Note:  I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while.  There are a lot of changes going on at SEM Basics (one’s that I think you’ll appreciate).  When things settle down I should be able to start posting more frequently.  In the meantime, here’s a blog post that I started a few weeks ago.  I just quickly “finished” it so that I could post it to the site.  You should find it helpful.

I’ve started to take a closer look at the list of directories that I mentioned in my previous post.  Here are my initial findings:

• SEO Kit list of Powerful Directories — it seems to me that this directory is out of date (for instance, included in their list is the Zeal directory, which has been defunct for a while).  As such, I have chosen to ignore this list.
• The Strongest Links — I’m not sure how useful this list is.  That is to say, I don’t see what information this list provides that I can’t find elsewhere!  The only information on this list which looks interesting is something called “saturation”.  However, as far as I can tell the site doesn’t explain what saturation means.  Therefore, given that there are other, quality list of directories out there, I’ve decided to leave this list off of the short list.
• List of Strongest Directories according to SEOMoz’s Page Strength tool — Very clever and, it seems, very useful.  The idea of this list is to check “the page strength of all the paid directories listed in Bob Mutch’s comprehensive listing and then ranked them in order of page strength.”  What’s more, he eventually added more paid directories.  This is a great resource as it can help prioritize the order and importance of paid directories.  This is certainly a resource that I will have to come back to and look at more in depth. 
• Quanta’s List of the Cream of the Top Free Web Directories — Quanta’s list seems more useful for their niche directories than for anything else.  While they claim to have a list of the “cream of the crop” directories, I didn’t find any information which explained how it is that they know this.  Therefore, I have no reason to assume anything about these directories one way or the other.  On the other hand, while I don’t know the quality of the niche directories, I do admire the quantity of niche directories listed.  At the same time, no particular niche is so large that the individual directories within it can’t be checked out on a need-to-know basis.  Given that for now I am only concentrating on general directories, Quanta doesn’t make the short list.  However, I’ve noted them for that time when I do look into lists of niche directories.
• AddUrl.nu’s list of free SEO friendly web directories - Here is a list on par with Info Vilesilencer’s list.  Indeed, Jim Westergren (the author of this list) has a partnership with Dan at Info Vilesilencer and they “help each with data collection to maintain their lists”.  As with Info Vilesiencer’s list, the directories on addurl are SEO friendly directories.  Also, I’ve checked out Jim’s website from time to time and if you take a look around you’ll notice that he knows a thing or two about SEO.  In other words, if Jim says that these directories are SEO friendly then I trust that they are SEO friendly.  What’s more, there are a HUGE number of directories on this list (almost 1000).  What’s more they are all free!  This list certainly makes the short list.
• Top Directories - It doesn’t seem to me that this list adds much of value to the other lists.  As such, it doesn’t make the short list.
• Best Web Directories - This site looks like it could have a lot of useful information.  In particular, I like their ranking criteria.  I’m keeping it on the short list until future evaluation (although I imagine that it will stay on the list).
• Paid Directory List - Doesn’t offer anything than than Aviva’s strongest directories list.  As such, it doesn’t make the short list.
• Directory Critic   - I’m not sure whether or not to include this list on the short list.  They claim to update the list on a daily basis; however, I did notice a discrepancy between the PR ranking of Ezine Articles according to the Google Toolbar and their PR ranking according to Directory Critic (according to the Google Toolbar they have a PR of 6, according to Directory Critic they have a PR of 4.  This makes me wonder about how well they maintain their list. 
• SEO Company’s list of web directories -  Looks interesting, but doesn’t seem to be up-to-date. 

Well, that’s about it for now.  Enjoy!

How To Get .edu and .gov Links

As we mentioned in our The Value of an .edu and .gov link Tutorial, .edu and .gov links seem to be highly valued incoming links (either because Google tends to favor them or because they naturally tend to be high quality incoming links).  As such, it is worth asking what one can do to attract such links.  Below are some useful strategies.

Getting .edu Links

1. Go after the high quality .edu links
   Not all .edu links are created the same.  For instance, links from a students homepage or an online newspaper aren’t considered as valuable as are links from a professor’s home page or (even better) the university library site, since it is usually easier to get links from students pages than it is from the university library web site. To quote Eric Wald: "give me 10 library links instead of 100 student page links any day."  This doesn’t mean that there is no value in getting links from students pages, just that your main focus should be on the higher quality .edu links. 
    
