April seems to be the month of Google Updates, with the most talked about Mobile Friendly Update, and now the “Doorway Algorithm”. In typical Google fashion, they are being as vague as possible when describing the details of this Doorway Algorithm.
Thanks to their vagueness, we are forced to guess what this new algorithm entails, and hope we made the appropriate changes before the update is made!
First of all what is a doorway page? It’s commonly referred to as a bridge or gateway page, and it’s the process of creating pages to rank well for certain key phrases; these pages are clearly defined as pages for search engines not humans. When creating content for any website, you always want to write content for USERS not search engines!
But the question remains: “How does Google define if a page is written for search engines or for humans?” For example, would a service area page, like: SEO services Boston MA, be considered a doorway page or a page written for users searching in the Boston area? Again, we don’t know, and Google has given us no answers!
In defining what this Doorway Algorithm is, Google’s Brian White says, this algorithm will penalize sites that: “maximize their search footprint without adding clear, unique value.”
The second part, where he talks about failing to add clear and unique value to a page, should be a punishable offense, but where he talks about maximizing your search footprint, is what has SEO webmasters in an uproar! Isn’t that the goal of web marketing, to “maximize your search footprint?”
This is the first we’ve heard of the Doorway Algorithm, and we will continue to monitor this update, hoping to find out exactly what this update entails! Until then, continue to monitor what you write, and be sure to create pages for the user, not for search engines!