What Are Doorway Pages in SEO?

Do you have multiple websites with slight URL variations or have domain names or pages targeting specific locations with redundant content?

Well, while these questions make you wonder, let me tell you what Doorway Page is.

Doorway pages contain plain HTML code and text stuffed with keywords. Such pages are not visible and mostly can’t be accessed on the website by users. Such pages are automatically redirected to the landing page with actual content.

Doorway pages, also called gateway pages, act as an entry point for the users and navigate users to intermediate and low-value pages that later take the user to the final destination.

A decade ago, publishers like The New York Times reported on corporations that indulged in shady tricks such as gateway pages and CTR manipulation for clicks. Corporations used them to manipulate search rankings. 

So, while some are still considering it a magic trick, creating gateway pages to achieve top rankings is not a good idea. It could be far more likely to take rankings down than up.

Well, you may say, “how are you so sure about this, Dhruv?” Further in this article, you will read what happened in the case of BMW for creating gateway pages.

Before that, we need to know if you have already created such pages. If ‘yes,’ then here are some strong reasons why to remove gateway pages.

Two Reasons Why You Should Get Rid of Doorway Pages

Out of all your experiments with SEO strategies, I assure you that doorway pages don’t work for SEO today. And here’s why:

1. It Spoils the User Experience

Doorway page results confuse the user. They are redundant and lack precise page result for a search query. Even Google’s algorithm values user experience, and it’s also a significant ranking factor.

But how do gateway pages spoil a user’s experience? Well, you tell me one thing, why does Google update its algorithm often? 

We all know that the aim is to show the best, highest-quality, and most relevant results for a user’s search query, right?

However, gateway pages do not fit the bill because they do not provide information immediately. Instead, they direct users through unnecessary link chains, such as the one depicted below:

Doorway page > Product page > Category page 

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The gateway page is unnecessary, and it would disappoint you if you did use it. 

2. There is a High Possibility of Getting Penalized by Google

Considering user experience as a significant factor–Google rolled out an algorithm update that penalized sites using gateway pages back in 2015.

Google published that over time, Google officials witnessed sites trying to maximize their ‘search footprint’ without adding precise, unique value. 

To improve the quality of search results for their users, Google launched a ranking adjustment to address these types of pages better. Sites that used doorway campaigns might see an expansive impact from this change.

So for anyone visiting your web portal, you’ll need to dismiss gateway pages to witness growth in your SEO performance.

Procedure For Finding Doorway Pages on Your Site 

For more clarity, please answer the questions below.

1. Have you created several location-specific pages stuffed with keywords and redundant content to offer a specific product or service?
   
   
2. Do you have redundant and unrelated information on location-specific pages which doesn’t align with the user’s search query?
   
   
3. Do these redundant content pages link to the main page, and have you invested in paid links for these pages with specific anchor texts?

Well, if your answer is a ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, clearly, it is a case of anchor text spam, and all these pages will be flagged as gateway pages by Google.

Using ‘location-specific’ pages without having a business presence to funnel visitors through the SERPs is disapproved by Google, and it considers it misleading and spammy.

Initially, you may trick the human readers, and it would show up, and they would land on your page. However, it will definitely lead to an increased bounce rate in the long run. 

Sometimes, even the bots get tricked into showing these pages in the search results. Still, they will eventually figure out what you are doing, and you may even face an algorithmic penalty for creating gateway pages.

You can easily discover gateway pages by looking at your Google Search Console data.

Search and filter all the keywords ranking in 1 to 50th position in the SERPs as these are the priority ones since they’re the most visible on Google.

Now, analyze the pages that those keywords are ranking for. Remember, the purpose here is to make sure that every page that’s ranking is the apt landing page for the user’s search query.

If it’s not the relevant page: It’s a gateway page. One must get rid of it.

Moreover, if you think that your site doesn’t have any gateway pages, you must read further. For example, archive, tag, and author pages all can be indexed and ranked in the SERPs. As these pages don’t show information instantly, they function like gateway pages. 