2. Offer your services
   If you have services that can benefit a school, offer them for free or at a discounted rate in exchange for a link.  Some possible ideas include offering website design or marketing services, discounts on gardening services, free financial advice, etc.  Alternatively, you could offer a special class, host a event, or give some guest lectures.  The key is to think creatively about what value you can offer the school.  If you do you will most likely find yourself with some quality .edu links.
    
3. Promote your services
   If you provide services that benefit the school and/or their students then see if you can get the school to link to your service.  For instance, if you run a local hotel/motel ask the school to link to your site as a possible source of lodging for people visiting the school from out of town. 
    
4. Review a schools online programs
   If a school offers any sort of online programming and/or services consider reviewing those programs or services and them asking for a link to your review.
    
5. Use your knowledge
   Here is a particularly clever idea (found on the SEOMoz.org blog): "Write an article about a Chapter or Topic in a popular college course, then notify professors about it…Don’t do this unless you have fantastic knowledge and writing ability on the topic - or hire a second prof to write the article for you. Profs are extra picky about what they link to.  Don’t bug them for a link unless you have best on the web calibre content."  Note, though, that "most of these links are now inside of course management systems such as BlackBoard and WebCT.  These do not get spidered and pass no juice".  The advantage of these links lies in the fact that they "deliver short bursts of traffic each semester that the course is taught".  And if that particular professors web page ranks well in the search engine you can actually expect a good deal of traffic from that link. 
    
6. Donate money
   If you or your business donate money to a particular school and they list your donation on your site ask if they would be willing to include your URL along with your name.
    
7. Participate in forums with the .edu extenstion
   Check to see if there is an .edu online forum related to your industry and, if so, participate in that forum.  Often times you will be able to add a "signature" to your posts which contains a link to your website.  Also, from time to time you may be able to link to your site in a post if your site provides relevant information to a conversation taking place on the forum.  A good way to find these forums is to do a search online.  Simply search for your keyword plus the phrase "forum site:.edu".  For instance, if you wanted to find .edu forums relating to art you would do the following search:  art forum site:.edu.  It doesn’t hurt, of course, to check the link popularity of the forum before investing time and effort into it. 
    
8. Participate in blogs with the .edu extension
   Like forums, blog participation is often times a good way to get incoming links.  Simply post relevant comments to the blog.  Often times this will automatically include a link to your site.  Furthermore, if you have some content that you feel relates to the blog post feel free to add a link to the appropriate page in the comments section.  Like .edu forums, you can find .edu blogs by searching online for your keyword plus the phrase "blog site:.edu".  For instance, to find art related blogs search for "art blog site:.edu".
    

Getting .gov Links

1. Provide Good Press
   Here is yet another clever idea from the SEOMoz Blog:  "Government agency heads like positive press as much as anyone…  When I have a positive message about a specific agency I always send a quick email to their webmaster and to the agency head. This email contains the URL of my review and a positive note about their work…  So, next time you see some nice info on a .gov site or in a .gov publication that matches the theme of
   your website, think about writing a review and letting them know that you appreciate their work."
    
2. Donate to Government sponsored charities
   Who knows, perhaps the government agency that sponsors the charity will link to you.
    
3. Participate in blogs and forums with the .gov extension
   Same idea as participating in the .edu blogs and forums, except that you search for .gov blogs and forums instead.  For instance, to find art related forums search "art forum site:.gov".  To find art related blogs search for "art blog site:.gov".

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The Value of an .edu and .gov link

Many people in the world of SEO believe that Google places more weight on links from governemt and/or educational websites.  These are usually sites with .gov or .edu extensions, but not necessarily so (for instance, only higher education institutions have the .edu sites, the K - 12 sites usually have .us extensions).  The theory is that Google believes that links from these sites are harder to come by and are more likely to exist become the webmaster found value in the site that they are linking to. 

