Site Promotion - The Open Directory Project

One of the first places a website owner should start is the Open Directory Project (OPD). The ODP is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is the property of Netscape and follows a pattern common to this type of project in that it is constructed and maintained by volunteer editors.

The ODP uses hierarchical ontology to organize site listings. As a result, listings on a similar subject are grouped into categories, which can then be sub-classified. The ODP sprung out of the frustrations that many people experienced in getting their websites listed onto Yahoo! Directory. What still marks the OPD out as separate is its commitment to free listing. It has maintained its policy of free site submissions for all types of site.

Because the OPD has a slightly differing philosophy to other directories there has been a gradual divergence between the ODP from the other directories in the balance of content. Obviously, pay-for-inclusion directories favour those websites willing to pay; commercial sites tend to predominate in directories using it.

A directory staffed by volunteers, on the other hand, tends to reflect the interests of those volunteers who do the editing. The ODP lists a high proportion of information, non-profit and charitable sites.

Like most useful services that are free there tends to be an over-submission to the OPD; it gets far greater numbers of websites that wish to be listed than other comparable directories. Recent estimates put the number or unreviewed websites at between 1.5 and 3 million. As a result, submission acceptance can very between hours to years; another corollary to this is that predicting submission acceptance time is virtually impossible. In these circumstances, the importance of editor selection becomes paramount. The application process tries to be thorough: you need to demonstrate your editing abilities, disclose any possible conflicts of interest and also flesh out how you will settle into the culture of the OPD. Initial rejection, which is common, is not final and many current editors reapplied on more than one occasion. One drawback of this is that certain categories tend to be oversubscribed for work whilst others will have very few or no editors for months. ODP's editing model mirrors its categorization model - i.e. it is hierarchical. Most new editors will be given a fairly limited remit of subcategories but as they prove their editing abilities they can receive more editing duties. Most editors will broaden with a major category whilst other may wish to diversify to different categories. Mentoring is encouraged between experienced editors and novices as is inter-editor communication which is organised on internal forums.

As an editor's seniority and experience increases, they may be granted additional privileges reflecting their expertise and leadership within the editing community. The most common are 'editall' privileges, which allow an editor to access all categories in the directory. Obviously, an editor must be greatly trusted for this privilege to be granted. Other "promotions" include:

Meta privileges allow editors to review editor applications, set category features, and handle external and internal abuse reports.

Cateditall privileges are identical to editall, but only within a single category.

Catmod privileges are similar to meta, but only within a single category.

Catmv privileges allow editors to make changes to directory ontology by moving or renaming categories. Though not really editing content this is obviously can greatly alter the organization of the directory and its interaction with search engines.

The above information should be of importance and use to the amateur webmaster and website manager. Most commercially successful website will use paid up listings of some sort or another to ensure their site is well promoted. Sites with a low budget, if wanting a broad audience, will be using OPD predominantly over other directories and it is advisable to thoroughly research the process of OPD listing, and, if at all possible, develop a professional relationship with the Editors.

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