I hope to offer a few DM0Z tips. As many of you seem to be interested
in getting listed. As a former editor for 2 years with DM0Z I can share what I
learned, these are just my findings and not policy of DM0Z.
[B]CONTENT!!![/B] Each editor looks for content, the website must provide
something useful which is not in cookie cutter format. The content needs to
be valuable to the majority. Websites need to offer visitors something of value.
Websites consisting of: ads, links to other websites, affiliate links, affiliate ads,
lots of advertising (more than 2 small ads per page), off site links, spelling errors,
poor grammar, long download times (more than 20 seconds), broken links,
bad words, hatred, vulgarity, racism, links to porn, poor web design, lots of
animated .gifs (more than 1 per page), huge page sizes that require left to
right scrolling, any pop up ads, huge photos, too many photos, forced 'add to
favorite' script, forced 'join our newsletter' script, any forced script, any script
that changes a visitors web browser in any way, activeX anything, redirect of
any kind, incorrect page title, incorrect page description, irrelevant key words,
key words that are spammed (appear more than once), hidden script, hidden text,
forced icon changes and ANYTHING ELSE WHICH MAY ANNOY A WEBSITE VISITOR
AND CONSIDERED POOR WEB DESIGN AND SUBTRACTS FROM THE VALUE OF THE
CONTENT. IF you have 1 or more of any of the above and I'm sure I left quite a few
out - you will not be listed.
[B]LINKS to other websites:[/B] create a separate links page for them.
Affiliate links or ads: try hiding them through a CGI bin, many shareware sites got
listed that way. Avoid large banner ads or more than 2 small ones per page. If you do
have a large banner ad, place it at the very top of the page so web visitors can easily
scroll down to avoid seeing it. If you can't hide them - REMOVE them.
[B]Web design:[/B] Each page needs to be complete with proper title, description, key
words. Avoid advertising of any kind within these or repeat of any words ( IE: we have
the best shareware ever!!!!!!!! or Digital audio music shareware - we have the best
music shareware) No broken links of any kind, NO under construction pages - period!
If a page is not ready - don't link to it. Under construction pages are very bad web
design and provide NO content.
[B]Commercial websites do get listed:[/B] Provide SIMPLE direct information avoid
massive marketing, avoid lots of advertising, good navigation for every page, no pop
ups of any kind, no forced browser changes, no Active X script. Provide valid
contact information - more the better. Provide a PRIVACY STATEMENT-many sites
don't, bad decision on their part. Avoid multiple payment options; this looks like your
more interested in money than providing CONTENT of value to a web visitor. Provide a
CONTACT page listing your name, address, telephone number, FAX number,
email address, Business License Numbers if you have them. Be honest - if an
editor suspects anything other than honesty and true content of value, you may
not be listed or you will be left in limbo for a long time.
Poor web design such as more than 1 animated .gif and more than few photos - don't
do it. Optimize any images to a smaller file size for faster downloading (less than 20
seconds for a web page via a 28.8K modem !!) Don't overlap anything on the page.
Use proper language, avoid slang.
[B]Contact Info:[/B] provide valid working email address or provide name/address,
FAX number if your a business. Respond quickly to your emails, letters and FAX, it
may be a DM0Z editor testing to see if they work. Form email are OK (I use them)
but some editors think your trying to hide something.
DM0Z will not allow multiple listings for a domain, nor will they allow mirror websites.
The top domain is really all you need, if that is properly listed, you should be happy!
It is not necessary to list individual pages, for they wont be listed anyway. If found
by a 'nit picker' of an editor who searches other categories, they will remove the
listing. Yes - editors can go through any category they want, and can edit a listing!
They choose the category they want to edit but are not restricted to stay in that one
either.
Search engines using DM0Z only need to find the top domain page, good ones like
Google use a spidering search engine which will find any pages you have linked to your
top domain. Some engines are not that "techy", they do require separate listings to find
pages, (My guess is that's how they plan on making money). If your really that
concerned, then pay them to submit each page of your website.
[B]ONE MORE tip:[/B] KEY WORDS - Once listed with the above engines, add relevant
key words first, less relevant afterward. ALSO add misspelled keywords as well. IE:
'mp3 to wav converter' - also list it as 'coverter' You would be surprised to know how
many internet users misspell words, especially when doing a search!!!
A general rule is you can resubmit to DM0Z about every six months any sooner will be
interpreted as spamming and you are assured not to be listed. An email to the editors
of the category you submitted to may provide a clue as why your not listed that is if
you have not been designated as a spammer or affiliate website. Most emails I
received were demanding, rude, not very well written or not very polite, the result
was they received no answer.
