Backlinks from newpapers that requires subscription

[helgeolaussen]

Don't know if this has been answered in another post, but what happens to backlinks that requires users to subscribe and/or pay to view the content with the backlink on it?
Some newspaper sites has subscription requirement to view certain content.
Does the backlink drop in value? Or is there any negative effect from this?

[Andy-Halliday]

Hi

That link is pointless from an 'link building' point of view, however I still go after links from places like the Sun even though I know they are behind a paywall because they drive a lot of traffic.

So if your looking at it from an old school SEO point of view - they are a waste of time, but if you are interested in traffic and sales then these links are still very important.

Thanks

Andy

[Sheena_Schleicher]

From an SEO 'link building' perspective, links behind a login can not be crawled by Google & will not provide any type of traditional/old school link value (since bots cannot access that content).

However, as Andy shared, those links may still be very valuable if your business is contextually relevant to the news outlet. Readers of a paid newspaper are likely serious about getting the info shared there, so visitors from the news site may be high converting if your service/product fits their interest. In general, try to think of the value to the human visitor rather than the SEO value... you'll tend have a more clear answer on what to do every time.

I hope this helps!