Overview: The truth about text hiding and how search engines rank them.

Attempting to hide text on a webpage, either with small text or invisible text (by making the color of the text the same as the background) are considered as forms of spamming search engines. Many search engines index entire webpages, and subsequently, invisible text or small text may seem to be a great advantage to try and get better listings. Search engines have realized this technique that many spammers have used and have set up numerous algorithms that will detect this form of abuse and either demote your rankings or ban your website all together.

A bridge, doorway or gateway page is a webpage which is intended to be indexed by a search engine which was created for the sole purpose of improving search engine rankings. Typically, a bridge page is a mirrored copy of another page but contains different Meta tags. These kind of webpages clutter search engines and deteriorates the quality of the database content. Many search engines will not tolerate these kind of pages but when dealt in moderation (less than 3 bridge pages for your main company page), can help increase your rankings. The key phrase here is to avoid spamming search engines with irrelevant pages. Try to limit bridge pages if you use any to less than 3.

Page redirects are essentially webpages which will accept a user and then redirect them to another webpage. This is ultimately the same effect as a bridge page but nearly all search engines will not accept these types of redirects into their databases. Redirect pages are often implemented by using the META Refresh tag. Many search engines will delete your webpages or refuse indexing any webpages which have the Refresh META tag. If your site has moved, Add your new URL to the search engines and delete the old URL; avoid using the META Refresh tag or server side redirects.