Hi Reader,

A strange thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I went to a website I’ve visited before, and I found I could no longer read the articles for free.

The website owner had put up a paywall.

If I wanted to read any of the articles on her website I was going to have to pay $1 per article.

So what did I do?

Without even thinking about it, I left, did a Google search, and found the information I wanted for free on someone else’s website.

I always find it fascinating to reflect on my own behaviour in situations like this.

Why did I react that way? Am I the exception… or the rule?

Well, here’s the thing. Not only did I leave the site – I also felt a bit irritated by the whole experience.

Rightly or wrongly, that paywall didn’t just stop me from reading the article, it actually left a bad taste in my mouth.

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The problem with paywalls…

The problem with putting a paywall up is not the idea of charging for content in itself – it’s WHERE in the journey you put that paywall.

If the first thing someone sees when they land on your site is a demand for payment, it’s an immediate turn-off.

And it adds friction.

Now your reader has to stop what they were doing, figure out how to pay, go through the whole checkout process… just to read ONE article. And all before they even know whether your content is any good!

The chances of them hitting the back button are extremely high – especially when there are literally hundreds of other websites offering similar information for free.

And let’s face it, most blog content isn’t unique. If you’re putting your blog posts behind a paywall, you’re probably just pushing your readers straight into the arms of your competitors.

Here’s the really important thing a lot of bloggers don’t realise… people don’t usually buy 'cold'.

They need warming up. They need to know who you are, like what you do, and trust you first BEFORE they’ll consider paying for anything. And you simply can’t do that with a paywall.

So when you block access right at the beginning, you’re not just stopping people from reading your content… you’re stopping them from ever becoming a fan, a subscriber, or a customer.

And then there’s the SEO issue...

If people are bouncing straight away, Google notices. Over time, this affects your rankings… and suddenly fewer people are finding you in the first place, and the whole thing becomes a downward spiral.

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A better approach…

Instead of hiding your content behind a paywall, a much better strategy is to use your blog content as a starting point.

Give people lots of great free content first. Let them get to know you, your style, your expertise. That builds trust and creates a desire for more.

Then invite them to join your email list with a helpful lead magnet.

Use your emails to continue the conversation – build trust, share more value, and guide them towards your paid products.

By the time you make an offer, they’re in a totally different headspace.

They’re more engaged, more invested… and much more likely to say yes.

Not only that, but they actually WANT to support you.

They’ve already had so much value from you, they feel a natural desire to reciprocate – a powerful psychological principle that can really work in your favour.

And unlike blog posts, the kind of information you put in digital products IS something your audience is willing to pay for. It’s more in-depth, more structured, more comprehensive… and therefore more valuable.

Your readers EXPECT to pay for that kind of thing!

(And your competitors are charging for that type of information too!)

Plus, once someone is on your email list, you can do so much more with them: market research, teasing new products, getting their input on new products, getting them on your waitlist, beta launches, new product launches, flash sales, evergreen funnels, link triggers, automations…

...and just that gentle drip, drip, drip of ongoing nurture via your weekly newsletters so that, when they are ready to buy something, YOU are the person they immediately turn to!

Oh and, as a little bonus, selling digital products actually boosts your SEO too (yes, really!)

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I bought a competitor’s product!

And, just to illustrate this whole point...

One of the paywall website’s competitors had a book on the same topic.

And guess what? I ended up buying it!

That book cost $27 – 27x more than the article behind the paywall.

But it didn’t feel annoying or frustrating – it felt like a great investment.

Like I said… It’s not asking for money that’s the problem… it’s the point at which you ask for money.

If it’s the first thing a visitor sees, it’s off-putting. It adds friction and it just feels “off”.

But if you take time to build a relationship with your visitor FIRST, and THEN pitch them something, not only are your audience much more favourably disposed to your offer… they are willing to spend a lot more too!

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Cloudflare’s new Pay Per Crawl initiative

Which brings me to one of this week’s big news stories...

