Doorway Page
Doorway pages, also known as gateway or jump pages, are web pages created with the sole purpose of ranking high in search engine results for specific keywords.
These pages are designed to entice users to click through to a website’s main content, rather than providing valuable content in and of themselves.
Importance in SEO
Doorway pages are considered a black hat SEO technique and can lead to penalties from search engines. They violate search engine guidelines by attempting to manipulate search results and provide a poor user experience.
Websites using doorway pages may see a significant drop in organic search traffic if they are caught and penalized by search engines.
Example
A travel website creates a doorway page optimized for the keyword “cheap flights to Paris” that simply redirects users to the website’s booking page without providing any additional information or value.
Do
- Ensure that each page on your website provides unique and valuable content to users.
- Avoid creating multiple doorway pages targeting the same keyword variations.
- If you have doorway pages, consider consolidating them into a single, more comprehensive page or removing them entirely.
Don’t
- Use doorway pages to manipulate search engine rankings.
- Create doorway pages that do not add value to the user’s search experience.
- Over-optimize your website for specific keywords by creating numerous doorway pages.
- Risk penalties from search engines by engaging in doorway page tactics.