baypound Posted January 12, 2005 Author Posted January 12, 2005 www.driverhotline.com http://dmoz.org/Business/Transporta...ing/Employment/ http://dmoz.org/Business/Transporta...ment/Employers/ Lack of original content? We're hiring truck drivers! No gimmicks. We're changing peoples lives here. We represent one of the largest trucking companies in the country(USA). Our top driver made over $87,000 dollars last year. What in the world does original content have to do with that?! This guy can buy things for himself and his family. They're not just getting by like so many. We are begging you to reconsider. If you want us to change the site in any way, shape or form please just tell us what you want. We will be happy to.
baypound Posted January 14, 2005 Author Posted January 14, 2005 www.driverhotline.com http://dmoz.org/Business/Transporta...ing/Employment/ http://dmoz.org/Business/Transporta...ment/Employers/ Lack of original content? What exactly does that mean? should I resubmit the site?
spectregunner Posted January 14, 2005 Posted January 14, 2005 Lack of original content? When we discuss original content, we are talking about two things: quality and quanity. In terms of quality, we are looking for things that are not found anywhere else on the web. We are looking for content that is, well, unique. Names, addresses and phone numbers are not what we call unique. Links are not unique. Forms are not unique. Reprints are not unique. Now I haven't looked at your site (if I did look, it would be inappropriate for me to share these thoughts, since we don't give a lot of site-specific information.) In terms of quantity, we want that unique content to be easily found, and we want a lot of it. If is site is little more than the equivalent of a newspaper or magazine advertisement, it is not going to be accepted. If we can't find the unique content, it is not going to be accepted -- and we don't spend 30 minutes earching, either. If the site is little more than a mass of ads and affiliate content, it is not going to get listed. We also don't really care what the company says it does. We are evaluating the website. ["But we cured the common cold," the submitter wailed. "So what," we reply, "if we can't find that fact on the website, it is not relative to the consideration of a listing.] So, you asked if you should resubmit. The answer is: No, if you have not seriously addressed the issue of unique content Yes, if you have added significiant quantity and quality of the type of unique content we seek. It will still have to go through the entire vetting process. If you are interested, there is an essay on unique content that I wrote for another forum, it an be found by clicking here
baypound Posted February 9, 2005 Author Posted February 9, 2005 www.driverhotline.com http://dmoz.org/Business/Transporta...ment/Employers/ Thank you spectregunner. We appreciate you comments and we have addressed the issue of what makes us unique. We have re-submitted the site. They told us it may take up to a year to get listed, and I didn't believe it. Well it has been a year. Go figure. I'm sure we'll get it right. Anyway thanks!
spectregunner Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 Actuallly, one of the other editors came up with a great line that I have stolen: Site reviews can take from a few hours to infinity. I know that is scary, but it reflects where we have our focus. While many webmasters think we are a listing service -- and they grow impatient and then nasty when we don't meet their expectations -- we are actually directory builders. Certainly, there are some editors who focus of handling submissions (greens, in ODP-speak) and dead links (reds) or even updates (purples) and in fact, those three colors are the staple for many new editors. The real value that experienced editors add is in category building. That is, the ability to look at an existing category structure, used their knowledge, training and experience to identify shortcomings, inefficiencies, redundancies, and the like, then lead a concensus-building effort to address these issues, rectify them, and then go off an find a critical mass of sites to populate the new directory structure. In the process, a given editor will probably handle a lot of red, greens and purples, and may very well add sites to the directory that are patiently waiting elsewhere witout ever knowing they are waiting. But addressing your real issue: you want additional visibility to gain some additional critical mass for your company. To that end I can offer two things: 1. The understanding that the ODP, while a really nifty directory, cannot make or break anyone's business. If it did, all old links we haven't look at would be dead by now, and every directory listing would last forever. 2. The understanding that the first point, while interesting to me, may not have been measureably helpful to you, so here is a link to a resource that lists directories and search engines that accept submissions. Hope that helps.
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