🚧 Paywalled content and SEO 🚧
Following @aleyda's advice, I'll start tweeting sometimes in English.
In this thread, I'll explain how to be SEO compliant if you have paywalled content, like the NYT for example.
Following @aleyda's advice, I'll start tweeting sometimes in English.
In this thread, I'll explain how to be SEO compliant if you have paywalled content, like the NYT for example.
If you still don't know, paywalled content is a mecanism to prevent a user from reading a content without paying.
Newspapers often use it to monetize their audience. The NYT generated around 60% of its revenue thanks to its paywall (data from 2017).
Newspapers often use it to monetize their audience. The NYT generated around 60% of its revenue thanks to its paywall (data from 2017).
That being said, Google doesn't like interstitials preventing users from seeing the main content.
developers.google.com/search/blog/20…
Therefore, how are we supposed to rank with paywalled content?
developers.google.com/search/blog/20…
Therefore, how are we supposed to rank with paywalled content?
It's pretty simple to be honest and you can have a look at Google's documentation which is clear: developers.google.com/search/docs/ad…
Apart from the generic markup you need, indicate which part of our content is not accessible for free.
Apart from the generic markup you need, indicate which part of our content is not accessible for free.
In the french newspaper Le Monde, they for instance use a <div> with an associated .paywall class, where they include the paid part of their articles.
Example: lemonde.fr/planete/articl…
Easy, right?
Example: lemonde.fr/planete/articl…
Easy, right?
To prevent an user from reading the article without paying:
* Pages aren't cached by Google, thanks to the noarchive directive
* Verified bots are the only one able to see the full content without the paywall
* Pages aren't cached by Google, thanks to the noarchive directive
* Verified bots are the only one able to see the full content without the paywall
To check the second point, you can crawl a paywalled content using Google's rich result test tool: search.google.com/test/rich-resu…
Welcome to the white hat cloaking world :)
Welcome to the white hat cloaking world :)
These are the official recommendations. Great, now you can also implement something slightly different.
In a classical implementation, the paid content isn't included in the source code if you're not a search engine.
In a classical implementation, the paid content isn't included in the source code if you're not a search engine.
In other cases:
* The content loads completely by default
* Through a cookie, a POST request is sent, returning a command showing the paywall to the user
But Google sees it as a free content.
* The content loads completely by default
* Through a cookie, a POST request is sent, returning a command showing the paywall to the user
But Google sees it as a free content.
This implementation is less common but, in my opinion. works pretty well. And it doesn't impact what the user sees.
Implementing this logic is harder but I guess you can have your reasons :)
Implementing this logic is harder but I guess you can have your reasons :)
For advanced questions around paywall, ask @badams who, by the way, has a cool newsletter around Google News: seoforgooglenews.com
I'm not gonna lie: I've not dealt a lot with paywall, and my knowledge is pretty theoritical.
I'm not gonna lie: I've not dealt a lot with paywall, and my knowledge is pretty theoritical.
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