Website Optimization: Doorway Pages

Doorway Pages are HTML documents that have only one aim: to rank higher with search engines for one or more keywords and thus to attract more visitors to your website.

Normally, Doorway Pages consists of lots of text and only few design elements. The text of Doorway Pages is not meant to inform visitors, but it is directed to search engines. It is meant to cheat search engines and to pretend that a document (it is to say the Doorway Page) is especially relevant for specific keywords.

That is why the text of a Doorway Page often consists of incoherent text or unnecessary word repetitions of specific terms.

Therefore, Doorway Pages are never linked to from a website. Only the Doorway Page links to the website. You can reach a website via Doorway Pages, but if you are on a website, there is no link back to the Doorway Page.

Why do people use Doorway Pages?

Many websites use flash, JavaScript and graphics. This is visible and understandable for visitors, but not for search engines. As search engines cannot interpret design elements, websites that use these elements usually get a low position at search engines.

To solve this problem, try one of the following methods:

• The first method is to design websites according to the needs of search engines. You can do so by removing design elements like frames, flach etc. and by adding elements that can be indexed by search engines. Therefore you need to include more text and usually you need to completly redesign your website. This option, however, is out of question for most of the website operators for reasons of time and money -not to mention the visual aspect.
  
• The second method is the so-called cloaking method. This method is not only complicated and elaborate, but can also lead to much bigger problems with search engines than Doorway Pages.
  
• The third methode is to use Doorway Pages. This way the original website is kept and simply documents are added that can be "understood" by search engines. This is the easiest and quickest method and therefore it is especially popular with website operators.

Why Doorway Pages cause problems!

As the creation of Doorway Pages is very simple, they are used by many website operators.

However, search engines have quickly realized that they are spammed by Doorway Pages. This leads to search results that often only consist of Doorway Pages. These search results, however, reduce the value of search engines and are of no interest for search engines users. Therefore, search engines run the risk to lose visitors, if they do not pay attention to the quality of their search results.

This is the reason why search engines took steps against Doorway Pages. For example, AltaVista, removed Doorway Pages from its index, and black-listed some website that had used Doorway Pages. Other search engines did the same or will do the same. That is why you can act on the assumption that Doorway Pages involve more risks than advantages.

What is the solution?

The solution might be: Either you play it safe and do without Doorway Pages or you use these and run the risk that one day your websites is completly removed from the search engines. The latter might be an option if there is not much to lose. However, if you have an established website or product, or if your company is well-known, we do not consider this as an option.

Instead you should concentrate on optimizing your websites so that documents having a real content are optimized for specific keywords. You should completly do without the sword of Damocles Doorway Pages.

Of course, it is not one of the easiest tasks to optimize a document for search engines and to include a reasonable content for the visitors on the other hand. However it is the safer method.

If you do so and you realize that you cannot integrate your keywords into the existing documents, create more documents that are more specialized.

While a Doorway Page is only created for attracting visitors to search engines, a well-designed website having an interesting content and being optimized for search engines can achieve more success.

For example, one of the advantages is that such a document has better chances to get links from other websites. This, however, improves the link popularity of your website, which is important for the recent algorithms of search engines.