SEO
SEO For Membership Sites: Getting Around The Paywall
Anyone who has done SEO for a period of time has heard the myth of Google’s 200+ ranking factors.
To be fair, the 200 number may have been somewhat accurate, when first mentioned by former Googler Matt Cutts, over a decade ago.
A lot has changed since then, and it’s unlikely that anyone knows the real number of ranking factors baked into the Google algorithm today.
That said, not all ranking factors are created equally.
If you simply focus on the top eight factors with the biggest influence, you will be successful. Those factors include:
- High-quality content.
- Mobile-first.
- Page experience.
- Page speed.
- On-page optimization.
- Internal links.
- External links.
- Local.
Here’s the rub: That only works IF your content is visible to Google and available to readers.
What if you put a paywall in front of your content, creating an extra step? Let’s take a look at how to do SEO for membership sites in 2022.
Why Put Your Content Behind A Paywall?
The obvious question is – why put your content behind a paywall if it will affect SEO in the first place?
The drawbacks are quite clear:
- Fewer people will see your content if it’s not visible to search engines.
- You need to make it worthwhile for them to pass through that gate.
- Some people may give you false information just to see your gated content.
That said, there are some benefits to it:
- You may get better-qualified leads as people who are willing to give you their personal information are more likely to have a high level of interest.
- It can help you segment and target your audience better.
- The audience will often perceive your content as more valuable, useful, and trustworthy (but you must deliver on it).
What Does Google Have To Say About Paywalled Content?
Regardless of whether your content is free or premium, you have to follow Google’s Richtlinien.
The biggest problem for premium content owners is how to be visible in search if their content is not freely available to all users.
To mitigate this, Google initially introduced a First Click Free (FCF) policy.
What that meant was that, in addition to their premium content, publishers had to provide some free content that users could access through Google search.
Suffice it to say that publishers weren’t the biggest fans of this model and it was discontinued in 2017, and replaced with “Flexible Sampling.”
Basically, the newer model gives publishers more maneuvering space in deciding how much of their content they want to provide free to users and how they want to provide it.
There are three options that publishers can choose from in Flexible Sampling.
Freemium
With the freemium model, some articles o
n the site can be accessed without a paywall, while some will have one.
In other words, this is a combination of gated and ungated content.
There’s no specific rule as to which content will be free and which premium, but usually, publishers use popular free content to leverage premium content and entice people to subscribe if they want to read, perhaps a more in-depth article.
Metered
With metered paywalls, the visitor can read a limited number of articles per month before he is being asked to subscribe. Usually, this is three articles, but it can be five or just one for example.
This method is used by several prominent websites, including Medium, The New York Times, and others.
Once you reach the limit, you’ll see a prompt like the one below to subscribe:
Hard Paywalls
The previous two methods are known as “soft” paywalls as they allow the visitor to see at least a few articles or even just a part of the content.
With “hard” paywalls, all content is gated off.
This means that content can’t be crawled or indexed by Google or other search engines. Obviously, this makes it much harder to get new signups, but if the content is of high value, the conversion rate can be much higher.
Although perhaps the least liked of all paywall methods, hard paywalls are still used by some top-tier websites in finance and other industries such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and others.
Screenshot by author, February 2022So Which Of The Three Is The Best Option?
This largely depends on the purpose of your content.
News platforms, such as the New York Times, have had good success with metered content. This model allows visitors to get a good idea of the quality of their content, by providing full samples as “teasers” to entice users to subscribe.
The NY Times, for example, introduced metered subscriptions back in 2011, and today, a decade or so later, 7.6 million out of 8.4 million total subscribers are digital subscribers, while only around 795,000 are print subscribers.
Here’s a chart of how their digital-only subscriptions grew from 2011 to 2021:
Screenshot by author, February 2022The Freemium method makes sense for a website that already has a large and loyal reader base, different kinds of content, and exclusive content.
Balancing Free & Premium Content
Free content has a clear advantage over premium content when it comes to organic search, due to its sheer volume. This doesn’t mean that premium content publishers will be devoid of organic search opportunities.
In fact, one could argue that engaging in SEO is MORE important for subscription sites, as they have an extra hurdle (paywall) to clear.
Premium content publishers actually have two good options:
- They can seek to find a balance between free and premium content like the New York Times does.
- Or they can create content that readers are searching for, but can’t get anywhere else. This content essentially needs to be exclusive.
In other words, one can’t put just any type of content behind a paywall.
Basic articles such as “How to Optimize Your Website for SEO” number in the thousands (millions?) on the web and can be found with a quick Google search for free. Users have no reason or motivation to pay for that kind of content.
On the other hand, if a publisher puts considerable effort into discovering a need and then creating a solution in the form of a whitepaper, ebook, or in-depth article, they can justify putting their specialized content behind a paywall.
