SEO "Information Sites"

Question

Hi,

I have been reading up on SEO tactics and I stumbled across a very respected SEO company that says they use/implement "information sites". These sites would be used as a "starting page" for a product or service. They say that they are optimized to accommodate current search engine algorithms.

This sounds a lot like the use of doorway pages (which are bad, right?), or is there a different tactic called "information sites" which are used as entrance pages for search engines with keyword optimized visible text? I googled this and checked a couple of SEO books I have lying here, and I could not find anything under "Information Site".

Thanks

--Edit - also partially in response to the comments--

Honesty is great and all but sadly these kinds of measures actually work. The more I research the topic, the more I keep getting the feeling that being honest when it comes to SEO is to one's own disadvantage. It all boils down to two main factors: most users only view the top 10 results and there are too many people who don't stick to the rules.

I come across sites that use keyword stuffing in the bluntest form: a handful of keywords being repeated 20-30 times "hidden" in a or even a . The frustrating part is, that this pages are still listed in Google and are ranked even remarkable high if you test the hidden keywords. How does one deal with this?

Answer 1

It sounds like "doorway sites," and they didn't use that name so as not to put a stigma on their method or so it sounds proprietary. Doorway sites are very effective if used correctly and they are really needed, but most times a doorway page is needed is because the site architecture of the actual product page is a complete mess.

Answer 2

They're just trying to use a novel term to differentiate themselves. They do mean gateway pages, and from the sound of it, they're likely parked domains and bothersome things of that nature. There is a very short list of rules you actually need to worry about when it comes to SEO:

• One concept, one page: Be specific with your keywords, and make sure they're terms people are actually searching for
• Title, H1, H2: Make sure the few keywords per page you're optimizing for are present in these contexts on your page
• Inbound internal links: Make sure your site has a good information architecture with pages that link to semantically similar pages. For instance, an eCommerce site specializing in office supplies might have the following breadcrumb trail, with each higher level linking to subcategories within it: "Paper >> Printer Paper >> Color Printer Paper" (note the increase of words per keyword as we go further down the 'long tail')
• Be interesting: Provide information other sites don't have. Create useful editorial. Allow interesting discourse between users. Make sure people have a reason to link to your pages. A lot of people are familiar with linking now, and aren't just going to anchor 'this cool site'; some of them might even give you off-site, keyword-directed inbound links, just because the page is relevant to that term. Either way, an incoming link is good, but do everything you can not to get caught up in buying them.
• Be honest: This includes both to search engines and people. You want to rank organically, not artificially. There's a difference between writing content with good information retrieval in mind and gaming the system. Let your conscience be your guide on this one. If you have to pay for anything, you're probably not being honest.