We will tell you everything about what a Membership Site is and how a membership site works for . Do not miss any detail to become an expert.
you’re going to meet the types of membership sites and which one best suits your needs. You’ll see the benefits of a membership site model and how to securely earn scalable income.
Also You will learn how to easily create a membership site in WordPress. Finally, you will learn about the best platforms to create a membership site without making mistakes.
What is a membership site?
A membership site is a membership website, which works through a periodic subscription that members must make to receive exclusive products, services or content in return. Generally, these membership sites have information freemium which can be accessed without any restrictions, but the most up-to-date and relevant data has limitations that are only available to subscribers.
Thanks to this business model it is possible to obtain monthly resources using the same contents, since the creator must work only once to upload the necessary information to his page. As the members grow, the earnings will also increase, since it is not urgent to add more interesting data. Note that For a membership site to be successful, it is advisable to keep the platform updated with valuable data.
How does a membership site work?
The operation of a membership site is easy to understand. A content creator uploads valuable information to his personal blog or web page, then develop a marketing strategy to gain visibility and get people interested in joining the membership site through a monthly or weekly payment.
Thanks to this benefit, subscribers can access unique and exclusive content, something that they will not be able to do if they do not pay their periodic payment. People who are not part of the subscription list have the possibility of seeing content in a limited way, so if they want to know all the available resources, they should pay for the membership and be part of the community.
Types of membership sites
The types of membership sites that you can set up to earn money through the membership business model are the following:
of content
This type of membership sites are intended for tutorials and online courses, with which subscribers acquire exclusive knowledge of one or more topics. It is one of the most widely used models, since any page or personal blog can upload freemium content, but it maintains the most relevant information on the matter in a premium access mode.
For example, talking about cryptocurrencies can attract many visitors, but to know key concepts of this business, such as what trading or holding is, you need to access it through a monthly subscription.
Of products
In this case, the membership sites work through the modality of anticipate demand for exclusive users, that is, through discovery marketing. Thanks to the monthly subscription, members of a membership site will receive free or discounted products on a regular basis. It is also possible to find business models in which significant discounts are offered in the prices of the online store to subscribers.
A example of product membership is when an e-commerce sells imported perfumes and fragrancesIn exchange for a subscription, the store sends members free products to try on a weekly or monthly basis.
of services
A service membership site is widely used by independent professionals who offer their knowledge to advise to website subscribers. It is possible to carry out an online advice or to carry out a service on the assets of the members. For example, a doctor may receive a particular query from a member of the site or a hardware specialist may run a cleanup service on subscriber computers.
Advantages of the membership site model
The advantages of a membership site model are several, which we mention below:
- The time you will invest is independent of the number of subscribers: This means that if you have put in a certain number of hours to upload all your content, you won’t need to dedicate more time when your community members increase, since you will have all the material posted on your site.
- You will get scalable income: The amount of money that you will earn for the same work will increase according to the members who pay for the subscription. For example, if you charge a monthly fee of €10 and have 20 followers, your salary for the month will be €200, but if you manage to increase the number of members to 50 you will earn €500 per month with the same content.
- Easy loyalty: If you achieve good engagement, you will always have a number of 100 subscribers on your site, which will help you manage a certain amount and plan your finances. Also, when you set a specific image of your membership site and always upload quality content, the loyalty of the members will become easier and they will pay their fee every month.
- It is possible to live from a membership site: The recurring income that you will obtain according to the number of subscribers will help you to live from it, without having to make a significant effort as it happens in other Internet businesses.
- You do not need great computer knowledge: To create a membership site you will be able to use platforms that will help you schedule your page and manage member subscriptions. For this reason, an important advantage of this business model is that you only have to worry about uploading high-quality content.
Learn how to create a membership site in WordPress
If you want learn how to create a membership site in WordPress, pay attention to the following step by step in which you will find the necessary tools to install a plugin and configure it.
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Download WordPress
Before starting, you need to buy a domain and hire a hosting service for your membership platform. After that, the first thing you should do is have a content management system installed on your computer and on the server, in this case we choose WordPress as CMS. So that, you must enter the link with your browser https://wordpress.org/ and press the button Download WordPress.
Once you have the file you will have to install the folder in zip format on the hosting, you can do this by pressing Extract. Then go to the option Databasespress on the tool Create a new database and generates a user with administrator privileges. Continue with the steps in the wizard to finish the installation and sync your domain with WordPress and hosting.
Configure the CMS
When you have all the previous stages completewhat you will have to do is customize WordPress theme.
To do this you must follow this guide:
- go to the left column and look for the tool Appearance to click on it.
- then select Topics.
- press on Add new.
- Choose a topic from the list which will unfold, this will make your membership site the layout you want. If you want, you can choose the paid themes, although there will be no problem if you opt for a free format.
- Once you have chosen the visual design that you like the most, you will have to click on Install.
- Go to the button Activate and press on it.
- Choose Personalize and modify the points that you need the most.
Choose a plugin for your new membership site
This decision is important because based on your choice you are going to configure your site and in this way you will get a better or worse performance of the membership site and your project. For example, depending on the plugin you choose, you can include several types of payment, select the blocking method for subscribers who did not pay on time or simply choose whether to implement subscription levels.
Among the most popular plugins that you can opt for are:
- Paid Memberships Pro: It offers the possibility of assigning up to 6 different payment methods, receiving reports from each subscriber, giving exclusive discounts and customizing content restrictions. If you go to https://www.paidmembershipspro.com/pricing/ you can choose the free version of the plugin.
- Member Press: It is one of the most used plugins for membership sites, as it offers simple tools to charge members of your site and block content in case of non-payment. You can restrict the entry of each subscriber, dividing the action into pages, files and categories. Keep in mind that the payment method offered to your subscribers is annual and is done through PayPal or Stripe.
- LearnDash: It offers simple tools to manage the subscription of the members of your community, so with just paying a little more than €150/year you will have access to modules and integrated applications that will make your work easier. You can try a demo to see all its features at https://demo.learndash.com/.
- WooCommerce Memberships: This plugin is ideal if you are going to send physical products to your membership site subscribers. Its tools help manage information about tracking and moving items, so you can differentiate yourself from the rest of your competitors by providing limited access to purchase exclusive products.
- Ultimate Member: If what you are looking for is a directory of members with their records and the profiles of each user, do not hesitate to install this plugin in WordPress. To restrict the content of your membership site you must choose, from its intuitive toolbar, an automated function with which you will not need great experience to manage your site successfully.
Install the plugin
What will remain to be done create a membership site in WordPress it is configure the plugin within the CMS.
This can be done with the following process:
- Login to the WordPress control panel and inside the dashboard look for the function Plugins.
- When you enter the tool, press the button Add new.
- Go to the search bar and write the name of the program you have chosenin accordance with our previous recommendations.
- Once you see it, press on it and then click on Install Now.
- Continue with the download steps and when the process is finished select the option Activate plugin.
Configure your new plugin
This step will depend on the program you have chosen. to set up your membership site, but usually You must choose the different tabs available to program one by one the options. Do not forget to configure the payment method, the type of content restriction and the different subscription levels.
Best platforms to create a membership website
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