Googleating pronounced Google-ating describes the increasing practise of constructing a website primarily for the purpose of appearing high in the search engine Google.

With the importance of a high Google ranking becoming more apparent, the majority of experienced SEOs (search engine optimizers) know the many tactics used to manipulate the Google algorithm.

A Googleated page is often used as a gateway page to the website that the SEO is developing. A small homepage is constructed, heavily optimized for a particular target key-phrase, and from this page hyperlinks are placed to various pages within the main website.

Gateway pages are frowned upon by Google, which means the SEO has to ensure the page is constructed in such a way that the page is relevant and contains an adequate amount of content so as not to be seen as just a gateway page. This leads to a balancing act where the optimizer has to construct a page primarily for the search engines, but designed to look as though it is for the visitor.

In recent months (dated 12/1/05) Googleating has taken a new twist, a number of SEOs have been competing in search engine optimization competitions, where the goal is to gain the highest Google placement for a set keyword. This has led to a number of Googleated pages appearing for the phrases Serps [1] and Mangeur de cigogne [2]