9 replies to this topic

[hugeaffiliates]

Hi,
I'm thinking of getting some paid help with seo and doorway pages..
What I would first like to do is explain my current thinking...

One of the thing i would like to know is how to choose from the huge numbers of SEO providers...

Other than past work/portfolio, how do i know if the SEO will be effective?

Since it will take quite some time for search engines actually list pages...and of course its hard to promise fixed results in view of the competition for top keywords,how would we know if the SEO provider is actually doing a good job and not just "sleeping on the job"?

Also, if doorway pages is the main strategy they use, then do they usually charge like $x per month or is it possible to pay like $x per keyword optimised page created etc?

Other than doorway pages, what are the types of things they would do?My site is currently run on php nuke so I'm thinking that customising each individual page in terms of keywords, meta tags etc may be a little difficult...(pls correct me if i'm wrong)

I guess I would feel more comfortable knowing there is some rough way to know that I'm actually getting value for money as opposed to just throwing money "doing SEO" with no idea what results (though not necessarily a specific ROI type measure) it brings...

This is my current thinking...

Anyone with appropriate SEO services to offer, pls let me know...


P.S..
My current thinking is that for search engine traffic and rankings,
the first thing we should do is generate lots of original content for the searcg engines...
Then for the added plus...we can work with things like meta tags, titles etc..
Then, all else being equal...for competitive fields, search engines will look at the number of links a page gets...
Does that mean that for beginers in not too competitive fields/keywords, we can probably get good rankings with content generation, then when things get tougher, consider page optimisation, and finally, for really competitive stuff, work on links?
I'm aware that ideally, if there is unlimited time and money resource, we should do all three but if my thinking is not wrong, would this be a way to prioritise our resources?

[Leann_Pass]

Hi! First of all I want to correct your wrong thinking on optimization. Doorway Pages are NOT the first thing OR the last thing you should do. Having Doorway Pages is considered SPAM by ALL the search engines.

For a quick SEO-099 start.....
1. Keyword Research to find out what keyword phrases are actually being searched on that are relevant to your product/service.
2. Create original content for each page, optimized with relevant keyword phrases.
3. Title tags optimized for each individual page
4. Meta tags optimized for each individual page -YES, you can do that with phpnuke.
5. Link building with other relevant sites.

As far as how to choose an SEO, well there are some pretty good guidelines laid out by Google http://www.google.co...asters/seo.html, mostly I hope you look at what Google says to BEWARE of. You will find creators of Doorway Pages listed as one of those, just as you will in the terms and conditions of most SE's.

You can also find some good info on this forum.


I hope this helps.

[Jill]

Welcome, Hugeaffiliates!

If you are looking for someone to create you some doorway pages, you're at the wrong forum. Try a different one and you may get some help spamming the engines.

Jill

[hugeaffiliates]

Hi Jill,
I'm definitely not trying to get myself in trouble by spamming the search engines...
"doorways" was just the concept i had gotten from browsing other sites and articles...i guess thats why i wanted to be sure by asking around first...

Leann,thanks for the nice summary!
Can i check how SEOs will actually "create" content as listed in point 2?
I am off course already creating content for my site...ie Real Content for my visiotrs...i guess that's one reason why i'm a little confused...do SEO's just like write related stuff?doesn't that equate to creating doorways?unless they write articles and posts in forums etc...(I thought that's my job?)
5)With link building, how would a SEO actually do that?I would have thought it would be up to me to make my site of value and "link worthy", then perhaps request for links...if others don't automatically do so...What would a SEO contribute in this area?

[powerofeyes]

Hello Hugeaffliliates,
There are 2 different definitions to doorway pages. first one the page which bears some important optimized contents and ranks high in search engines but is properly connected to the HOMEPAGE and all the other pages in your site is one type of doorway page. Some times Homepage of your site is also termed as a doorway page. For example some SEOs will create pages that are unique to your keywords for example if you are optimizing for the keyword "original widgets" , they might create some page like original_widgets.htm and this page bears important optimized content and will be promptly connected to the HOMEPAGE and the other pages of your site. This one also gives some useful information to your visitors and will rank high in search engines in properly optimized. This is one type of doorway page.
Second thing is the spam technique where a standalone page is created just for search engines. This page wont be connected from the homepage or other pages of the site. It just bears keyword rich contents and bears some links to the homepage and other pages of the site and sometimes contain hidden links of the SEO company.
So this is what you must have understood from your readings and articles from other sites. But basically the word doorway was highly misused by Unethical SEOs and spammers. That is the reason no one in ethical SEO industry like to hear that word.

Can i check how SEOs will actually "create" content as listed in point 2?

