Allowing Search Engines to Index Private Pages needs Careful Consideration

The Times may suffer in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO) as a result of putting content behind a paywall, it has been predicted.

Sachit Patel, founder of Idea Taxi, said paywalls typically deny search engines of information, therefore meaning users cannot easily access it.  "Unless special access is granted, the search engine has no way of cataloguing that data, which will create an explicit reduction in the quality of SEO for that website," he explained.

If blocked pages are returned by search engines, this is likely to dampen the user experience of looking for the articles they need on the Times' website, Mr Patel emphasised, which may encourage them to look elsewhere.

Providing links through paywalls is a difficult task, mainly because the automated systems used to catalogue information cannot be easily accessed, he added.

Marketing Sherpa published a report on the effects of SEO on business to business products earlier this year, identifying that 24 per cent of the leads generated are of high quantity but low quality.

Furthermore, only 13 per cent of the links analysed were said to be of both high quantity and quality.