Get multiple DMOZ links and use Wordpress to do it

September 5, 2007 | 7 Responses

Are you having trouble finding just the right DMOZ category to submit your URL to? Do you think that your site would benefit from an extra listing in a different category on DMOZ? The benefits of listing this way include high PR backlinks, out-of-the-box branding, and ofcoarse, an increase in traffic.

But you already know why its good to be listed in DMOZ.

Times that by 2 or 4 or (if you can do it) even 4 and you are on the same track as this post.

The idea here is to gain more than just that single, high PageRank and trusted DMOZ link. Before we get started, there are a few things you should know.

• This is not a quick fix, Loophole, Scheme or Blackhat technique of any kind.
• This requires a TON of relevant content from a given blog and a lot of hard work
• You need to be able to edit your site’s theme (coding, not just images and colours)

Still with me? The basic idea is that a well structured blog, brimming with relevant and useful content, if it is able to categorize properly could be able to pass off its’ categories as mini-sites to directories like DMOZ. The mini-site is part of a larger network that makes up your website.

Many large scale sites that cover a number of topics, have their subfolders listed on DMOZ pages. It is a way to include websites that may not fit in so neatly in a major or sub-category.

Your categories must be well organized and, chances are, not all of them will be able to make it. I would recommend spending a few weeks building up two or three major categories (with sub categories or not) into strong groups of articles that could survive on their own blog.

i.e. If you have a website about Cats, and your categories are something like:

• Veterinarian Reviews
• Diet / Nutrition
• Famous Kitties
• Cats in the news

and say Veterinarian Reviews and Famous Kitties are packed with some of your best posts, you may be able to suggest http://mycatsite.com/veterinarian-reviews/ * as a URL in the appropriate category, and still maintain the link to your link in http://www.dmoz.org/Recreation/Pets/Cats/

*It is important that you edit your permalinks to read blog.com/category-name and not blog.com/categories/category-name/, which is the default.- Some background reading on permalink structuring:

change-wordpress-permalink wordpress-categories-in-permalink-structure-behavior

wordpress-permalink-customisation-caution-for-beginners

Another thing you must consider, is that each category template needs to be unique. Your main nav can still be there, but if al the sidebar links have more to do with the rest of the site than the category, chances are its not going to cut it. This could mean cutting Top comments, Recent and Most Popular posts right out of your sidebar. The best thing to do would be to keep those widgets on your Main Index Template, and arrange slightly different sidebars for each individual category.

A good place to start figuring out how to do this is Wordpress’ very own default theme. The default theme displays different sidebar messages depending on the page, type of archive, or category the visitor is in. Simply changing the markup on this sidebar function is a quick way to set up new and unique sidebars from within each topic.

Well thats all the blogging around here for today, Camp. Until next time. Oh and before I go, I just want to apologize to all the hard-working DMOZ editors getting a sudden slew of subdomain submissions from unlikely page-rank-happy bloggers who didn’t bother to read this whole article.

Whats in store for September

September 4, 2007 | 0 Responses

Its going to be a long month. I have some headlines mapped out for the days to come, but I can’t promise there wont be any lulls in posting. On the 23rd of this month I will be 23. That doesn’t really mean anything but its’ still in some way significant to me. I like when numbers match up like that. Like when I notice a clock says 11:11 or 12:34. Its neat for no reason.

You are entering a construction zone

Hard hats not required….
I’m working on the backend of the blog a lot lately, testing out plugins, setting them up to fit nicely. There may be some weirdness or inconsistencies with some of the features this month, but its’ all going to work out before we see October. Currently tweaking and working with Top Comments board and MyBlogLog avatars. After these are ironed out, I will move on to the overhaul of the response board and single post templates that I promised in August.

This month includes more ways for you to get free link love

Comments have already started to increase on day 3 of the top commentators install. The beauty it is that even if you don’t have enough comments to your name to knock the overall top bloggers on the list, you can still get your name and link on the list for each individual post.

I will also be running a special all month for the Needless Productions MyBlogLog community. Every five new members will be featured in a special post just for joining up. A little link love is always good for the Technorati rank and it never hurt your Google PageRank either. So get in on the community spirit here at Needless and join our group.

ALSO:

Watch for my next post, which will tell you how to get multiple DMOZ links. Its’ completely legit. Subscribe to my feed to be notified instantly when it is published.

Widgets, Advertising and direction update.

September 2, 2007 | 5 Responses

Sorry no MyBlogLog widgets here for now.

For the sake of this current design, I will not be including the MyBlogLog recent readers widget. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate my friends from that community, If fact, I have been making a point of going and checking out the blogs/profiles of everyone in my community lately and also trying my best to leave a comment or two; the issue is more with the widget code itself. It really lags the load time on a blog.

Fact is, most widgets, unless they come as a Wordpress plug-in (sometimes even then), slow your site down. The more remotely hosted widgets you have, the more sites your visitor has to connect to before they can finish loading the page.

Until I either get a new design or MyBlogLog gets a cleaner widget, I will be out of that loop. But that doesn’t stop me from handing out love to my community. The newest members are…

Gadgetastic

Florida weather info lady

GorillaSushi

TheHotIron

IndieMusicLounge

Thanks to all of you for joining the Needless Productions group. Sorry about the lack of a recent readers box. I’m trying to keep my layout junk to a minimum.

Speaking of junk.. how ’bout those ads?

As you will notice I have opted to include ads on my blog. I tried to keep it minimal in choosing only ads for products or services I think my readers will benefit from.

The first ad is ultimately selling ME. I’m a beneficial product or service. I write fair and objective reviews through sponsored posts. I am very careful to be fair and accurate in my findings. It is best to request a neutral review. However, if I truly believe something is good, I am capable of producing a positively toned review.

The second ad ties in with the first one. This ad is for PayPerPost. Its a good way for bloggers to make money. I use it to pay for hosting. Some people have alleged making a perfectly decent living off of being a PPP blogger. It is viable for advertisers because of the high volume of relevant links (with content) it generates. It is lucrative for bloggers who are serious enough to maintain a strong and constistent blog. The higher your blog ranks, the more you can get paid for your posts. There is no cost to start up, but your blog must meet certain standards before you qualify.

The third ad is a product that was passed along to me by my hosting company (that I love so much its’ sick). Website Magazine is a webmaster magazine available free online, so all their content is there for you. They also have a print version that you can subscribe to for free and receive the magazine at your door at no cost. Currently, the print version is only available in Canada and the United States. Other countries keep your fingers crossed and check out the online version in the meantime.

So that is the story behind my ads, behind the lack of MyBlogLog presence on this site and behind why I feel like getting up to take a walk after hours of steady typing.

In other news: I’ve added a top commentators board to the sidebar of this site. You will notice that at the time of this publishing my Uncle, and own flesh and blood is currently at the second last spot on the list with David Hopkins sitting in first and Darren trailing him in second place. Knock these players off their rockers and take the title for yourself. All you have to do is respond somewhere for a free link.

And on that note… View My Reader Community / Join My Reader Community

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