Content has become a critical part of the game plan for websites across the globe. The idea is that businesses can increase awareness, engagement, and conversions with the right content.
While much of the access to content on the Internet has remained free, moving to paywalls is a change that isn’t always welcomed. There are many cases though, where setting up a paywall makes sense and can help businesses to increase revenue and capitalize on their quality output.
What is a Paywall?
Paywalls are a way to restrict access to content that lives on a website. Until a user pays to access it in some way, they will not be able to digest the copy.
Today, businesses of all sizes are setting up paywalls instead of relying on ads to bring in revenues from the online channel.
If you’ve been considering adding a paywall to your site, you might be wondering if it makes sense.
To start, you should know the different types of paywalls and what makes them unique.
Subscription Paywall
A subscription paywall also referred to as a “hard” paywall, is one of the oldest formats of gated content. It restricts access until a visitor pays to access it. This can be done through a subscription to the site with a special log-in to gain access to the content on a one-off need.
This is what’s used a lot of time for companies that don’t want to restrict everything they put out on the web, but still want to gain revenues from some of the higher quality pieces they create such as white papers or exclusives in the publishing world, for example. In some cases, this can also be set-up as a “premium” membership where only some content is gated behind a paywall.
Metered Paywall
A metered paywall, also referred to as a “soft” paywall, is one of the most implemented types of paywalls used by a variety of industries. In this case, the payment option is only used in certain cases. In other words, an online browser has access to most of a site’s content until they reach a pre-set parameter. Things like the total number of pages clicked, or other factor triggers when to activate the paywall block.
This is a more subtle approach to weening readers into the pay model without demanding they subscribe and pay immediately. Instead of a focus on engagement and converting them based on value to sign up for the paywall feature.
WordPress Paywall
Another form of paywall that’s increasing in use today is tied to WordPress – the content management systems powering over 30% of the web today. With a WordPress paywall plug-in, it’s possible to monetize on blog and web content – even outside of large business sites down to personal bloggers.
Depending on the type of WordPress site, the paywall plug-in can help monetize the content produced and become an additional source of income if the content being put out is in high demand.
Subscription DNA offers a membership plug-in for WordPress that makes it easy to increase customer loyalty and quickly get up and running.