No doubt that at some point you have done a search in Google, clicked on an attractive result, and come up with a frightening wall—the article or page in question requires a subscription! As a user, we all find this annoying, and the last thing we want to do is get a new name and password. But as a content provider, it’s an excellent business move. Premium/paid content is a fine monetization strategy for anyone with content good enough to sell.

It also brings up an interesting question for SEO. How exactly does Google index paid content?

I got this email on from my loyal reader Wing Yew:

Hamlet,

I've read your blog since the day you launched.  That said, I can
completely appreciate if you don't have time to respond to this
message or post a blog about it.  On the off chance you do know an
answer, I knew I had to ask.

Question:  How do you have google/yahoo/msn spider password protected
content?  I know that SEOMoz does it with their premium content, but
I'm not sure how.  I'm rather desperately seeking out a hard and fast
answer… and I know of no better person to whom to go.

for His reknown,

Wing Yew

Saying that I've been extremely busy lately is an understatement, but how can I say no to a loyal reader that has been following my blog from day one? Thanks for your support, Wing! Letting search engines index paid content is not only a good idea, it is also a very clever one. Read the rest of this entry »