One of the most annoying search results will now be blocked by Google. We can all cheer a collective “hooray”!

What are Doorway pages? In short, they are web spam. Designed to game the system, these pages rank high in search results, click baiting the searcher to an irrelevant page or site. Google described examples of doorway pages on their blog for clarity:

• Having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page
• Pages generated to funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site(s)
• Substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clearly defined, browseable hierarchy

Google has not officially announced a release date for the doorway page penalty algorithm update, but they did state they are “continually working on ways in which to minimize the impact of webspam on users”.

SEO Managers and/or Webmasters are advised to review the Google questionnaire to make sure your website does not qualify as a doorway page. Check them out below:

• Is the purpose to optimize for search engines and funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site, or are they an integral part of your site’s user experience?
• Are the pages intended to rank on generic terms yet the content presented on the page is very specific?
• Do the pages duplicate useful aggregations of items (locations, products, etc.) that already exist on the site for the purpose of capturing more search traffic?
• Are these pages made solely for drawing affiliate traffic and sending users along without creating unique value in content or functionality?
• Do these pages exist as an “island?” Are they difficult or impossible to navigate to from other parts of your site? Are links to such pages from other pages within the site or network of sites created just for search engines?

If you find yourself answering “yes” to one or more of these questions, take action before Google penalizes your website.

If you have any questions about doorway pages, Contact Position².