Creating Multiple Similar Pages: Is it Search Engine Spam?

Answering a question from SEW Forums

Q: My question is, with this # of links to the same form is it better to save the form with different file extensions or to have all links all going to the same form?

A: I think a large part of the potential problem is intent, which may not be clear and easy for robots and editors alike to be able to understand. If you do go the multi page route you do not necissarily need to optimize those pages ... just get enough link popularity into your site and those pages should rank well. Plus you can pull that data from a database right? [added: ensure you create content which clearly conveys its purpose]

I think another thing you need to look at is the user of your site. If they land on those contact forms or whatever, do those pages provide enough info to actually convert?

Many well known SEOs recommend creating various pages for slightly difference audience and query types, but you want to keep the end user in mind.

If the search engines did not exist people would still

• create similar documents targeted at different personality types and different motivators / personal triggers

• create similar documents with different marketing strategies to target different consumer bases
• create similar documents in different languages or with slang to target different people

The myth of the single ideal searcher or web user is just that: a myth