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Monday, July 02, 2007
In the Dutch market, the concept of so-called 'startpages' is hugely popular. In this article we
will give some background information on them, and give those of you who may be startpage
webmasters a few tips on how to create unique and informative startpages.
What's a startpage?
Basically, it's a webpage with a lot of links about a specific topic. The startpages are hosted
on a startpage domain and each separate startpage is maintained by an individual webmaster. The
links on startpages are usually ordered by categories related to the topic of the page. Besides
hyperlinks, startpages often contain text, animations and pictures. Startpages are quite unique
to the Dutch market, and offer a simple interface for novice users to create their own web
portals, with a unique approach to user-generated content.
The whole startpage concept began in September 1998 with the launch of Startpagina.nl, which was
set up to be an online linkbook for the inexperienced Internet user. Since then, Startpagina.nl
has become a huge success, mainly because an enormous number of volunteers created and maintained
the different startpages covering lots of interesting and diverse topics. Since Startpagina.nl
emerged, lots of other startpage domains have been created, and are still being created today.
The fact that there are still new startpage domains appearing and that the number of individual
startpages on these domains is still increasing shows the continued popularity of startpages in
the Dutch market.
Creating useful startpages
As a search engine, we love to have useful and diverse pages showing up in the search results we
present to our users. We thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of the best practices
we've seen in creating value-added startpages.
Create your startpage for users, and not for search engines. This involves making sure that all
your text on the page is visible to users, and writing full sentences as descriptions instead
of just keywords.
Try to deliver unique, informative and on-topic content. The structure of startpages is pretty
straightforward and does not leave much room for variation. However, you can make a difference.
Try to find a topic you know a lot about that has not been fully covered yet. Create good
categories that are related to your topic and give a relevant title to every category. Then,
find links that are related to the categories on your page and label every link with an anchor
text that is relevant. For example, instead of naming your links 'link1', 'link2' et cetera,
you can choose names that make clear where the link is pointing to. And you can write a short
description for every category.
Don't create startpages out of commercial intent or for the sole purpose of exchanging links.
Of course there is nothing wrong with trying to monetize your startpage, but a page with only
banners and affiliate links is not the best user experience and therefore not recommended. The
same goes for startpages that are created as part of a link network. For example, pages that
have all links pointing to a particular website and to other startpages that are also pointing
to that same website. These kind of link schemes have no added value for the user and go against
the Google webmaster guidelines.
With this post, we hope to have provided potential startpage webmasters with some helpful
guidelines that will help to create the type of startpages the Dutch speaking people love!
On a final note, we would like to encourage you to fill in a
paid links form
if you come across a startpage that is involved in buying and selling links for the purpose of
search engine manipulation. To report other forms of bad behavior, you can send a
spam report. We'll review each report
we get and use this feedback to enhance our algorithms and improve our search results. As always,
we really appreciate your feedback and your help to provide the best search experience.
Posted by Selina and Jos, Search Quality Team, Dublin
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eStartpages are Dutch webpages featuring numerous links categorized by a specific topic, often including text, animations, and pictures.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eStartpage creators are encouraged to prioritize user experience with visible text, full sentence descriptions, and relevant links, rather than solely focusing on search engine optimization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eCreating unique, informative, and on-topic startpages is crucial, focusing on a niche topic, establishing clear categories, and providing accurate link descriptions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eStartpages should not be solely for commercial purposes or link exchanges, as excessive banners, affiliate links, or link schemes detract from user value and violate Google's guidelines.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUsers are encouraged to report startpages involved in link manipulation or other spam activities through Google's reporting tools.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Startpages, popular in the Dutch market, are web pages with numerous links on a specific topic, maintained by individual webmasters. Key actions for creating effective startpages include prioritizing user experience over search engine optimization, crafting unique, informative, and on-topic content with relevant categories and link descriptions, and avoiding commercial-only intent. It is encouraged to report any startpages involved in paid link schemes or spam to improve search quality. The success of Startpagina.nl inspired this trend, and new domains are still emerging.\n"],null,["# How to create valuable startpages\n\nMonday, July 02, 2007\n\n\nIn the Dutch market, the concept of so-called 'startpages' is hugely popular. In this article we\nwill give some background information on them, and give those of you who may be startpage\nwebmasters a few tips on how to create unique and informative startpages.\n\nWhat's a startpage?\n-------------------\n\n\nBasically, it's a webpage with a lot of links about a specific topic. The startpages are hosted\non a startpage domain and each separate startpage is maintained by an individual webmaster. The\nlinks on startpages are usually ordered by categories related to the topic of the page. Besides\nhyperlinks, startpages often contain text, animations and pictures. Startpages are quite unique\nto the Dutch market, and offer a simple interface for novice users to create their own web\nportals, with a unique approach to user-generated content.\n\n\nThe whole startpage concept began in September 1998 with the launch of Startpagina.nl, which was\nset up to be an online linkbook for the inexperienced Internet user. Since then, Startpagina.nl\nhas become a huge success, mainly because an enormous number of volunteers created and maintained\nthe different startpages covering lots of interesting and diverse topics. Since Startpagina.nl\nemerged, lots of other startpage domains have been created, and are still being created today.\nThe fact that there are still new startpage domains appearing and that the number of individual\nstartpages on these domains is still increasing shows the continued popularity of startpages in\nthe Dutch market.\n\nCreating useful startpages\n--------------------------\n\n\nAs a search engine, we love to have useful and diverse pages showing up in the search results we\npresent to our users. We thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of the best practices\nwe've seen in creating value-added startpages.\n\n1. Create your startpage for users, and not for search engines. This involves making sure that all your text on the page is visible to users, and writing full sentences as descriptions instead of just keywords.\n2. Try to deliver unique, informative and on-topic content. The structure of startpages is pretty straightforward and does not leave much room for variation. However, you can make a difference. Try to find a topic you know a lot about that has not been fully covered yet. Create good categories that are related to your topic and give a relevant title to every category. Then, find links that are related to the categories on your page and label every link with an anchor text that is relevant. For example, instead of naming your links 'link1', 'link2' et cetera, you can choose names that make clear where the link is pointing to. And you can write a short description for every category.\n3. Don't create startpages out of commercial intent or for the sole purpose of exchanging links. Of course there is nothing wrong with trying to monetize your startpage, but a page with only banners and affiliate links is not the best user experience and therefore not recommended. The same goes for startpages that are created as part of a link network. For example, pages that have all links pointing to a particular website and to other startpages that are also pointing to that same website. These kind of link schemes have no added value for the user and go against the [Google webmaster guidelines](/search/docs/essentials).\n\n\nWith this post, we hope to have provided potential startpage webmasters with some helpful\nguidelines that will help to create the type of startpages the Dutch speaking people love!\n\n\nOn a final note, we would like to encourage you to fill in a\n[paid links form](/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/report-spam)\nif you come across a startpage that is involved in buying and selling links for the purpose of\nsearch engine manipulation. To report other forms of bad behavior, you can send a\n[spam report](/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/report-spam). We'll review each report\nwe get and use this feedback to enhance our algorithms and improve our search results. As always,\nwe really appreciate your feedback and your help to provide the best search experience.\n\nPosted by Selina and Jos, Search Quality Team, Dublin"]]
