The Open Directory Project, often referred to as DMOZ is a user-contributed web directory which aspires to become “the most comprehensive human-reviewed directory of the web”. Started over a decade ago in 1998, anyone is free to submit a site for consideration in the directory, which organises site listings hierarchically in categories, subcategories, then listings.
Though there are thousands of directories online all with a similar theme, many are unreliable, require payment or automatically approve all submissions, undermining the reason for having a directory in the first place.
DMOZ however, is different. Each website submission received is visited by a human editor, its value assessed, and included in the relevant category of the directory if deemed worthy. Overall, it’s a well-established, structured, human-approved source of quality content; an authority on relevant websites, and the Search Engines know it, which is why it’s relevant to SEOers. The DMOZ homepage currently has a PageRank of 8, with many of its categories also boasting a respectable figure. Links from DMOZ don’t contain a nofollow attribute, meaning Search Engines will follow a link from their pages, treating it as an endorsement of your site. Getting a link from a well-ranked site is very valuable indeed in terms of Dental SEO.
As you might expect however, there is a catch: it’s hard to get listed. Though there are over 84,000 editors it still takes time to review each submission. As it has grown in its 12 years, the proportion of website submissions to editors has also grown and the quality of some listings has come in question. Ultimately, if the quality of content on DMOZ declines then so will the opinion of Search Engines.
Still, while it certainly doesn’t hurt to submit your site for consideration, many, if not most won’t get listed. You should treat it as a bonus for your Dental SEO, not a necessity. Instead, concern yourself with the stalwarts of a good Dental SEO strategy: relevant, regularly updated content.
