We have all seen those ugly sites......... the ones with snow falling down across the screen. The sites with dark backgrounds, fluorescent orange writing in different size fonts that make it hard to read and that annoying music that always seems out of place.
Some webmasters complain and ask us why we list these sites. They are annoyed that their site isn't listed, even though it has great "sliding" photos and all the tricks that modern software such as Wordpress, can provide.
The answer is simple. DMOZ Volunteer Editors review each site according to the Editing Guidelines, specifically which sites can or cannot be included.
o. The site must have unique content. Many features of the site itself may be similar to other sites. The theme, the layout, the colours.... but the site is not listable unless it has unique content. Unique content is content that is not readily found elsewhere, or content that puts forward the site owners point of view, or perspective. Most sites that pertain to a specific business, or in the case of personal sites, a specific person, include by their very nature, unique content. They meet the listing guidelines as long as there is also sufficient content (e.g., not a business card site).
o. The site must not be an affiliate site that simply redirects through referral links to another website. Why would we list one of hundreds of sites with the same content, when we can simply list the main Affiliate site?
Editors do not review the site on how well it is designed, how appealing it is to the eye or how technically advanced it is. A simple html site on a free host may well have good, valid content and examples of this are found on the Angelfire platform. That is why some of these sites are listed and the fact that they are hosted on a free server makes no difference to the listability.
Editors are looking for sites that offer information to the Net Surfer. If you hope to have your site included in DMOZ, the answer is to simply build it with the focus being on the provision of informative and unique content. If your visitors find it interesting and they keep returning, then you most probably have a site that is listable in DMOZ.
[Written by editor snooks]
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Some webmasters complain and ask us why we list these sites. They are annoyed that their site isn't listed, even though it has great "sliding" photos and all the tricks that modern software such as Wordpress, can provide.
The answer is simple. DMOZ Volunteer Editors review each site according to the Editing Guidelines, specifically which sites can or cannot be included.
o. The site must have unique content. Many features of the site itself may be similar to other sites. The theme, the layout, the colours.... but the site is not listable unless it has unique content. Unique content is content that is not readily found elsewhere, or content that puts forward the site owners point of view, or perspective. Most sites that pertain to a specific business, or in the case of personal sites, a specific person, include by their very nature, unique content. They meet the listing guidelines as long as there is also sufficient content (e.g., not a business card site).
o. The site must not be an affiliate site that simply redirects through referral links to another website. Why would we list one of hundreds of sites with the same content, when we can simply list the main Affiliate site?
Editors do not review the site on how well it is designed, how appealing it is to the eye or how technically advanced it is. A simple html site on a free host may well have good, valid content and examples of this are found on the Angelfire platform. That is why some of these sites are listed and the fact that they are hosted on a free server makes no difference to the listability.
Editors are looking for sites that offer information to the Net Surfer. If you hope to have your site included in DMOZ, the answer is to simply build it with the focus being on the provision of informative and unique content. If your visitors find it interesting and they keep returning, then you most probably have a site that is listable in DMOZ.
[Written by editor snooks]
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Continue reading...