DMOZ: Open Directory Project

Open Directory Project

In Other Languages

Title Examples

The following are examples of poorly constructed titles that do not follow the ODP editorial guidelines. Examples include reasons why they are poor, and are followed by examples of correctly constructed titles.

Note: there may be some categories in the ODP that have special guidelines for site titles in order to make those specific categories more intuitive for users. These examples exist only to help understand the directory's general editorial guidelines.

Bad Title:

Web Cleaners and web cleaning key to Process Control Improvements - Teknek Coverting - Web cleaning equipment for the coating, laminating, printing, and converting industries.

This is a company's web site. The title field should contain only the company's name.
The title contains descriptive information. Titles should not contain descriptive information about the site (or in this case, the company). Descriptive information goes in the description field.

Good Title:

Teknek - Web cleaning equipment for the coating, laminating, printing, and converting industries.

Bad Title:

www.rescience.com - Manufacturer of distillation systems used to recycle and re-use solvents used by the printing industry.

The title should never be the URL. The URL goes in the URL field

Good Title:

Recycling Sciences, Inc. - Manufacturer of distillation systems used to recycle and re-use solvents used by the printing industry.

Bad Title:

Why Grassfed is Best! - The advantages of natural grass feeding of farm animals. Health benefits, news, and links to suppliers.

Title is not the title of the site. It's complete marketing hype.

Good Title:

Eat Wild - The advantages of natural grass feeding of farm animals. Health benefits, news, and links to suppliers.

Bad Title:

Electric Vehicles-Aircraft, Hybrid, Fuel Cell, Hydrogen, Compressed Air, Solar, Renewables, Reduce Air-Pollution, Increase Fuel Economy - Learn all about renewable energy, alternative fuel vehicles, and sustainable living.

This title is padded with a meaningless string of keywords. This is keyword spam, and is strictly forbidden.

Good Title:

SunWater - Learn all about renewable energy, alternative fuel vehicles, and sustainable living.

Bad Title:

Employment discrimination against African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans - Understanding what employment discrimination is, and what you can do about it.

Incorrect capitalization in the title.

Good Title:

Employment Discrimination Against African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans - Understanding what employment discrimination is, and what you can do about it.

Bad Title:

Antique hardware and more - Sells reproduction antique hardware, restoration and refinishing supplies.

Incorrect capitalization in the title.
Site title use "&" not "and" - while the guidelines for descriptions advise not to use the "&" in descriptions, using "&" is OK only if it appears this way on the site. If "and" is used on the site, don't replace it with "&".

Good Title:

Antique Hardware & More - Sells reproduction antique hardware, restoration and refinishing supplies.

Bad Title:

HOTSHOTS Photography - Wedding and special events photography.

Company name in all caps. This is not an acronym.

Good Title:

Hotshots Photography - Wedding and special events photography.

Bad Title:

BOOMERS! Where Fun Rules! - Operates a number of amusement and water parks throughout the United States. Offers news, employment opportunities section, and information on the Fun Club.

Inappropriate use of emphatic punctuation (the exclamation points).
Use of all caps for a non-acronym.
Title is not how it appears on the site.

Good Title:

Boomers - Operates a number of amusement and water parks throughout the United States. Offers news, employment opportunities section, and information on the Fun Club.

Bad Title:

FDIC - Information on deposit insurance, bank data, the banking system, consumer affairs, new topics and associated official information. Provides insured bank deposits and ensures that member banks meet required sound banking practices.

Acronym only used as title. While the category in which this site is listed may make the acronym's meaning obvious, it's more intuitive for the general user if you include the full form of the name followed by the acronym in ( ).

Good Title:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - Information on deposit insurance, bank data, the banking system, consumer affairs, new topics and associated official information. FDIC provides insured bank deposits and ensures that member banks meet required sound banking practices.

Bad Title:

Welcome to My Home - Simon Trpin, medical doctor, and his travels through Europe and Australia.

This isn't the title of the site.
The actual title is "Welcome to Simon Trpin's Web Page" which isn't good either.

Good Title:

Simon Trpin - Medical doctor presents his travels through Europe and Australia.

Note the change in description. Since the name was used in the title, it would be repetitive to include it in the description.

Bad Title:

Welcome to AspireSpace - The British Amateur Space / Rocket Programme - Amateur rocketry organisation in the UK, specialising in the design and construction of small rocket vehicles and associated hardware. Includes news and information on rocket vehicles and engines.

Site is for an organization. "Welcome to" is superfluous information.
The second part of the title is descriptive information. Again, descriptive information belongs in the description field, not the title.

Good Title:

AspireSpace - Amateur rocketry organisation in the UK, specialising in the design and construction of small rocket vehicles and associated hardware. Includes news and information on rocket vehicles and engines.

Note: Remember that if phrases like "Welcome to" or "Website" are an integral component of the title's official name of the title, don't remove them. It's very important to use common sense when applying this guideline.

Welcome to the Doll House - Includes cast and crew, plot summary, director and production notes.

"Welcome to the Doll House" is the name of the movie, so it would be incorrect to remove "Welcome to" from the title.

Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a Site - Open Directory Project - Become an Editor