How important is dmoz?

[cecileapp]

I am just wondering. I don't know much about it. One of our competitor is ranking well and is the only one in our niche regitered with Dmoz. It has a clean back link profile, with all natural links, no exact anchor problems, but not that many links. Website is quite thin (ecommerce) but seems to be liked by google since the recent updates.

Do we know if dmoz i one of the reason they rank well?

If I needed to merge their site with mine, should I take it into consideration? Or is outdated and does not matter that much anymore?

Both page rank is 2, my link profile is not as good.

[KaneJamison]

The best approach to DMOZ (to keep your sanity) is to treat it the same way you would any other link that a competitor has: it's trustworthy and valuable, but not a requirement. If you can get a link from a page with similar PA & DA, I would consider that a rough equivalent for the DMOZ link. Links from DMOZ supposedly do not get a special "bump", it just happens to be a trustworthy and quality link.

Here's a couple of Matt Cutts videos that talk about DMOZ - infer what you will from them:

• Why is Google Still Taking Notice of DMOZ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rej2TkVEehg
• What Role Does DMOZ Play In Rankings? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCY5pbAuYpk

[GoodAtMarketing]

Hi Cecil,

DMOZ as Kane mentions is trustworthy and valuble. Many directories scrape it, earning more directory links. I've read a great article on getting accepted into DMOZ here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/want-to-get-listed-in-dmoz-become-an-editor

Hope this helps.