- By Admin
- March 31, 2015
- SEO Services
On the 16th of March, Google announced that they were now looking at penalising those who use doorway pages. Google’s current definition of what a doorway page is, leaves little wonder about the intention of this algorithm tweak. When compared to the previous definition, it’s quite clear that the doorway page is to be avoided at all costs.
To understand why this is important, we first need to look at what exactly a doorway page is, especially as it has been noted that many webmasters are confusing them for harmless landing pages. Doorway pages are, in their purest form, essentially webspam. Any page that has no unique content, nor no relevance to the search query entered, yet drives people to the website, is a doorway page. This includes:
- Any pages acting as a funnel to a particular page of a website directly from the SERP’s
- Inescapable “islands”, which are nearly impossible to navigate away from without hitting the return button
- Deliberate, duplicate content, including multiple reuse of keywords to drive traffic to the site
Another feature of doorway pages – and one that we have touched on recently – is the incessant multiplication of domain and subdomain URL’s, more prevalent in redirect pages. In essence, doorway pages actually harm your SERP standing, despite any minimal increase in the rankings that was gained. Below, we’ve listed three “ethical” ways to achieve a high ranking without suspect doorway manipulation.
Make Landing Pages Relevant to the Search Query
A high quality landing page, one with good quality and relevant content, will always be looked brightly upon by Google’s search algorithm. Some webmasters have made an honest mistake in thinking doorway pages and landing pages are the same, so make sure irrelevant content has been removed!
Ensure that there are Inbound & Outbound Links to Other Parts of your Site
A page that is not able to be navigated away from, despite being a possible oversight, will be treated as a doorway page. Always ensure that any and all pages within your domain, can be navigated in and out of easily and quickly. This will also ensure that the accessibility of your website is increased overall.
Specific Geographical Service Pages Only
A long standing tactic used to be creating several service area pages, relating either to the one area or to an area not related to the target area whatsoever. Be concise and specific with the areas that you are targeting, as you are more likely to gain more leads by doing this than setting up a doorway page anyway.
At IT Consulting Company, we practice in only the most effective and responsible SEO tactics, and with our help, you can avoid dubious SERP manipulation, and see an increase in your awareness and brand recognition in the digital world. Contact us today for a no obligation, free consultation on 1300 770 119.
Have you had any experience with doorway pages previously? Tell us your thoughts below, we’d love to hear from you!
