Why Not Call 'Em Zebras

From: Jonathan B. Smith

I came across the concept of a Preferential Copy File in my recent SEO research. I am not familiar with this technique. Do you know any good resources that could provide me with more in-depth details? Perhaps you have written about it before.

Thanks again for being so responsive. It is a godsend.

Best regards,

Jonathan

~~~Jill's Response~~~

I had never heard of Preferential Copy File, so I asked Jonathan where he learned of this concept. He pointed me to a page from a search engine optimization company's Web site where they had posted a definition. I'm not going to post the exact definition here due to copyright concerns, but basically they said that these Preferential Copy Files (PCF) would add content for the search engines without having to change your site. They also mentioned that they would be designed with specific ranking criteria in mind. But my all-time favorite part of the definition was the part which said not to confuse PCFs with a doorway or gateway page.

Umm...okay.

How could these NOT be confused with doorway or gateway pages? Isn't this exactly what they are?

In my opinion, a doorway and/or gateway page is one that is designed strictly to obtain high search engine rankings. They're basically used when you don't want to change the actual pages of your site. This appears to be what PCFs are, according to the posted definition.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of people making up new names for things just so they won't sound dodgy.

You can call a doorway page a "zebra" if you want, but if it's not fully integrated into your site through visible links, it's still a doorway page. (A rose by any other name, and all that.) What makes doorway pages, PCFs (and now zebras!) unacceptable to most search engines is that they were created for the sole purpose of obtaining high search engine rankings. I've said it before, and I'll keep on saying it until the end of the Internet -- pages that are not an actual part of your site simply create clutter within the search engines. They don't like them nor want them, and may penalize you for having them. The engines have enough trouble indexing all the *real* pages out there without having to index piles and piles of "zebras" that add no value to your site or their database.

Please, oh please, oh please -- don't create pages just for the search engines regardless of what you call them.

You *can* have the best of both worlds by making sure that the existing pages of your site work for the search engines AND your visitors. I know I sound like a broken record with this, but it's true, and it's not even that hard to do. You simply have to be willing to do what it takes. And don't you dare tell me that this is not a realistic option. It most certainly is realistic, and it's something that more and more companies are finally doing. It used to be that when I would discuss what needed to be done with a potential client, they would bristle and say it was preposterous! Lately, I'm noticing that most companies don't even blink anymore when I tell them. They come to me with a clear idea of what it will take, and this is simply wonderful!

Even if you have a Flash site, a highly graphical site or a dynamically generated site, there's nothing stopping you from making sure that your visitors can find some important information about your products and services in plain HTML text. Most likely, they're already looking for this, so for goodness' sake give it to them! When you finally bite the bullet (or get your clients to bite it), you'll find that the search engines will eat it up and your rankings will soar. Not only that, you'll be done with your search engine optimization forever, because good keyword-rich content has staying power like you wouldn't believe!

So don't be afraid to make these suggestions to your clients and bosses. Once they realize that tricking the search engines is simply not an option, they'll eventually do what it takes. If enough people just say no to tricking the engines, the *smart* ways will prevail.

We've come a long way in the few years since I've been writing about this stuff, but we're definitely not there yet. As long as companies continue to promote "zebra" pages, there will be those who get suckered into taking the easy way out. If you're smart, you won't let it happen to you!