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For those of you who know about DMOZ, no, this isn’t another “Be sure that you submit your website to the right category” bogus waste of time. No, I wouldn’t do that to you.

No, what I’m going to share with you is the best way that you can become the editor of the category in DMOZ that you want your site to be listed in.

We all know that in order to get good, free, organic rankings, you need quality links to your website. The more quality links to your site, the higher your rankings, the more traffic your site gets, the more your business grows.

DMOZ, otherwise known as the Open Directory Project or ODP, is one of the most important online directories, which is basically a website dedicated to supplying quality outbound links to various websites.

For new SEOs and veterans alike, DMOZ has been a headache to get into because it is completely run by volunteers. You see, the directory doesn’t charge anything for your site to be included, and because they have no budget, they use volunteers to keep the website up and running.

Well, that’s what makes it such a headache. Many volunteers could care less about their category after they sign up, or they get bored, or they’re just downright malicious with the pages they control.

But… if you were the editor of your own category, you could quickly include your website, get that beautiful anchor text link you’ve been craving, and be on your way.

The trick, however, is to not be obvious about it, and definitely do not be malicious. If you become an editor of your market’s DMOZ page, you control the links to a lot of your competition… but do NOT sabotage them. Not only is it unethical, it can get you banned from DMOZ anyways.

And the idea is to use this to your advantage. Submit your money site. Include all other websites you can in this category that are under your control as well. Create a quick blog that is devoted to keeping the public informed on any charity work your company does and include that in your category. Then, once the link juice is passed from DMOZ to your blog, link your blog to your money site, more link juice flows to your money site, giving you better rankings and more traffic.

You can do this over and over and over. But please, do it under the radar.

So how do we get in? Well, we’re here at the home page of DMOZ.org, to start, navigate to the category that best describes your company or website.

In this example, we’re going to be selling Dog Toys, so let’s navigate to the appropriate page. If the category you want is taken, don’t worry, just find the next closest category that’s available.

To see if your category is available or not, scroll down to the very bottom of the page. If it’s open, you’ll see “Volunteer to edit this category”.

After we click on volunteer, DMOZ lays down the rules.

They make it clear that you don’t have to be an editor to submit your site, but you can submit your site all day, and it doesn’t mean it’ll be included.

They suggest applying to a small category for newbies, and then working your way up. That’s actually good advice, it’s less suspicious that way.

You must login to your account at least once a month, or they’ll kick you out. This is their quality control on their volunteers.

DMOZ also says that you should proofread your application. If you’re misspelling everything, or you don’t know anything about grammar, have someone double check your work. If it looks bad, you’ll have no chance at getting approved.

You’ll be asked to submit three sample submissions for your category, so they can get a feel for your writing. Find sites that aren’t already in the directory, but also aren’t in direct competition with you. Remember, you don’t want to help your competitors to get into DMOZ.

Be sure to write impartial, third party descriptions. No hyped sales copy or promos. Things like “Pet Toys Online sells rubber chew toys for dogs of various sizes.”

The next page is where we get to the nuts and bolts of our application. Enter your first or last name, real or fake, a display name you’d like, an email address- I always setup a Yahoo account- and a password.

They even ask you if you’ve ever been an ODP editor before? Select no we haven’t.

Next, you’re asked about your internet experience. I wouldn’t go out and say “I own a website that fits this category and I’ll submit it if you guys let me in.”

Instead, we want to appear as harmless as possible. Say you own a blog in a similar category- one that would draw your interest to this category, but different enough that it won’t seem like you’d be interested in submitting it to your category.

DMOZ also asks why are you interested in volunteering. I recommend taking the altruistic route. I always like to say that I’m tired of all the spam out there, on the web, in my junk mail box, that I want to help clean up the web, and this was the first place I could think of.

You’re also asked to elaborate on your interest in the category you’re applying to edit. Remember, try to be genuine here.

In the section that asks which websites you’re associated with, I would put “none”.

Towards the bottom we include our trial website submissions. Remember to remain impartial here. No hype or pitch fests. Just boring, third party descriptions. Poke around and read some descriptions to get a feel for what they’re looking for.

And that’s it. Click “submit application” and they’ll send you a confirmation email that you’ll have to respond to. Then, you get an answer within three days.

You know, for taking months, even years to include sites in their directory, they’re pretty quick at accepting and rejecting volunteer editors.

Again, throughout this entire process, appear to be as harmless as possible. Watch yourself as if you were DMOZ- would you let yourself be an editor of this category?

Within a few days, you’ll have your answer. And after you’re in, you can casually begin submitting and accepting your websites into your category.

I have done this with some of my own websites, and I’ve seen immediate SEO benefits. If you’re lucky enough to get in, you’ll see a huge increase in your free rankings… and with it, a healthy bump in traffic!

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