As showcased below, all the indexed “tag” pages are doorway pages.

But how to get rid of doorway pages? Let us learn in the next paragraph. 

How to Remove Doorway Pages?

If you’re stressed about being unaware of the gateway pages on your site, there’s nothing to worry about. From here, your site will only improve.

Now I will tell you how to find and remove these pages and also make sure to prevent them from being created again.

Fortunately, if you discovered any gateway pages in the previous step, removing them is easy.

To get rid of it, we can use a tool like Redirection(only if you’re on WordPress). Below is an image of the Redirection feature in WordPress.

Source

As shown in the picture above, the Source URL is a gateway page example, and Target URL is where we are navigating the user to a relevant page. 

Then, we can delete the original doorway page.

This makes sure that anyone trying to visit the Source URL, aka the gateway page, will go through the link redirection chain to the Target URL, aka the correct page. This solves two problems, one is the doorway pages, and another is preventing a 404 error page.

In case of pages archive and tag pages that you don’t wish to delete, then you can put them in a robots.txt file, signaling the search engines not to crawl and index.

To prevent the creation of doorway pages in the future, before creating any page simply ask yourself, “Is this a landing page that would provide the user an apt solution for the query it’s optimized for?”

You mustn’t publish until your answer is a “Yes”!

Protect your site today by determining doorway pages and making sure users don’t land on them.

Remember to analyze the content on each page. Make sure it offers value and includes similar keywords on a single page but not the same, considering the LSI keywords algorithm. And user experience must be the ultimate goal.

We redirected and removed the gateway pages, but what about the traffic? How will we make up for it? I have covered it in the next section.

3 Ways to Recover Lost Traffic After Removal of Doorway Pages 

1. Invest in Creating Quality Content

As cliché as it may sound, “Content is, was, and always will be the King.” So ensure content quality while creating. 

Make sure that the content is unplagiarized on your website. And please work on duplicate content issues because if you won’t, then Google’s crawler will.

It is universally known that none of the search engines rank plagiarized content and penalize, for example, Google’s duplicate content penalty.

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2. Work on Technical SEO

The faster the page loads, the better the user experience. So, speed up your website, and it is possible by using a minimalistic design and reliable web hosting. 

Also, ensure a responsive design that works for all screens, especially mobile, since Google rolled out its ‘mobile-first’ algorithm.

You may also fix your HTTP status codes for a good site health score.

3. Focus on Running a PPC Campaign

As the saying goes that one shouldn’t put all eggs in one basket. Similarly, all your efforts shouldn’t depend on one strategy. 

Multiple strategies may include running a PPC Campaign to generate paid traffic by bidding on low-competition keywords. And analyze if that helps in improving sales of products or services. You can easily identify such keywords with tools like Semrush.

Brands & Their Experiences After Creating Doorway Pages 

1. BMW’s Doorway Pages

BMW understood the value of achieving top rankings on Google, but the Bavarian car manufacturer consulted immoral advisors and implemented a wrong strategy. 

In their quest to chase traffic, BMW shifted their focus to rankings instead of creating insightful content for the high-intent keywords they were chasing. 

They keyword-stuffed pages and forcefully tried to achieve a position in the search engine with gateway pages. It even worked for BMW for a while, as they got the top ranking for the search query “used car.” 

However, just like the present, Google used to update and change the evaluation process for websites constantly.

Google uses an algorithm to determine the black hat strategy practitioners and finds the best content for users.

Then BMW got caught and was penalized by Google with a zero score from Google. This made them disappear from the SERPs. The BBC referred to the punishment they received as the Google ‘death penalty.’

So, make sure you follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Use digital marketing & SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to ensure these rules are followed. It will help you prevent Google penalties or zero ranking. 

And please do not accept recommendations if your consultant suggests a hacky ‘quick fix’ for getting the top position in the SERP, which is either misleading users or involves buying backlinks. 

