There are many paywall vendors that offer various options for having a paywall plugin on your site so that you can turn what was free into something people have to pay to view. A paywall is how owners of digital content ask for users to pay for access to that content. Pay a fee, become a subscriber and you can get full access to the information they have. Newspapers, blog owners, magazines are the most common sites that choose to monetize their sites but any can do it if they have content they think people will pay for including app creators, content creators, and software providers.

Hard paywalls versus Soft paywalls

If you want to completely restrict any access to the content of your site then you would put in a hard paywall. When people come to your site they are straight away given a prompt page to pay and subscribe. Metered paywalls or soft paywalls are a little different. Visitors get to have some limited access to the content and then when you reach the limit set by the site owner, you then have to pay to continue. That limit might be a time one, or it might be so many articles to access for free, or there might be a trial offer.

Tips on creating a successful soft paywall

Businesses choose to use paywall solutions so that they can earn an income from subscriptions generated from their site, instead of relying on ads. You do not have to start a new website to do this. You can use a paywall plugin on an existing site. Here are some ways you can make your site with a soft paywall more successful.

• Give visitors some flexibility – Let them have some access to premium content and features so they see your content has value and is worth signing up for. Other ways of being flexible could include offering more content but with a time limit on that use.
• Try to be friendly, not pushy – Your calls for signing up should not be pushy as that is more likely to make people leave. Be friendly, try to connect, perhaps even try being funny. Stay lighthearted and keep your visitors happy. Build on brand loyalty.
• Find some balance – When you start looking at paywall vendors consider how you are going to offer value to the customer as well as an incentive to sign up.
• Offer more to those that pay – If they are paying members they should always get more from you than the free visitors. If people have paid but then are expected to still use credits to access parts of the site they are going to wonder why they bother paying at all.
• Do your best to not make people feel like they are hitting a brick wall – You do not want people seeing the paywall solutions you use as a brick wall that frustrates them. People who are frustrated are not likely to give you their money!