Cloudflare just announced a new initiative called “Pay Per Crawl”.

You can read more about it here:

​Cloudflare to block AI crawlers by default with new Pay Per Crawl initiative​

​Cloudflare sparks SEO debate with new AI crawler payment system​

Essentially, they’re giving website owners the ability to either:

• BLOCK AI crawlers completely
• ALLOW them in for free
• Or CHARGE them

If an AI crawler tries to access content and the site has chosen the “Charge” option, it’ll get a “402 Payment Required” response – and Cloudflare will handle the billing.

Sounds really great in theory…

But will it work?

I have my doubts.

Just like with paywalls, this kind of system only works if EVERYONE opts in.

If only a fraction of the web is charging AI, the bots will simply learn from the rest.

And even if the entire internet got on board (unlikely), it’s doubtful that AI companies would be willing to pay to access EVERYTHING. They’d probably just pay for content from the biggest sites – and skip the rest.

Which means, once again, it’s the small creators who lose out.

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Blogging & SEO News

Here’s the rest of the Blogging & SEO News this week…

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​Google June 2025 Core Update Is Rolling Out - What We're Seeing So Far​

A new Core Update started rolling out on June 30^th. This core update is expected to take about three weeks to roll out. So far it doesn’t appear to have had a huge impact, but sometimes it takes a few days to really get going – one to keep an eye on! (But, as always, don’t do anything rash before it’s finished rolling out – sometimes things get worse first and then get better!)

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​How to rank for high keyword difficulty queries: A strategic guide​

An interesting article here about how to rank for high keyword difficulty queries.

Long story short, focus on building building E-E-A-T and topical authority, and write a high quality article that is genuinely helpful.

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​The Rise of AI Search Does Not Mean 'SEO is Dead'​

A brilliant article by Lily Ray (a well-respected SEO professional with 15+ years SEO experience) on how SEO is most definitely NOT dead.

In fact, as she points out “as more and more industry studies reveal, there is a huge overlap between the sites that do well in SEO and the sites most frequently cited in AI answers.”

And “many of the recommendations I've seen for driving visibility in AI search are literally identical to the things many SEOs have recommended for years.”

Lily believes that “optimizing content to drive visibility in AI answers is an evolution of SEO, and an extension of the work we have already been doing. But it is not a replacement.”

And that “the individuals stating that ‘SEO no longer matters’ are actually doing more harm than good.”

I could not agree with her more. Almost everything I see and hear about best practice for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is EXACTLY what I have been banging on about for YEARS in my SEO articles and my SEO course!

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​If AI killed your SEO strategy, you didn’t have one​

This article very much agrees with Lily Ray’s take and goes on to say that AI hasn’t broken SEO, but rather it has exposed it. “The shortcuts, the content mills, the over-optimized FAQs – all fragile tactics built to game a system instead of serve an audience.”

One of my favourite quotes from this article is “AI didn’t invent new rules. It’s just finally enforcing the ones that always mattered.”

Or in other words, AI is raising the bar… “Google is no longer rewarding content that just checks the boxes. If it doesn’t offer something original or isn’t clearly aligned with intent, it’s not penalized; it’s ignored.”

The article goes on to give lots of practical tips – like focusing on E-E-A-T, content quality and user intent…

...but also to focus more on traffic QUALITY, rather than traffic QUANTITY (which of course only makes sense if you sell something!)

It also goes on to point out that fighting AI is futile. AI isn’t a passing phase, instead we should embrace this change and learn to work with AI, not against it.

Like I always say, if you embrace the changes you can absolutely be a winner in the new AI era.

But if you stick your head in the sand… well I can almost 100% guarantee you’ll be a loser!

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What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on paywalls…

Have you tried putting any of your content behind a paywall?

Or have you ever stopped reading a site because they added one?

Hit REPLY and let me know – I’d love to hear your take.

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Happy blogging!

Eb 😊
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​Eb Gargano
​eb@productiveblogging.com​
​www.productiveblogging.com​

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