2. Hertz Doorway Page

Source

Some experts at Ranking Coach consider this a bad example of doorway pages.

Here different pages do make sense in the case of Hertz because they have other functions. 

A user from London looking for a van in London would be served with the city-specific page, and it won’t conflict with the page focused on Manchester. The person from London has no use of the Manchester-focused page.

The best way to implement such a location-specific strategy is to add distinct content and format for each location-specific page.

This will also help to prevent the possibility of falling into the category of “doorway pages” & “content duplication” issues.

Moreover, an alternative solution to this could be one page per country with filters of different cities. In this case, local SEO could be affected, but content duplication issues would get resolved.

3. TakeLessons

TakeLessons, acquired by Microsoft in 2021, is an online education provider. At TakeLessons, it is easy for students to pay for lessons and manage their lesson schedules online through their student accounts.

Below is an example of a TakeLessons attempt on leveraging gateway pages. 

Here we can clearly see that both pages contain similar content except for city names, one page is for New York, and the other page is for Brooklyn. And they have covered several other cities to attract traffic from people looking for services in their area or city.

TakeLessons are selling its digital assets from locations where its teaching centers are not actually located but to ensure they show up for queries from a New York person like ‘Piano lessons near me.’ 

That’s misleading unless the searcher is delighted to learn that the lessons can be taken online.

However, when it comes to utilizing doorway pages, Superprof proves to be the savviest. As seen in the image below, Sandra teaches both online and in close proximity to her home in New York, which is 10 KM away.

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4. Kayak

Millions of travelers are using KAYAK‘s online travel information and insights to help them make important decisions.

To provide travelers with the knowledge they need to choose the best flights, accommodations, rental cars, and vacation packages, KAYAK searches hundreds of travel websites.

In 2013, KAYAK’s got acquired by Booking Holdings. So, let’s explore how KAYAK used this forbidden SEO strategy.

Similar to the Take Lessons doorway page example, Kayak also tried to target areas using location-specific pages that are keyword-stuffed like the ones listed below:

Massachusetts car rentals

New York car rentals

Source

Conclusion

Doorway pages are created to increase traffic but don’t add value to the user who lands on them. It seems deceptive to the user and the search engine crawlers landing on location-specific and similar doorway pages. 

Now we know that even big brands couldn’t escape the penalty for trying black hat techniques. So, please keep away from it.

Follow Google webmaster guidelines and provide value—that’s all you need to do. Improve your website’s SEO making it easy for the crawler, so it signals that humans landing on this page will get the best user experience.

And definitely, you will get top SERP rankings and visitors to your site that will convert.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the difference between a search landing page and a doorway page?

Landing pages are developed to provide the user with specific information or content that solves his query.

In contrast, a doorway page is an unethically SEO-optimized page that is used to redirect the user to a specific page, adding an additional step in the user experience journey.

What is cloaking in SEO?

Cloaking is the practice of offering distinct content to users and search engines. With an intent to manipulate SERP rankings and mislead users. 

Here is an example of cloaking:

For a query about ‘travel destination,’ a domain shows a page about travel destinations to search engines using meta tags and other SEO elements but displays a page with adult content to users.

What is a zombie page?

A “zombie page” is a term often used in web development to refer to a web page that still exists on a website but is no longer actively updated. Zombie pages can still be accessed and viewed by bots.

There are several reasons why a page may become a zombie.

For example, the page may have been created for a temporary event or promotion since it ended, or its content may have been moved or consolidated with other pages on the site. 

Over time, zombie pages can clutter a website and create confusion for visitors, as well as negatively impact search engine optimization (SEO) and the overall user experience.

To prevent zombie pages, it is important for webmasters to review their websites and remove or redirect outdated pages regularly.

This can help ensure that the website is easy to navigate, provides accurate and up-to-date information, and is optimized for search engines.