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Man Still Better than Machine (For Some Things...)

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Even after decades of advancement in computer technology, there are some tasks that humans are just superior at doing.  One of those things is evaluating the quality of a website.  The most dominant search engines are all computer based today because of the vast pace at which content is published online.  However, this was not always the case.  Back in the 1990's when the Internet was just a small set of interconnected tubes [smile] a number of websites tried using people to review and list websites in a directory and use that directory to power search results.  The idea was that humans could do a better job of deciding if a website was good or not and should be included in search results.

In fact, that is still true today.  A human can do a much better job than Google of looking at a website and deciding if the content is good and it is a quality website.  Computerized search engines have won the search engine battle, because to review all of the websites on the Internet using people would be cost prohibitive and time consuming given the explosion of content on the web.  We prefer search engines that are always including new content that was just published and that search nearly all of the web.  But human reviewed directories still do a good job of only including good websites, even if they only include a small percentage of the overall Internet.  And because of this, the computerized search engines look at the human reviewed directories as a list of websites that are more trustworthy than other websites.

Getting your company listed in a human reviewed drectory is sort of like getting into a good college.  It doesn't mean you are smart, but it means a human looked at your application and thought you are smart.  It is also somewhat expensive and time consuming.  But, just like a good college on your resume sends a positive message to potential employers, getting listed in a human reviewed directory sends a positive message to the search engines.

Here are four of the better human reviewed directories, along with a bit of info on how to use them.

Four Directories That Should Include Your Company

  1. DMOZ - The name for DMOZ.org comes from directory.mozilla.org, the original name/location of the directory.  Because it is all volunteer run, it can take a long time (months, sometimes never) for them to act upon your request to get listed.  Only sites that have some history to them and decent content get listed.  Here are the instructions for suggesting your website for listing in DMOZ.
  2. Yahoo Directory - Like DMOZ, the Yahoo Directory started as a way to use humans to screen websites for quality and use those as part of search results.  The good news about Yahoo is that they act pretty fast on your submission (a week).  The bad news is that it costs you $299/year.  Here is information about listing your website in the Yahoo Directory.
  3. Business.com Directory - The Business.com directory is another human reviewed directory.  Like Yahoo, they will review your website quickly, but they also charge $199 for the first year and $149 annually after that.  Here is information about listing your website in the Business.com directory.
  4. ZoomInfo - ZoomInfo is a newer website than the other three.  It is also not really a completely human reviewed directory, but it does have a verification method to edit your company listing and it uses trustworthy sources (other than your own website) to build your company profile.  Also unlike the other three that really just have a link to your company, ZoomInfo has a full profile on your company, so that page sometimes shows up in search results.  The other great news is that it is free.  Just got to ZoomInfo, search for your company name, click on the result, and on the page that shows your company name and website, click the edit link.  You'll have to create an account and verify through email you work at the company.  If your company is not listed, they don't have a great way to get it listed, but you can use this form to make a request.

 

Posted by Mike Volpe on Wed, Dec 12, 2007 @ 10:43 AM

COMMENTS

DMOZ? Is that thing still up? I thought it imploded from all the strife between the mods. That place is now an irrelevant waste of space.

posted on Friday, December 21, 2007 at 7:37 PM by Chuck


Yeah, DMOZ is still up. It certainly does not get lots of traffic, but the links are still valued by search engines.

posted on Saturday, December 22, 2007 at 7:24 AM by


Yeah, DMOZ is still up.
But I submitted my site there three months ago, and they are still to add it. :(

posted on Saturday, February 09, 2008 at 11:32 PM by Soumik


Do you think yahoo & business.com offer value for money? If so at what point in a website/businesses development should they take the plunge and pay the fees? What if they don't want to risk the investment?

posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 4:22 PM by James


Sorry another question! Would just paying for the first year listings create the initial flow of traffic which would then be maintained organically in later years?

posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 4:25 PM by James


@James - I think for medium and larger businesses they provide value. Or for smaller businesses that want to become a lot bigger. The reason for the listings is not for traffic, it is as part of your overall internet presence. You will get surprisingly little traffic from these.
This is one of those things that fall under "if you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it". If I only had $5000 to spend on Internet marketing for a year, I would not buy those links. I would (1) buy Hubspot [of course] and read the methodology we have on how to be an expert at Internet marketing, (2) produce a lot of content on my website and blog powered by HubSpot, (3) spend a little bit of money on PPC ads using HubSpot powered landing pages, (4) engage in social media according to the HbuSpot methodology, and (5) create strong calls to action and landing pages on my own website.

posted on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 4:49 PM by


That's great article, i know that dmoz is the biggest directory and hope my site will get listed there soon, but i don't want to submit it unless it becomes a bit popular

posted on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 6:44 AM by hot celebrities pictures


I am glad that I am on DMOZ, but am not so sure if I want to pay for Yahoo and Business.com.

posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 10:50 AM by Kiwi Sun Photography


Once you submit your website on DMOZ, can you edit any changes?

posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 at 1:21 AM by sme


Yahoo Directory has been slow to repond - Zoominfo has been painfully slow to respond and so has DMOZ - I'd rather pay them a few bucks and have the thing work than have it be free and take a year to get listed. When you read the rhetoric on DMOZ - its pretty clear it got started by granola eaters. Great concept - full of idealism - likely needs to be changed drastically to succeed.

posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at 11:44 AM by Matt


I have not had any luck with Live.com. I summited my site www.specialzedfloorcare.com to Google, Yahoo and the other search engine and directories. All have index my pages except live.com. Only one page by them. I posted a comment similar to this on their blog and the answer I got was that I need to have more quality links. My question is, If Google and Yahoo index me with the same amount and type of links then why can't live.com index more than one page?

posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 10:33 PM by Willy


Darn it, I misspelled my site www.specializedfloorcare.com
thanks

posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 10:35 PM by Willy


We submitted our site 2 years ago and never heard anything... but it says not to resubmit.
My next tactic is to volunteer as an editor and make it clear I'd be planning on submitting our site along with others.

posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 12:54 AM by Dan


Oops. Forgot to mention that I was talking about DMOZ there.
Maybe I'm not cut out to be an editor.

posted on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 12:56 AM by Dan


There is intrinsic value to each of the directories listed here, regardless of cost. I agree with Mike that if you've limited budget, it may make sense to hold-off on Yahoo. But the time it takes to create an ideal listing according to Best Practices, and submit to the top dozen directories in your market is phenomenal long-term.
You page rank, overall credibility and just knowing you are adding one more proven element to your SEO strategy is where it's at.
We consider this essential. And the folks at HubSpot have definitely nailed SEO best practices.
best of success to you,
Mark Alan Effinger
www.RichContent.com

posted on Monday, April 07, 2008 at 9:06 PM by Mark Alan Effinger


Thanks for this well-written article full of helpful information. I'll be listing my site http://greatcollegeadvice.com right away!

posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 10:55 PM by Mark M


My understanding is that Yahoo Directory was easily worth the $299. HubSpot speaks highly of it and so do my associates in the SEO world. I'm going to use if for my site www.60SecondMarketer.com.
All the best,
Jamie Turner
Editor
www.60SecondMarketer.com

posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 6:07 PM by Jamie Turner


Hi Jamie,
The Yahoo! Directory is definitely worth it. If you visit a site like www.URLtrends.com, then do a little site analysis, you'l see how important Yahoo-based directory and backlinks are in the total weight of your link strategy.
It's only $299. Unless you have absolutely no budget, and no revenue model, it will pay for itself (directly) within the first 6-12 weeks after going live.
Best,
ME

posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 6:17 PM by Mark Alan Effinger


Thank You for the most excellent and easy to follow instructions. I appreciate the work that you have put into this site.

posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 10:05 PM by Dennis


Thank you HubSpot for an insightful, fact-based rundown of the value of these sights. Here at www.gThankYou.com we are a small, retail e-commerce operation and place high value on such great advice. Rick

posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 9:21 PM by Rick Kiley


so in about 6-12 weeks and you'll see a difference? wow, maybe it is worth it. I have a real estate website that gets like zero to no hits, (although it's only 30 days old). I'm trying to get it more exposure by having my associates click on it around the world. I heard that helps.