If the content is authored by a renowned expert, so much the better.
In deciding whether to gate content or not, it may be a good idea to consider the following three questions.
1. What Is The “End Game”?
Are you looking to increase subscribers or generate leads? If so, then content should probably be gated in some way.
However, if you are looking to generate more visitors and links, the gating approach will be counterproductive.
2. Is The Content Worth Paying For?
Put yourself in the user’s shoes and answer this question: “Is this content valuable enough for me to pay for it or fill out a form?”
Be careful when answering this question. As the creator or curator of content, pride in authorship can make it difficult to be truly unbiased.
3. Is The Data Collected Worthwhile?
Another consideration when it comes to content gating is how it impacts the user experience. The rise in the use of pop-ups and overlays is directly responsible for the increase in adblocking software.
By forcing users to turn over personal information to access gated content, a (sometimes large) percentage of data collected consists of fake names and burner email accounts.
The “Fred” Update & The Difference Between Premium & Gated Content
In March 2017, Google introduced an algorithm update that was dubbed Fred.
The basic idea was to reward websites that provided a positive user experience and to demote websites light on quality content and heavy on ads.
Fred also had the unintended consequence of demoting some legitimate paywall websites.
Technical SEO Considerations For Paywalled Content
One initial problem with Fred was that it had difficulty in differentiating between paywalled and hidden (cloaked) content. Since then, Google has come up with a solution: structured data.
In order for paywalled content to be eligible to appear in Google search results, it needs to follow the Structured and Technical Guidelines.
Here is an example of how to indicate paywalled content to comply with Google’s guidelines:
Screenshot by author, February 2022The question is, “how is Googlebot able to read the content behind the paywall?” For example, if you look at this article with “view source,” the following is visible via the browser:
Screenshot by author, February 2022While the rest is behind a paywall…
And the answer is…
Namely, the site itself needs to use cloaking.
It sends the full content when Googlebot asks for the page, using the User-Agent HTTP header, for example:
Screenshot by author, February 2022One final, yet important point: Clever searchers have learned that paywalls can be bypassed by going into the Google cache and reading content for free.
To prevent this, one needs to use the noarchive robots meta tag, which will stop Google from showing the cached link to that page.
Abschluss
Paywalls are becoming increasingly common across the web. They allow publishers generate revenue by charging readers for access to articles or other content.
While they can be useful for providing premium content, they also limit free access to information. And, they can limit search bots from accessing what they need to know to properly catalog your website.
We hope these tips help you decide on whether to use a paywall or how to best optimize your paywall for search and profitable success.
Mehr Ressourcen:
Featured Image: Marija_Crow/Shutterstock
SEO
How To Boost Key Product Page Rankings With Link Building
When shaping your SEO strategy, your success metrics come down to bottom-line results – what’s going to move the needle for your company and make a real impact?
Which SEO strategies can you employ to hit your KPIs?
In order to succeed in competitive markets, you must go beyond on-page optimization and sound technical SEO – you need a full-funnel approach.
With the right mix of link building and content creation, you can directly affect the rankings of key product pages while boosting overall performance.
6-Step Process For Boosting Product Page Ranks
To consistently boost your product page rankings, try adding these 6 steps to your SEO strategy:
- Review the product page(s) for link opportunities.
- Audit existing content and ensure topical relevance to the product page with strategic internal links.
- Identify high-intent keywords, a.k.a. your new content opportunity, for the product page.
- Discover linkable topics with a tie-in to the product page, but make sure they are broad and useful enough to not be advertorial.
- Create content based on findings, and build external links to the broader topic, with strategic internal links to the high-intent keyword content and product pages.
- Measure the impact on the primary product page against the keyword ranking KPIs initially identified. Monitor rankings, traffic, and links across the entire funnel as additional KPIs.
Don’t worry, we wouldn’t leave you hanging without more information.
Join our upcoming webinar to learn exactly how to do these steps.
Join Cory Collins, Business Development Manager at Page One Power, and Nick Katseanes, Sales Director at Page One Power, as they show you how a funnel of links and content can result in stronger SEO campaigns.
Learn how you, too, can combine link building and content creation to drive product page rankings in addition to secondary KPIs.
Key Takeaways:
- Learn how to grow product page rankings after technical SEO and on-page optimization are completed.
- Understand how content marketing and link building strategically tie back into product-level SEO KPIs.
- Gain insight into the difference between high-intent keyword content and linkable content, and how to use the two together.
Can’t make the live webinar? Sign up and we’ll send you the recording and all the resources after the event.
SEO
Inside The Decentralized Social Media Platform
Are you interested in the new social media platform aiming to compete with Twitter?
