What
are doorway pages? |
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Doorway
pages are pages specially optimized for one search engine
and 1-3 keywords. They are also known as "gateway,"
"bridge," "entry," "jump" or
"supplemental" pages. Doorway pages stand on their
own, separate from the rest of a site. They usually feature
a logo, some text and a link that encourages visitors to enter
the site.
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No
magic bullet |
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Thanks
to innovations like themes, link popularity and click-tracking,
doorway pages are no longer the "magic bullet" they
once were. Search engines are getting better at looking at
the whole picture, not just one page.
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That's
not to say that all doorway pages are evil. Sophisticated
doorway pages (those that contain unique optimized text) are
still an excellent way to rank with the search engines. And
if your web site has dynamic or otherwise unspiderable content,
doorway pages may be the only solution.
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In
case of emergency |
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If
you're compelled to use doorway pages, never create more of
them than there are "real" pages on your web site.
Search engines understand that some pages can't be indexed
and will generally allow you to create one page pointing to
each page on your site. As long as your doorway pages present
unique and useful information, search engines won't ban them.
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Beware
false promises |
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Many
optimization services promise to create surefire doorway pages
as part of their service packages. If you're shopping for
such a service, look out for exaggerated or unreasonable claims
about the effectiveness of these pages. Beware of any company
offering to create "50 custom pages that will rank high
on all search engines" or making a similar promise. Such
claims are usually unsubstantiated.
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You
should also be skeptical of any service that promises to create
ten or more doorway pages without first finding out how many
pages your site has. Remember, search engines frown on an
excess of such pages. Any optimizer who doesn't know that
shouldn't be trusted.
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Avoid
spam |
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Learn
what tactics each search engine considers spam and refrain
from using them for those doorway pages. Refer to the search
engine statistics table for more information. Also, don't
forget to use unique content on all of your doorway pages.
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An
Overview |
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Doorway
Pages |
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- Can
help your site rank high for any keyword in any engine.
- Should
be optimized for one keyword, one engine.
- Should
be tailored to each engine's specifications.
- Should
never be used for directories.
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