Terms
The process of securing content with paywalls might be the most important option a content creator could make. The perfect balance between creating content that is free as well as monetizing it could be a challenge. You want people to find your site however, you must also be able to establish a business that is sustainable. Let's discuss the details of how to creating content and answering a few essential questions.
What is the definition of a paywall?
Think of a paywall as a gate restricting access to the content. It's as a garden shared with a locked gate. For those who have a key to unlock the gate, they can go into the garden as often as they wish, but for those without keys who do not have a key, they are required to remain in the secure gate.
Just as a garden gate allows people to enter the garden, a content gate or paywall lets people access parts of your digital content (which is also known as content that is gated). The content could include a podcast, newsletter or blog or course, and the key in this case is likely a special account or password that allows access to specific people. Gaining a 'key' might be accomplished through becoming a subscriber of that podcast, or buying the course, or even signing up to be a member of that blog.
Paywalls are a good idea, but why do they need to be used?
There are two main reasons to gate content behind a paywall. Both have to do with the development of your business's success:
The content you put by a paywall implies that the audience has to pay for access which can be done by setting up a monthly/annual subscription or making a single purchase like a life-time subscription or donation. This payment will 'open the door' to allow access to your website, blog post or podcast. There are a variety of applications that offer the ability to facilitate the link between users as well as paid content.
Gating content allows you to collect information from users, allowing you to build more of an understanding of them and foster stronger relationships. It is possible to use this information to better understand your audience through the creation of an email database and then altering the user experience on your website. As an example, you can ask for a member's preferred language, and then show them content in that language. Of course, you'll need be clear about the fact that you're asking for your personal information with the aim of reaching them according to GDPR.
What is the reason to you don't use the paywall?
As with all decisions there are pros and cons to gating content. "Hiding" content behind a paywall implies that the content is not visible to Google's crawling algorithms. If you don't plan it well, this could significantly impact the effectiveness of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) initiatives, which is one of the most important ways for searchers to find the site. This is why it's not advised to restrict or gate all of your content.
Also, in order for people to open their wallets you must convince them to invest in your brand and this trust is earned by people who are engaged in your posts. Be generous and share some of your favorite and (popular) contents publicly and at no cost. This will help to gain readers' trust.
What is the best time to use a paywall?
There must be a balance between giving away content in free offer and what content to hide behind a paywall. The process of finding this balance is about the most difficult and important thing for any creative looking to make money from their work.
Our customers and potential customers often ask us "How much content should I put behind the paywall?" but it's better to take into consideration what content should be gated rather than how much. To decide which content needs to be protected it is important to consider a couple of important questions:
What's the goal? When creating a blog, article or podcast, consider the (primary) goal of this piece of material. Do you want to boost your brand visibility, including establishing yourself as an authority within your sector? Do you want to make or earn revenue from your material? Are you trying to build your database (often called 'generating leads')? The answers to these questions will let you know what content should be gated or restricted.
Who are your competitors? There's no need to ask people to pay for things if they could get it for free elsewhere! While researching your next piece of content look up if related content from the same area or subject is available and freely available. You shouldn't be afraid to write additional content on the same topic, however, like all good content the key is to be certain that your readers are getting some benefit from your work that other authors don't have. This might include a first-hand experience or a unique perspective which no one else is able to provide.
Are you adding the right to the value? If your content doesn't add value to your people who read it, then it shouldn't be censored. The content you offer must be unique and provide the information you can't find in other places or be provided in a format that offers high 'production value'. Examples of this are longer-length information such as detailed analyses as well as ebooks and downloads are best suited for paywalled/gated material, whereas shorter pieces like blogs with up to 1000 words generally work better as free or untagged content.
The location to construct the gate
It's an additional aspect to take into consideration when gated content and that's how much of the piece itself is required to be secured. Return to the garden gate analogy: if you want guests to come to a certain area within your garden (perhaps a building within the garden), it's better to let them visit only a tiny portion of the garden to engage them, then show them the secret area that they need to unlock.
Then, you can 'upsell' a metaphorical ticket to the private zone. In this case, you would create the gate after guests have experienced some of the garden that is public. It's and not at the entry point of your private land.
In the world of digital media, the alternative is to let a visitor read a few paragraphs of your content before the gate/paywall gets activated. In this way, the user is already interested in the tale and is more likely to divulge their information with you or pay for a subscription in order to keep reading.
How do you block content behind a paywall
There are a variety of alternative platforms that could help you 'build the gate'. Instead of providing an extensive list of options but instead, let us stick with what we know best: gatekeeping content on WordPress. Here are just a few established WordPress plugins to help you gate your content:
If you'd like to know more, feel free to get in touch. Hit the red button and start chatting with our team right now!