While strict proof that Google favors these sites is difficult to come by, there is a certain logic to it.  For starters, not just anyone can acquire an .edu or .gov domain extension, they are reserved for governmental sites and accredited educational institutions.  This means that it is harder for someone to manipulate links from these domains.  It makes sense that Google would favor links from domains that are harder to manipulate.  After all, one of the biggest problems that Google (and the other search engines) have to deal with is people who attempt to manipulate the search engine results by creating artificial linking schemes.   Furthermore, SEOBook feels that the representation of .edu and .gov sites in Google’s search engine results is "disproportionate".  There are other arguments, although none of them seem conclusive (just suggestive). 

Others, however, argue that the advantage of receiving a link from an .edu and .gov sites lies in the fact that they tend to be older sites with a unique set of high quality incoming links.  People tend to trust these sites and as such they are able to attract large numbers of high quality incoming links.  Indeed, Google’s Matt Cutts claims (at the end of this video) that Google’s algorithm does not favor .edu or .gov links, but rather that these sites tend to be the types of sites that rank well (i.e., old sites with high quality inbound links).  Others, however, are skeptical.  After all, Google is known to be less than forthcoming with other important data concerning their algorithm (such as information concerning incoming links into a site).  Why then should we trust what they have to say about .edu or .gov links?   

At the end of the day, though, this debate doesn’t seem to be of great importance.  Whether or not .edu and .gov links are valuable because Google favors them or because they are high quality links in and of themselves, there seems to be value in receiving links from educational and/or governmental sites.  As Eric Wald states "these are the most trustworthy links you could ever hope to obtain, and will remain so long after the search engines have spotted and disregarded your other links that aren’t."

So, it seems unanimous that one way or another it is worthwhile Getting .edu and .gov links.  The only question is how to get them.  For that you can see our Getting .EDU .GOV Links Tutorial. 

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The question comes up again and again, what can one do to help get their site listed in DMOZ?  It is not uncommon to see answers such as "get lucky", "be patient", or even "just give it up".  It is true that getting your site listed in DMOZ can be rather difficult (as one would expect from a popular human edited directory), but don’t worry, there is hope.  There is more to luck than getting listed in DMOZ and there really isn’t any need to despair, all that is needed is some basic understanding of how DMOZ works and how you can take advantage of that fact to help get your site (or even multiple pages on your site) listed in DMOZ.  Here, then, are our 11 tips for getting your site listed in DMOZ:

1. Find the right category
   The importance of this step can’t be over-emphasized.  Submitting your site to the wrong category will either result in you having to wait needlessly long for a response (as your site gets transferred from one editor to another) or in your site being dropped altogether.  Therefore, take the time to search through DMOZ and find a category which matches the topic or theme of your site or web page.  If you have trouble finding a relevant category then find a few sites which are similar in theme to yours and search for them on DMOZ.  Whatever category they are listed in is most likely a relevant category for your site too.  [Note:  Some categories no longer accept new listings.  If you do not see a "Suggest URL" link at the top of the page then you will have to find a different category. Also, if a category has no editor then you may have to wait longer for your site to be reviewed and accepted.]
2. Look for categories with only a few listings 
   Often times, the category which best matches your site already lists a large number of sites. That fact along may make it difficult for your site to be included in this category, particularly if the content of your site is similar to that of other sites already listed in that category (see point #5 below). In such a situation you should consider looking for categories which list only a few sites. It may be that these categories are in need of more sites and your site would thus be a welcomed addition. Of course, you still have to make sure that the topic and content of yoru site are relevant to the category, but a very good match may be sufficient, even if it isn’t the best match. In short, we looking around, check out all the relevant categories that you can find and see which ones have only a few sites listed in them.
    
3. Create web pages with a category in mind
   There is absolutely no reason in the world why you can’t create content specifically designed for the needs of a particular category.  And, of course, you can do this over and over again for as many relevant categories as you can find. If done properly, you may find yourself with listings in more than one cateogry. For instance, the travel site World Travel Guide has 132 listings in 132 different categories.  Their Israeli travel guide page is listed (surprisingly enough) in the Israeli Travel Guides category while their Costa Rican travel page is listed in the Costa Rica travel category. Remember, though, that your focus should be on quality content, not quantity. The higher the quality of your content, the greater the likelihood of getting listed. 
    
4. Link to the appropriate page(s) on your homepage
   Officially, you are only suppose to submit your home page to DMOZ (although it is understood that this is not always the case). What, then, should you do if the content that best relates to the category you are submitting to is buried deep within your site? One option is to clearly and obviously describe and link to that content on your home page. That way an editor can easily find the content that relates to the category at hand. 
    
