wow, dude, that's some real heavy marketroid-hype keyword-stuffing there!

Why don't you (1) save the effusive autoadulation for the website itself, (2) in your ODP suggestion, stick with the verifiable facts, especially including NOT boasting about who they are or are not friendly with, (3) make sure the correct facility location is included correctly on the website, and mention that as the real motivation for the change, (4) either forget about describing the business activity, or see if you can express it in five words or less with no repeated words (so the editor won't have to waste quite so much time cutting it down to the three that matter).

That way, the editor won't be so likely to pitch the whole load out with one hand (the other hand over his nose to avoid retching) without noticing that there was an actual factual suggestion hidden in the puffery. Because factual inaccuracies matter (in a positive way) and the marketroidage matters in a highly negative way.

Seriously, that was one truly evil description. You probably can't imagine how infinitely pompous and contemptuous it sounds. Go back and read your marketing 101 textbook again, and make a list of everything it says to do. Then don't EVER do them to an ODP editor without prior written permission! And ... try to treat people like humans, eh, rather than marketing victims? Tell us something as if it were a friend of yours, whom you knew was not in the market for anything you were selling, and whom would still consider a friend even if they never in their lives bought anything at all from you. And assume that we can see a one-syllable word like, say, "lead", AND REMEMBER IT WHILE READING THE NEXT THREE WORDS. Or, at least, recognize that we would be most grateful if you courteously pretended to believe that we had that much mental acuity, OK?

Environment bad English - should be Environmentally

friendly that's an opinion and not allowed

solutions for

Lead-Acid Battery Scrap Recycling, missing comma, bad use of capital letters

Eco Friendly opinion and bad capitals

process for Lead Smelting, Lead Refining, Lead Alloying, Lead Oxide By now i've seen the word lead far too many times, definitely keyword stuffing

Manufacturing Plant & Invalid use of & - should be and

Process ..... by the time I get here, it's so bad, I wont even look at the site, If I was the reviewing editor I sould just delete the update since absolutely no attempt has made made to follow description guidelines in http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/describing.html#descriptions

Indeed, even the front page of the website is stuffed with keywords. All the bold and variable type size (which I can't do here) makes it illegible, and the language links don't work either.

Your website looks like spam. You should be pleased with the description you have.

How to estimate the quality of a website

Excuse me. Can i ask a question?
How to estimate the quality of a website? How to estimate the qualification of a website to be embodied by DMOZ?

A website, to be listed, should have significant content that is relevant and unique and informational. And if there is other content (that is, either uninformative or non-unique or irrelevant), the site should be designed so the visitor can ignore that content.

A practical suggestion: if you are suggesting a site, the description is your opportunity to make sure the editor doesn't overlook significant parts of the relevant and unique information.

In practice, I don't find this a big issue. People who CAN generate unique content, nearly always just do it -- no problem. People who are incapable of comprehending the concept of unique content, ... go into marketing. They aren't going to generate unique content, they don't care, they don't know any better, it's a waste of time to try to explain it to them, you might as well try to make a coloratura soprano by flogging a dead horse.

There is a problem I see sometimes: if an honest information-creator falls among thieves (that is, visits spammeister forums), and innocently follows their advice to create multiple related sites (thus, in effect, trying to create a legitimate site that looks just like spam.), then his various sites make each other non-unique. Also, as a secondary problem, while there might be enough content on all the sites put together to be "significant", there might not be enough content on each separate site -- thus turning a possibility of an ODP listing into no possibility on each of several listings.

Another suggestion: honest people don't mind staking all their reputation on one site containing everything about their business. If you want to look like an honest person, act like one.

Is this acceptable

gloria said:

Also, it is important to understand that if it isn't on the website that it shouldn't be in the ODP description. Say the business used to produce only green widgets, but now produces red, green, blue and yellow widgets and that an update request includes all those colors. When the editor checks the website, they'll check to see if the site says that they make red, green, blue and yellow widgets. If the site only mentions green widgets, or says that they'll be producing all colors in the future, the description will not change.

Click to expand...

If I have a blue widget can I post to a category under Rainbow Widget?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. Always pick the most specific single category you can find, that covers the vast majority of the site's unique content.