SEOClerks

Content Gating - Benefits and Drawbacks



Write the reason you're deleting this FAQ

Content Gating - Benefits and Drawbacks

Content Gating is basically the type of content you can't access unless you give some personal details out like your name, email, social media profiles, etc.
Content Gating - Benefits and Drawbacks Why would you publish gated content on your website? Well, gated content can help you gain very detailed leads which you can use in various forms to increase your earnings by targeting very specific audiences, you will never get this type of control with free content.

The Benefits:

  • Very effective outreach to people that are interested in your product;
  • Your content once accessed will be perceived as valuable and important, people may share it directly with their friends and family, the value things works better if you offer a PDF;
  • You will have a lot of information on everyone that accesses your content.

The Drawbacks:
  • Few people will go through the trouble of writing several lines of personal information just to get their hands on your content. The content itself must be insanely high quality having details and maybe statistics find nowhere else;
  • You will gain no off-page SEO benefits because practically no one will link to a gated content;
  • You may get some people and customers upset because you are restricting content;
  • You will not rank with this content because you won't have anything of value to offer Google.

What do you think of gated content? Have you ever done this? Do you think the benefits outrank the negative aspects?

Comments

Please login or sign up to leave a comment

Join
hitmeasap
I personally don't like this type of things, but I've tried it a few times. I did this using my SEOClerks affiliate id for instance, when I gave away $5 coupons for new affiliates. It was easy and it brought me decent results in the beginning, but to me, it just doesn't feel right. To lock content this way, is selling the content in one way, according to me and that's just awful. - That being said, I do understand why people are locking content, and I can see why people will continue to do so, but I don't like to do it myself.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Lynne
I have tried to access "premium content" before that was gated and I was terribly disappointed when I got in after handing over my details. It is not something I will be doing again.

I think if I ever had to do gate content it would have to be some really mind-blowing content that I am sharing.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?

CryptoGuru
This is a very good way to generate repeat clients or repeat traffic to your website. I have subscribes to many different websites because the only way i could get the content i needed was to sign up. While doing this i also has to agree to a newsletter, now they can market to me. This is great for businesses to grow, especially in the tough market we live in today. These types of marketing strategies also have a very bad name like Lynne mentioned. Many websites offer certain software or content in exchange for filling out a survey. When you take the time to fill out the entire form you get redirected and you never get what you wanted in the first place. That is the reason why i think locking content will never work on a wide scale and will never be used as a go to strategy for marketers. I have never done this and i don't think i ever will but who knows! Thank You for sharing this i appreciate it its a good read.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?

EliteWriter
I cannot stand this method. I , for one, would not be willing to provide any personal data unless I feel it is absolutely necessary for me to gain such access. Most likely I will just go to look for whatever I need somewhere else where I feel sort of more secure. I hate giving out my personal information.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Kakashi2020
I don't believe in content gating because it would severely limit your visibility. Most people won't spend time to register, while others would just leave half finished. Ive noticed that people would tend to spend time registering only if they would earn something from it and not to access free written information with pages of search results.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?

Corzhens
If my understanding is right that gated content is a site that you need to register before you can see the content then I’d say it has no benefit at all especially when the user has to pay something to register. I have come across several sites with gated content so I believe that there are webmasters who are doing that. I’d say they are losing so many prospective clients to their business.



Are you sure you want to delete this post?