Bluesky is a decentralized social network led by CEO Jay Graber, with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on its board of directors.
What Is Bluesky?
In December 2019, Dorsey announced through a series of tweets that Twitter would fund a small independent team of up to five people to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media.
The aim was for Twitter to become a client of this standard one day.
Dorsey highlighted several factors prompting this move:
- The challenges posed by centralized control include difficulties in global policy enforcement to address abuse and misinformation.
- The shifting value of social media from content hosting and removal to recommendation algorithms. These algorithms, which currently are typically proprietary, direct users’ attention. Dorsey hopes Bluesky would allow for alternatives to be built.
- Existing incentives in social media often draw attention to controversial and outrageous content instead of promoting informative and healthy conversations.
- Recent technological advances, like blockchain, have made decentralized solutions more viable. These solutions could lead to open and durable hosting, governance, and monetization.
We’re calling this team @bluesky. Our CTO @ParagA will be running point to find a lead, who will then hire and direct the rest of the team. Please follow or DM @bluesky if you’re interested in learning more or joining! 🌐💬💙
— jack (@jack) December 11, 2019
Bluesky strives to make social networks function similarly to email, blogs, or phone numbers as open systems that facilitate online interactions.
Bluesky developers created the AT Protocol, which is nearing completion. The AT Protocol aims to make modern social media and online public conversations more akin to the early Internet era when anyone could create a blog or use RSS to follow multiple blogs.
The Bluesky app demonstrates the features of this protocol.
Bluesky hopes this will lead to new advancements in social media, enabling researchers and communities to solve issues currently faced by social networks, as tweeted by Dorsey.
Social Media Problems Bluesky Hopes To Solve
Most traditional social networks are closed platforms controlled by a central authority that dictates user and developer permissions.
If a user decides to leave a traditional social network, they must begin anew, losing their connections and content. For developers, creating a new app requires overcoming network effects and rebuilding the social graph from the beginning.
Additionally, they risk being shut down abruptly if they try to build using these companies’ APIs.
Similarly, content creators may lose their audience if the platform changes its rules.
The AT Protocol is designed to change this scenario, offering a more open, democratic, and innovative environment for users, developers, and content creators.
How To Get A Bluesky Invite Code
There are several ways to get an invitation to Bluesky.
You can sign up for the waitlist and wait for an invitation to join from Bluesky.
You can ask your friends on other social networks if they have an invite.
You can search Bluesky invite code on Twitter. Check the latest results and reply quickly to get an invite. (This is the method that worked for me.)
Screenshot from Twitter, May 2023You can even buy an invite code for Bluesky on eBay.
Screenshot from eBay, May 2023How To Create Your Bluesky Account
Once you have your invitation code, you can create your account on the website or the Bluesky app from the Appstore oder Google Play.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023You can choose the default Bluesky server ([email protected]) or follow these directions to use your own domain ([email protected]). You can change to your own domain later in your account settings.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Next, enter your invite code, email, password, and birthdate.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Finally, choose a user handle. You can change this later in your account settings.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023How To Edit Your Bluesky Profile
Once you’ve completed your account setup, you will want to visit your profile and edit it before connecting with others.
You can add a cover photo, profile photo, display name, and 256-character description.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023While there is no specific field for links to your website or other social profiles, you can place a link in the description.
How To Post An Update On Bluesky
Bluesky allows you to post 300-character updates with text, up to four images, and links.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Note that all profiles and posts are public, and the user content you share is subject to Bluesky’s Terms of Service.
Within the Terms of Service, Bluesky notes that when you share any content (such as text, images, or videos) on a platform or service provided by Bluesky, you give Bluesky and its related companies the right to use and share that content.
With these terms, Bluesky can use, copy, modify, distribute, and display your content in various ways, including promoting Bluesky and its services through social media channels.
I’m going to try to clarify here. First of all, Jack is 1 of 3 board members of Bluesky, and does not have any personal license to any content.
The “rights to user-generated content” term lets us do stuff like this — use screenshots of user-generated content in the app store. pic.twitter.com/yp4SOgJfBS
— Jay Graber (@arcalinea) April 28, 2023
They can do this without paying you. On the upside, they won’t use your content in any sponsored content without your permission.
How To Build Your Bluesky Network
To find people to connect with, use the search to find posts and users with specific keywords.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023You can reply to, repost, and like posts by other users. The three dots offer additional options, including translating and sharing with other networks.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Switch to the Users tab to find related accounts to follow.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023When you visit another user’s profile, you can follow them or use the three dots to find more options, including one to add the user to a list.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Bluesky Lists Vs. Twitter Lists
It’s essential to note Bluesky lists are not like Twitter lists.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023On Twitter, you add users to lists when you want to follow them more closely.
