Doorway pages: Doorway pages are pages created mainly to rank for specific searches, such as many near-identical city pages, that offer little unique value. Google treats them as spam and can lower rankings for the whole site.
Why it matters for local businesses
Location and area pages are useful, but only when each one has genuine local substance. Mass-produced pages with swapped place names are a common reason local sites lose rankings.
How to get it right
- Make every location page distinct, with real local content and proof.
- Keep thin pages out of Google's index until they have something unique to offer.
- Merge pages for places that are too close together to need separate pages.
Common mistakes
- Generating a page for every suburb with the same text.