posted on Monday, May 05, 2008 at 1:02 PM by Frank Bailey


I posted a request to DMOZ 6 months ago but never heard back. The team thinks we will post www.halfpricebob.com to Yahoo directory next. by the way, if you havent checked out www.websitegrader.com i would highly reccoment it! its free!

posted on Monday, May 12, 2008 at 2:14 PM by Dean


I looked into submitting www.expedientmedstaff.com into the business.com directory and the annual fee has gone up to $299/yr... it is listed above at $199/yr...just posting the clarification.

posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 3:35 PM by Mike


In my opinion, DMOZ has many very old sites, most of them is anavailable, broken or not developed since 90-s, It is frustrating, so I don't use DMOZ.

posted on Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 8:38 PM by Asya


I am trying to get listed in DMOZ, and it has been a couple months, do you think that they won't list me? I don't think i will get listed in Yahoo Directory, or Business.com Directory, and ZoomInfo hasn't had there company submit form online for a while, anyone have an idea on when i will be able to submit to that?

posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 at 6:25 PM by MIBearings LLC


soy una mujer linda y ermosa cundo me buscan me encuentra

posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 4:47 PM by leidi


I do not know why everybody keep saying to submit your site to dmoz. I tried to do it several times over years for different sites, including my current www.olegshpak.com and never got any response from them. Then I tried to become an editor and every time got rejected without any meaningful reason. Meanwhile for all those years there was no new additons to categories that I am interested in. I say, dmoz looks like not functional.

posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 9:34 PM by Oleg Shpak


I was about to submit my interactive advertising company - http://influenzamedia.com to DMOZ but it seems to me that that website has gone stale.
Also, don't forget to list your business on YellowPages! The listing is free the last time I checked.

posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 12:06 PM by Peter Kao


I first submitted www.littlepixiegifts.com.au to DMOZ about 2 years ago. Then again recently. Still not listed. It is a waste of space to use for searches yourself, but the experts still say it's worth the effort, and it is free. I'll submit every six months and see if I eventually get in. I would love some sort of analysis of what effect a Yahoo Dir sub has on Google rankings and PR. Thx for a great article.

posted on Monday, June 09, 2008 at 6:04 AM by Darren Johnson


Submitted http://www.braemarequityrelease.co.uk to dmoz a year ago, still no result. Seems to be a waste of time

posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 2:15 PM by jon allen


DMOZ is a waste of time. I submitted http://www.cornerstonejewelrydesigns.com about 3 years ago with no luck. I'm going to give the Yahoo! Directory a shot to see if that helps.

posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 1:45 PM by Purity Rings


It was very helpful resource in my overall research about off site search engine optimization. Thanks a lot. By the way the annual price for Business.com directory went up from $199 to $299.. Good luck and all the best ;)

posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 8:01 PM by Andrei reounov


I have been working on getting my company www.loanspeed.com in the right directories for a long time now. According to my web developers and IT support team Yahoo Directories is the place to start. You need to think of the money you are losing waiting on the side lines for a free option to arise. If you pay it and you don't see any return on the investment then don't renew the next year. At least that is the mind set I am using for right now. I'm signing up right now so I will write again later and let you all know if its helping.

posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 9:38 PM by Jeffrey


A great article. Thanks for sharing!

posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 9:58 PM by 4all2all


DMOZ is hit and miss. NOONE ever uses it to look up anything anymore, but search engines particularly google still give you a boost for being in it. 
 
 
 
Funny thing is our company website http://www.adproducts.com.au has been submitted 2 or 3 times over the last couple years with never any luck, trying a couple different categories. In comparision a website I do for a friend http://www.nationalstockyards.com.au got listed on the first try after a few weeks in a very small regional category, but not in a major category. Must just be a case of different moderators.

posted on Sunday, July 06, 2008 at 9:02 AM by Matthew Cummins


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