5. Offer unique content
   Think of a category from the perspective of a visitor to DMOZ.  They aren’t interested in seeing five sites which basically offer the same content (even if it is quality content).  Categories need variety and as such your site (or web page) should help provide that variety.  Therefore, before submitting your site to a particular category make sure that you are offering unique, quality content that isn’t being provided by the other sites already listed there.  And remember, you can always create that unique content if need be. 
    
6. Submit well-functioning, up-to-par websites
   Before submitting your site, make sure that there are no problems with it that could frustrate and/or annoy an editor.  If possible, make sure that it looks nice and professional (or at least decent) and there should be no broken links or any other problems with the functioning of the site.  And, it goes without saying, that you should not submit a site which is not yet finished or under construction.
7. Use good titles and descriptions
   As is usually the case with titles and descriptions, you have a few audiences to take into consideration when writing them.  Your first audience is the editor who is going to decide whether or not to include your site in the DMOZ directory.  As such, you don’t want to a title or description which deviates too far from the norm, even if you think it will speak to your potential customers.  DMOZ is often times strict about things such as these and you don’t want your site to be rejected or delayed just because you wrote too "interesting" a title or description.  Rather, look around at sites similar to your own and notice how they write their titles and description and try to follow their style. 
    
8. Fill out the submission form properly
   Remember your submission form is going to be read by a real, live human being who has the power to decide whether or not your site should be included on DMOZ.  As such, make sure that the form is properly filled out.  Make sure that there are no mistakes (spelling or otherwise) on the form and that all the required information is filled out and is factual. 
    
9. Don’t resubmit your site
   Mr. SEO writes:  "if you are thinking about resubmitting every week, month or the rumored 3 months, don’t.  I was told [by some editors] that if your site is in "queue" to be evaluated, resubmitting my cause your site to go to the back of the line. That means you’ll have to start from scratch again."  So submit your site and wait.  However, if you find that it is taking a looooooooooooong time and you are getting and anxious then you can always… 
    
10. Contact the editor
    If, after you have been extremely patient there is still no word on the status of your submission, you may want to consider a friendly email to the editor (you can find a link to the editors DMOZ page at the bottom of the category listing).  As one editor wrote in another piece on how to get into DMOZ: "My very strong small niche category gets 25+ submissions a day and I just don’t have time to look at 150+ sites a week.  I get to as many as I can but realize we are doing this for free.  That said a friendly well written email to the editor can go a long way!"  Note, also, that depending on the size of the category and the number of submissions, it could take anywhere from 2 weeks to a year or more to get listed in DMOZ. 
     
11. Become an editor
    It should come as no surprise that editors sometimes have an easier time getting their sites included in DMOZ than other people.  However, this is only true if you don’t take advantage of this position.  Don’t think that you can become an editor solely to get your site listed, there are other responsibilities that come along with this position that you will have to take seriously.  If you do decide to become an editor, it is best to wait a while before submitting your own site so as to avoid any suspicion of gaming the system.  Also, when you do submit your site be honest about the fact that you are an editor (whether you are submitting to your own category or someone elses).  And, of course, you should follow all the other advice mentioned above.

As you can see, getting into DMOZ isn’t necessarily as hard as it is often made out to be.  It’s just a matter of understanding how DMOZ works and how you can take advantage of that fact to get your site included in their directory.  Basically, if you can find a way to create content which improves the quality of DMOZ you should find yourself with a listing.  There are, of course, no guarantees, but it is certainly worth a shot (even if DMOZ is highly overrated).  After all, once you figure out how to get one link from DMOZ, you should be able to get two, three, or more links.  And at the end of the day, how bad can a bunch of quality links from DMOZ really be (overrated or not)? 

Sources:

• The Ultimate Guide to Getting Your Site into DMOZ (by SearchEngineNews.com — note, Search Engine News requires a paid subscription to read their articles) 
   
• 5 Basic Tips For DMOZ Listings (by Search Engine Journal) 
   
• Getting Listed in DMOZ. Not as easy as we’d like it to be. (by Joe Balestrino, Mr. SEO) 
   

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