How to Create Responsible Doorway Pages - Google Weighs In
Google has long spoken out against a Black Hat SEO practice called doorway pages. These pages are highly optimized for certain keywords and contain dozens or hundreds of links in order to get them ranked highly in the search engines. Google will remove doorway pages from the index because they are made for search engines and provide little in the way of useful resources for site visitors.
However, the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog has chimed in on the topic, clarifying that there is a responsible and acceptable way to use these kinds of pages. Pages of links to provide quick and easy navigation through useful content for the site visitors can actually be a helpful SEO practice.
The Google Bloggers refer to a Dutch practice known as startpages, which was started by a website called Startpagina.Nl. Startpages have become popular in the Dutch market, and are NOT against Google webmaster guidelines.
The Google Blog highlights three major differences between doorway pages and startpages:
1. The linked content is unique and useful to visitors
2. The pages provide useful navigation for visitors
3. The links are not primarily a paid service designed to boost Google rankings.
I think this is a great clarification for webmasters. If you have a lot of content that can be grouped by different navigational methods, this could be a really useful tool for you. Now you have Google's blessings to test out the idea, as long as you keep your users' needs firmly in mind.
This post was written by Cristina Stone, she's also a author on Pathetic Cosmetic gossip and beauty news and Creepo. Cristina is fast becoming an authority on cyst removal UK . Read her online journal here.