On Bluesky, you add users to lists to mute their activity.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023When you create a Bluesky mute list, it will be visible on your profile. You can, however, follow other users’ mute lists to ignore the same group of users privately.
In addition to public mute lists, you can access more ways to moderate the content you see on Bluesky in the Moderation section.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023Here, you can update your content filtering settings, mute an account, or block an account.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023My Feeds
My Feeds allows users to create custom algorithms for displaying content.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023This feed, created by the Bluesky team, shows updates from those you follow and the people they like.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023How To Change Your Bluesky User Handle Or Domain
As mentioned, you can visit your account settings to change your user handle.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023You can also update your user handle to use your domain instead of @bsky.social.
Screenshot from Bluesky, May 2023The Next Step In Decentralized Social Media
Bluesky may present an approach to decentralized social media that could mitigate many issues plaguing traditional social platforms today.
Bluesky appears dedicated to ushering in a new digital communication era with the AT Protocol’s continued development.
With the issues it aims to solve and the open standard it seeks to establish, Bluesky could be the blueprint for the future of social media. It remains to be seen how well Bluesky will perform once it comes out of beta.
Featured image: Tada Images/Shutterstock
SEO
3 Steps To Building A Winning Holistic Search Strategy
A multi-channel, holistic approach to search marketing is a must in today’s digital marketing space.
You can maximize digital shelf space by removing silos between teams and finding synergies on how paid and organic search can work together.
On May 10, I moderated a webinar with Wayne Cichanski, Vice President of Search and Site Experience at iQuanti, and Erin Wilson, VP of Marketing at HomeEquity Bank.
Cichanski and Wilson demonstrated how to combine insights and data from paid and organic channels to create a cohesive search strategy that enhances online visibility.
Hier ist eine Zusammenfassung des Webinars. Um auf die gesamte Präsentation zuzugreifen, Füllen sie das Formular aus.
Step 1: Learn The Power Of Integrating Your Paid & Organic Search Strategy
SEO & SEM each have different roles, places, and advantages.
But these differences help provide insights into gaps that the other marketing school of thought has.
As such, these two channels can work very well together given a cohesive strategy that integrates both of their beneficial aspects.
So, how do you go about understanding the data that each process brings to the table?
How do you tap into the power of these two channels without needing to increase bandwidth?
One way is to start maximizing your digital shelf space.
[What is digital shelf space?] Find out – Instantly access the on-demand webinar →
Start By Maximizing Your Digital Shelf Space
Between paid results, organic results, People Also Ask (PAA), stories, local map packs, the AnswerBox, video carousels, and more, there are many areas in which you can own a higher market share of a SERP.
So when you think about a cohesive strategy, you’ll need to consider these are these steps:
- Review total digital shelf space.
- Know what keywords trigger what.
- Build assets to acquire.
[Discover how to do each step] Instantly access the on-demand webinar →
After going through these steps, you can now start merging strategies.
Bring Different Tactics Together
Next, focus on synchronizing your research and common messaging across organic site pages, paid search ads, social, display, email, and thought leadership.
You can do this by:
- Carrying the messaging across the entire funnel.
- Using dual rankings to elevate impression share.
- Increasing the halo effect by driving paid to organic.
- Modifying bidding strategies for branded, non-branded mid-funnel vs. lower.
- Discovering and building a common foundation between paid and organic.
[Dive deeper] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →
Step 2: Understand The Roles Of Your Marketing Channels
Understanding the roles and expectations for each channel sets them up for maximum contribution.
But before you start, understand that customer centricity is vital. Always consider your customer’s needs, preferences, and behaviors.
Then, leverage each channel for different stages and behavioral needs of the user.
Screenshot by iQuanti, May 2023Knowing each channel’s defined role means you’ll know what to expect and measure in each corresponding stage.
[Learn how HomeEquity Bank leverages each channel] Instantly access the on-demand webinar →
Step 3: Deliver A Connected Search Program
To understand the roles and expectations for maximum contribution, start attacking the SERP positions and journey milestones collectively by:
- Measuring them together.
- Identifying key themes along the journey.
- Developing bid strategies.
[Learn what each step entails] Instantly access the on-demand webinar →
Increase Conversions With Paid Branded & Non-Branded Search
Hinsichtlich Branded Search, focus on maximizing conversion & reducing leakage by occupying a secondary position from a neutral test bed site to push down competitors.
In other words, you can push the competitors down from the top by having a high-visibility listing.
In a Non-Brand Search, a good approach is to segment intents by conversion potential. This quadrant better explains this:
[Slides] 3 Steps To Building A Winning Holistic Search Strategy
Hier ist die Präsentation:
Bildnachweis:
Beitragsbild: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
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