Links to "topics" 302 to a login page

Losing page rank? Or not

[richinberlin]

I have a new client, whose main page, has 30 links(of 100 on the page total) that purport to take the user via a link to a category page.
But the link immediately redirects to a login page, then when the user logs in, they are redirected to an entirely different URL. not that that matter, Google can't getet to this final page anyway.

So... am I losing 3/10 of the link juice from this page?
Or are these all treated as link to the login page?
Shall I convert these "links" to form submissions?

[NickMNS]

The links are of little to no importance. The questions you should be asking are:
What is the user's intention when clicking the link?
Why is the link being clicked?
What does the user expect see once the link is clicked?

And more specifically, based on the information you provided.

has 30 links(of 100 on the page total) that purport to take the user via a link to a category page.

If a user expects a category page, then you should show that. From the statement above it would seem that the user is trying to learn about the product, asking a user for a login at this point seems like a big ask, that will cause many to drop-off at that point. Is a login really required to show the category page?

Google can't get to this final page anyway.

No but it is possible that Google can tell when users are not getting what they are looking for, and that is likely a much bigger ranking factor than trying nit-picking internal allocation of link juice.

Oh, and then there is that side benefit that the user find what they want and so they are more likely to buy more.

[richinberlin]

It's basically a paywall. If you want more, you need to login, then you can see the content. That people drop off, is not the issue. The powers that be are happy to take the drop off, from the overall increase in sales, by getting people to sign up. Let's leave this. It's an offtopic distraction. It's been A/B tested. From the same amount of users, it makes more money having it than not, I won't convince anyone to remove it. My job is to diffuse it.

"The links are of little to no importance."
Can provide reasoning why?

"No but it is possible that Google can tell when users are not getting what they are looking for,"
Then... a form submit would prevent this, as Google stop following at this point. So seems in am almost accidental way, you are recommending a form?

[Wilburforce]

purport to take the user

Forget Google. Frustrate user intent at your peril.

[Wilburforce]

And if

It's basically a paywall.

then tell the user. Otherwise, at best it is unethical.

[NickMNS]

It's basically a paywall. If you want more, you need to login,

That's fine, I'm not judging on what is the right or wrong approach, it's your business.

Let's leave this. It's an offtopic distraction.

This is where I disagree. This is not off topic, it is really the root of the problem. But clearly you feel that "sculpting link juice" will address what ever ranking issue you face. Practically speaking internal links all point to the same place, there are menus, footer links and links from other pages on the site all cross linking one to another, this funnels link-juice throughout the site. It seems really unlikely that removing an internal link would have any measurable impact on "link juice". But removing links (or adding links to unexpected locations) will certainly have an impact on usability and that can have direct impact on rankings.

Then... a form submit would prevent this, as Google stop following at this point.

I think we have a fundamentally different views of how Google "follows". Yes, with a form is not a link so it will be "no-follow". But if the user is shown a form and drops off, and returns back to Google, then Google sees that and uses that information. It sends the signal that the page does not meet the user's intent.

Basically what I'm saying is whether or not the links is a "form" or a "href" will have little impact on ranking. What will make a difference is that when the user clicks they get they expected result.

If it were up to me, I would make it such that when the user clicks the "link", if the user isn't logged in, they are shown a login modal(popup) that explains the paywall, and provides the user some offer, and if the user doesn't want to sign-up/login then let them close the modal and continue to view the page they were on, and if the user signs in then they are redirected to the destination page. In either case the user gets to continue their journey with minimal friction.

[richinberlin]

If it were up to me, I would make it such that when the user clicks the "link", if the user isn't logged in, they are shown a login modal(popup) that explains the paywall, and provides the user some offer, and if the user doesn't want to sign-up/login then let them close the modal and continue to view the page they were on, and if the user signs in then they are redirected to the destination page. In either case the user gets to continue their journey with minimal friction.

Because this solves both the possible problem of lost link juice and also likely provides a better user experience.

Thankyou