Creating Effective ODP Titles and Descriptions

Getting listed on an Open Directory Project or ODP is an advantage to your site. It is a great way to have better site visibility and higher site traffic. As much as possible, you have to maximize your site’s listing in ODP or dmoz.org. But how? Create relevant title, effective description and include relevant information on your listing.

How to Create Relevant Title in an ODP Listing

In submitting your site to ODP, you will be asked to create a site title. It is an important factor that will determine your maximum appearance on the ODP. Having a relevant title will actually boost your site’s rank position in ODP and search engines; however a bad title will be the reason for your site’s rejection in ODP.

In creating the title, take note that it should talk about the site itself not a description of it. At all times, aim to use the business or official name of the site. It should be something that will make visitors identify your site easily.

The use of your site’s official name is an obvious choice since it really speaks of the company’s identity. The business or website name will be informative; thus, it is good to be a site title. Keep in mind that being listed in ODP will take your site to a better position not only in dmoz.org but also in other sites and search engines that make use of ODP data – one of these is Google.

After having a relevant title, what will ODP ask from you? Right, site description. It is not just a simple description; it should be an effective one. A description that tells about your site – with keywords and keyphrases.

How To Create Effective Site Description in an ODP Listing

Writing the site description is not as easy as others may think of it. It requires skills and loads of strategies. It is actually harder than writing the title. There are some editors that change the description you have submitted. Why? One reason is that you may not have followed the guidelines set for the creation of ODP descriptions.

As much as possible, write your description properly for the first submission. You should live by the book of what the editors set as guidelines. Follow diligently and you won’t experience losing your keywords or keyphrases in your description.

As described by ODP, description should describe the content of the site concisely and accurately. It also emphasizes the characteristics of a good description:

Characteristics of a Good Description:

• Concise


• Informative


• Objective

Check Your Listing

After you have submitted your URL with the relevant title and effective description, wait a few days and always check whether your site is already included in the directory. You can do the checking through the ODP search box. If after a long time your site is not on the list yet, you can opt to submit again – well, only if you know that your site meets all the requirements set by ODP. Or if not, you can make a follow up with the editor through an email telling him the date of submission and some relevant data, like the title, URL, and description.

ODP listing will give you not only the benefit of dmoz but also of Google and other sites – as long as you have a valid URL, relevant title and effective description. Find out more on how to rank well on Google and other search engines, please see our Web Marketing Services.