SEO For Membership Sites: Getting Around The Paywall - Search Engine Journal

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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:

1. High-quality content.
2. Mobile-first.
3. Page experience.
4. Page speed.
5. On-page optimization.
6. Internal links.
7. External links.
8. 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:

1. Fewer people will see your content if it’s not visible to search engines.
2. You need to make it worthwhile for them to pass through that gate.
3. Some people may give you false information just to see your gated content.

That said,...

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