What Is A Doorway Page?

The internet and websites have unique structures and elements. One such component is doorway pages.

While doorway pages can be leveraged as black hat SEO, they also serve as important website structures that rank and direct traffic around the website.

This article looks at doorway pages and how they relate to SEO.

What is a Doorway Page?

A doorway page is a page on a website that doesn’t have content in its own right but takes the visitor to another web page that does. A doorway page is a way to improve search engine rankings by linking out to a more relevant or useful page for the visitor. They can be used as black hat SEO, but they are considered as a white hat SEO tactic.

A doorway can also be called an exit-intent link. They typically use the nofollow tag, so search engines don’t give them any credit for directing traffic—they’re just providing a shortcut. But they do take up valuable space on your website, and their relevance to visitors may vary greatly, so there’s still work involved in making sure that you’ve got the best gateway into another site.

Why are Doorway Pages Important?

Doorway pages are useful for two main reasons:

The first is that they allow you to link out to additional pages within your website that may be useful for visitors. For instance, you might have a ‘Contact Us’ page on your website and a link to another page with more detailed information. By also linking off of this main page to the rest of your site, search engines will consider these pages as part of your site, not just the one without content.

The second reason is that they can be a shortcut for visitors who have asked to be taken to a different section of your site. It’s good practice to implement a ‘Contact Us’ section on every page on your site as it can help boost traffic as well as direct visitors to the correct page. Any doorway pages you create should automatically use the nofollow element so that Google doesn’t penalize you for having ‘doorway pages’, or other similar pages.

Doorway Pages FAQ

Are Doorway Pages Good for SEO?

Yes and no. Doorway pages can improve search engine rankings by increasing the number of links pointing to your site. However, doorway pages can be seen as a shortcut by search engines and may even attract penalties unless all links used in the doorway page are strategic and relevant to the destination page.

This is why it’s important that you use nofollow on all of your indirect links, particularly on some of your ‘Contact Us’ pages.

How do you make a doorway page?

Doorway pages should have a consistent look and feel as the other pages on your site. They should also have a clear call-to-action to drive visitors quickly to their desired page. An example of a doorway page might be a ‘Contact Us’ page that allows users to send an email, request a callback or view your address and contact information.

For SEO, you can either link directly from the doorway page or create an internal link from another page to connect it back to the content you’re trying to promote.

What is an example of gateway/doorway page?

A common example would be a ‘Contact Us’ page, where you ask people to get in touch with your company and provide their details, but this page should not be copied directly from your website’s homepage, or you risk duplicate content and penalties.

A second example is a homepage that acts as a gateway offering to sign up for the company’s newsletter, email updates, and online resources.

What is considered keyword stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is where a webmaster places a specific word or phrase in your link text many times, to the point where it’s unnatural. Google’s algorithm will penalize any kind of manipulation for trying and increasing search engine rankings, so this is something you should avoid. It is a black hat SEO technique, along with cloaking and duplicate content.

Do doorway pages affect SEO?

Doorway pages do appear to have an impact on search engine rankings (SERPs). This may be because they help different pages to rank for specific words and phrases without the need for specific keyword stuffing. By having more pages on your website with relevant keywords, this also gives Google search more information on your business. As a result, doorway or gateway pages can help you to rank for terms that are relevant to your business.

Summary

Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of doorway pages.

Every time you land on Google, you’re arriving at a doorway page, which directs you to other parts of the website. You can also use doorway pages for your own site to direct traffic as you require.

Contact us or take a look at our SEO packages to see how we can help you boost your SEO rankings.