Gateway pages

Which type are the best to use?

[sweetjuke]

This may seem like an absurd question (simplistic), but I imagine there will still be varying responses:

What are the best "types" of gateway pages to use to promote a site in the engines? What I mean is that, for maximum results, should a gateway be 1) cloaked, 2) autoforwarded using long meta refresh tags or Java script, 3) hidden in an "invisible" frame, etc., etc?

Also, would a longer extension (one or more folders, then the file name, e.g. - www.site.com/promotion/websitepromotion/searchengines.html) or a shorter extension (e.g. - www.site.com/promotion.html) be better?

It seems that the best gateway are those that are neither cloaked nor autoforwarded, but that have the ugly "click here" text in them - I obviously want to avoid that, so what is the next best option from the perspective of positioning?

Thanks in advance for your time...

[drbill]

Hi SweetJuke,

Everyone uses different methods.

I personally use cloaked pages with NO Java or Meta Refresh tags. i have personally been kicked for using those 2 things. What you can do is use what we all call Poor Mans Cloaking. Using 0% frames so that you don't have the UGLY page that you spoke about.

[sweetjuke]

Thanks drbill - I appreciate the response. If it's not too much trouble, could you expound on this method a bit more, or point me to any resources that may have more information about this?

It would seem that one could simply use a 0% frame as the main frame and the "full" frame to load the actual page one wants the visitor to see. This "full" frame could then use the <no frames> section to optimize...have I got this right?

If so, what can/should be done with the "invisible" or 0% frame - optmize this and include <no frames> as well?

Thanks...

[drbill]

SweetJuke,

You have it.. perfect.. Use the hidden page for your meta tags and good text content that the spiders will eat up. Also make some links to more of these pages and soon you will have a whole network of the hidden pages. :)

[sweetjuke]

drbill - again, thank you. Last question, I swear :)(I just want to make absolutely sure that I have this right!)...

Here's the example - I've got the 0% frame named top.html, the page I want the visitor to actually see named main.html, and the page that brings them all together(established the frames context) named index.html.

Now, it seems that the spider will pick up the meta tags and <no frames> section of the index.html page and that the content of main.html, which will be loaded into the fully visible frame, will not be important at all...

Then, finally, the top.html page, which is set at 0%, can be optimized but can also be "reused" for multiple pages. Is this correct? For example, I can "optimize" the meta tags and no frames portion of index.html, searchengines.html, webpromotion.html, internet.html, etc. and use these as the gateways, while all the while using top.html as the 0% frame.

I guess the real question I'm asking is, can the top.html page (the 0%) be reused several times without adverse effects or poor rankings, or will some spiders read this one instead of (or in addition to) the index.html page?

Again, thank you for your time and expertise...

SJ

[drbill]

SJ,

I reuse the same top.html page all the time I even call it from the same place and I have never had any problems :)

Merry Christmas

[sweetjuke]

drbill - I thank you most sincerely. Have a great holiday :)

SweetJuke