There are professional SEO copywriters in this forum like dragonlady, copywriter and ofcourse Jill. They can help you on writing contents for your site.

With link building, how would a SEO actually do that?I would have thought it would be up to me to make my site of value and "link worthy", then perhaps request for links...if others don't automatically do so...What would a SEO contribute in this area?

Usually SEOs have some contacts with other site owners who are willing to provide links to you. And also many SEOs companies are known to place your link in many of their high PAGERANK client sites to bring a quick ranking.
But it will be safe if you do the link building campaign yourself, first target all the major directories and then search sites which are relevant to your category in google directory or dmoz.org and you can request a link or link exchange from them,
thanks,
VIJAY.

[Jill]

H.A., bottom line...

Stay away from ANY and ALL SEO firms that say they use doorway pages, gateway pages, DIPS, proprietary pages, or anything else that sounds remotely like one of those things.

PowerOfEyes, there is one official definition of doorway pages around these parts, and I'll repeat it here for those who may have missed it:

Doorway pages (or any of the other millions of names for them) are pages that are created solely for the purpose of ranking highly in the search engines. They provide little-to-no value to the user and are generally not meant to be seen, or are meant to be quickly clicked away to a different page of a site.

One should always work on their own existing pages to make them the best they can be for the search engines and the users if one wants long-term WWW success.

Oh, and no, I'm not an SEO copywriter. I'm just a plain old SEO.

Jill

[powerofeyes]

Hello Jill,

Doorway pages (or any of the other millions of names for them) are pages that are created solely for the purpose of ranking highly in the search engines. They provide little-to-no value to the user and are generally not meant to be seen, or are meant to be quickly clicked away to a different page of a site.

I dont think there is any definition to the word doorway like this. Some SEOs are the ones who made this word look so bad, but the true word doorway doesnt bear this meaning.
Here is the three definitions of doorway from the dictonary.
1.

The passage of a door; entrance way into a house or a room

2.

the space in a wall through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close

3.

The entranceway to a room, building, or passage

From this you can even define your homepage as a doorway page to your site. Just because some SEOs use this word to describe the technique they use in their spam doesnt mean you can define doorway that way. One thing I can accept that according to you doorway page means orphaned pages, DIPS but the true meaning is different.
thanks,
VIJAY.

[Jill]

Yes, Vijay, that is correct. However, for our purposes on this forum, I created the definition (and others like it) so that we are all able to talk about the same thing.

So that's the official forum definition, take it or leave it!

The beauty of being the boss-man.

Jill

[powerofeyes]

Hello Jill,

So that's the official forum definition

ill certainly accept this but you never specified this in your previous post. thanks for making it clear,
VIJAY.

[Leann_Pass]

Leann,thanks for the nice summary!
Can i check how SEOs will actually "create" content as listed in point 2?
I am off course already creating content for my site...ie Real Content for my visiotrs...i guess that's one reason why i'm a little confused...do SEO's just like write related stuff?

Now, how your content is provided is up to you and your SEO. Some clients already have content and that content can be edited to provide optimization.

Some do not have content at all or have content that is so off the mark that it cannot be reasonably optimized. In this case, it also depends on the SEO you are working with. Some will do the copywriting for you, based on your products/services/info. Some will subcontract a Copywriter to write the copy. Some will point you in the direction of a copywriter, some will leave it to you to handle. As you can see there are various situations, depending on your needs and the SEO you work with.

doesn't that equate to creating doorways?unless they write articles and posts in forums etc...(I thought that's my job?)

NO. Copywriting is not the same thing as creating doorway pages. Not even close. A copywriter or a seo content writer should provide relevant content, with your help, and place that content in the pages of your site for the viewer and the SE. I'm not sure what you mean by "unless they write articles and posts in forums. That is not what any SEO does to optimize your site.

5)With link building, how would a SEO actually do that?I would have thought it would be up to me to make my site of value and "link worthy", then perhaps request for links...if others don't automatically do so...What would a SEO contribute in this area?

You are correct that your site should be link worthy! However, to get started it is a good idea to get your site listed in product and service directories at the very least to #1 increase visibility #2 build backlinks.
There are various ways webmasters and SEO's go about link building.

As far as what a SEO would contribute in this area- Again, it depends on the SEO you work with and the agreement you have with them. Some SEO's will automatically include link building to some extent, ususally limited, as part of the initial SEO work. Some will handle link building as a separate service, considered and paid for separately. Some SEO's will not do your link building but will create your keyword rich text links and make suggestions for how to go about the linking process.

ANY good SEO should provide, at the very least, content editing for optimization, title tagging and meta tagging.....after they have performed keyword research.