Gateway Pages

Gateway pages (also called "doorway pages") are pages loaded with keywords and designed primarily for search engine spiders. Oftentimes, a gateway page automatically redirects to another page within a site, so that the gateway remains hidden to users. If the gateway page is set up by an unscrupulous SEO consultant, the gateway may contain links not only to your site but to other sites as well. And you may never know what those other sites contain.

Because their main purpose is to trick the search engine into awarding a higher ranking to the site, the search engine spiders are programmed to watch out for gateway pages. Sites that use gateway pages are often banned by search engines.

As usual, the best test to find out if an optimization technique is worth pursuing is to ask yourself how the technique will benefit your site's users. If it won't benefit users, chances are that it won't improve your site's ranking in search results.