17 replies to this topic

[squibbs11]

What's everyone's take on Content Rich Doorway Pages for SEO purposes??

I have been assessing a site for a potential client and of course they would like to improve their SERP's, but don't want to dramatically adjust the design, content, or navigation of the site. For this reason, I have been thinking about using Content Rich Doorways, but am unsure how the SE's really view these. These pages would obviously be included in the Sitemap for spidering reasons, but would not be accessible from the main navigation.

I personally dont see a huge problem with them so long as they contain relevant content. However, at the same time, I can see the disadvantages of this method in regards to link building.

Was just wondering how the SE's view these and also if anyone has any experience using this method? Any input is much appreciated...


Cheers,

Rick

[Randy]

Doorway pages are doorway pages, regardless of whether someone slaps some fancy Content Rich moniker on them or not, Rick. And no the search engines do not like doorway pages.

Will they work? In the short term, maybe. For long tail keywords probably, but not for your more competitive terms. The less competitive terms you could target just as easily by working them into your real pages.

But you'd still be much better served to get your keywords worked into real pages of the site somehow. Those will pull traffic both in the short and long term.

[torka]

I have been assessing a site for a potential client and of course they would like to improve their SERP's, but don't want to dramatically adjust the design, content, or navigation of the site.

Personally, I wouldn't take them on as a client. And I would tell them exactly why, in no uncertain terms.

It's like going to an image consultant and telling them you want to look better, but you don't want to exercise, diet or change anything about your hair, your makeup or your clothing. Or hiring an interior decorator but telling them they can't make any changes to your paint colors, furniture arrangement, floor coverings, lighting or accessories.

This prospective client is tying both hands behind your back before you even get in to the fight.

Tell 'em to get a clue or get lost.

My

--Torka

[Jill]

What's everyone's take on Content Rich Doorway Pages for SEO purposes??

They are search engine spam and can get a website penalized or banned.

[Scottie]

How do you get these "content rich" pages to rank well if you don't link to them?

It's all kinda pointless without incoming links, and if they are good enough to link to, why not integrate them into your site?

(Unfortunately, "content rich" is a relative term. Some people would be better off calling them "keyword rich" without much content to speak of.)

[Julie Joyce]

I think that they can be successful, but they're too risky and can get your site banned. If you're going to the trouble of using content-rich doorway pages, why not simply put that effort into making the actual site content-rich?

[piskie]

Jill, is this still true:
"They are search engine spam and can get a website penalized or banned"
Or is some form of Filtering more likely? If it is true, does it apply to all of the big 3, if not all, which ones. I would have thought not being linked to by the 'Proper' pages would get them ignored anyway, regardless of inclusion in the Site Map.

Not doubting your truthfulnes, just merely need to know.

[Jill]

Jill, is this still true:
"They are search engine spam and can get a website penalized or banned"
Or is some form of Filtering more likely?

I don't know, Piskie, which is why I said "can" not "will."

My guess is that it could get your site penalized or banned in all search engines. That said, we do see plenty of instances of this sort of thing still showing up in the SERPs, so who knows. A hand review might be different than an algorithmic one.

And welcome Julie Joyce!

[Julie Joyce]

Thanks Jill! I am embarrassed at not being here earlier...

I definitely think that doorway pages can still rank well. However, the point of the hand review is the most important one because you're treading on thin ice with this method. I've used it, and quite successfully, in the past and it DID do wonders for the rankings BUT I also got a site banned after a competitor turned us in and we failed a hand review. I spent a few months getting the site all cleaned up and relisted, but they never enjoyed the same rankings that they'd had when we did doorway pages. Better and cleaner site afterwards, but the false high rankings/traffic from all those doorway pages set the client's expectations way too high and I ended up losing their trust.

So, don't trade something easy and quick when you risk seriously messing up. It never lasts.

[Jill]

Interesting, real-life story, Julie. Thanks for sharing it here!

[piskie]

Thanks for that JJ. Which SEs was that site excluded from ?

[Julie Joyce]

It was Google...and removing the doorway pages caused it to get reindexed in Google later, but it crushed the rankings in Yahoo.

[piskie]

JJ, did Yahoo come back at all ? Also what is the timespan (ish) of this sequence of events.
Hope you don't mind the interrogation, but that's how we learn.

[Julie Joyce]

I don't mind at all!! Yahoo never came back, but I blame that on the poor design of the site and the fact that the site owners would never let me do anything with on-page optimization. That was actually the reason for the doorway pages. Google results did come back about 3 months later but never to the extent that we'd seen them before. However, again I feel that was a result of poor on-site optimization. Overall, it was mostly the long-tail phrases that came back into the top 20 listings.

[Mitchelle Johnson]

Well, as i think how much relevancy in the content is there, but you should not use doorway page because if SE detects it, your website might be penalized it is unethical.......