I’m a big fan of subscriptions because it gives me varieties. Currently, I have an active subscription to Netflix, ZampleBox, and YouTube TV. Generally, with these subscriptions, you pay a small subscription to gain access to different things ranging from movies, content, products, etc.
Membership websites are now widely popular, so if you want to create a WordPress membership website, then you’ve come to the right place! In this article, I will help you create a WordPress Membership website with some simple steps.
Before we get started, you’ll need to have a WordPress website, to begin with. If you haven’t installed and created a WordPress website, check out my free WordPress installation service.
Use MemberPress As Your Foundation Plugin
By default, your WordPress website is not that great if you want to create a membership website. Fortunately, there are great plugins out there that will allow you to turn your simple WordPress website into a membership website.
Personally, I prefer to go big or go home and that’s why I’m going to eliminate free plugins and recommend MemberPress instead. It’s easy to use with powerful features.
With MemberPress, you can do the following:
- Create access rules to restrict certain user groups from viewing certain content. This is awesome if you want to create both free and paid membership.
- MemberPress integrates seamlessly with many WordPress forum plugins.
- You can generate coupons within MemberPress, so you can run your online promotions easily.
- MemberPress is designed to be light and extremely secure, so your users can have a better experience without the risk of getting their information compromised.
- MemberPress allows you to create dynamic pricing pages, so you can sell your membership plans like a professional.
- MemberPress integrates well with any WordPress themes.
- Drip your content by setting time of release as well as expiration.
- Create your own affiliate program with affiliate royale. This is included for free if you choose the Pro Edition.
- Track your revenue using their reports feature.
- Simple Payment Gateway Integration to allow you to easily bill your users for digital products or memberships.
- Manage your subscriptions directly from your membership website.
- and much more!
There are many options out there if you want to look around. But I highly recommend that you give MemberPress a shot if you are serious about creating a WordPress membership website.
Offer Your Users A Free Trial
Obviously, you should have a free membership for those who are just exploring. But how can they know if they should spend the money without getting a taste of the full package?
To entice people to subscribe, you should always offer a free trial. Some may or may not convert into a paid member, but people are more likely to convert if they get to see what they’ll be paying for if they choose to upgrade.
Most businesses are using this free trial model. Tea shops offer samples, so you can taste before you buy. Car dealerships offer free test drives, so you can be sure that the vehicle you’re planning to buy is the right one for you.
Free trials are also great promotional tools for your membership website. If you look at most advertisements, they are not designed to sell. Instead, they are designed to get people to try for free.
Upgrades Need To Be Worthwhile
If you want to increase paid membership conversions, it will need to be worth upgrading. For example, awesome free content that delivers extreme value and paid content that offers value at a whole different level.
For example, there’s an item flipping website that gives you information on items that you can flip to make money in a game called RuneScape. It’s a great website even for free members, but the items you can see are limited.
If you want the full access to every item, you’ll have to upgrade to their premium membership. For people who are playing RuneScape, this upgrade is necessary if they want to flip items at a different level.
You can do the same for your membership website. I’m going to use Global MoneyLine as an example:
- Free Subscription: Free members can interact with anyone that sign up after you. However, you can only send messages to 1 person at a time. This limitation does not apply when responding to a message that was sent to you.
- $20 Bronze Subscription: You get the same access as a free member except you can now send messages to 20 people at a time. If you refer users to Global Moneyline, you can earn up to $20.00 on each sale.
- $50 Silver Subscription: As a silver subscriber, you can now create targeted ad messages plus you can earn up to $50.00 (annually) per referral.
- $100 Gold Subscription: You can now send messages to 100 people at a time. Gold subscribers can also create targeted ad messages on a rotating basis for new members to view. You can also earn up to $100.00 per referral.
- $250 Platinum Subscription: You can now send messages to 250 people at a time and the potential to earn up to $250.00 (annually) per referral.
- $500 Diamond Subscription: You can now send messages to 500 people at a time plus access to the Diamond Center List Management Tools. You can also earn up to $500.00 (annually) per referral.
- $1,000 Double Diamond: You can now send messages to 1,000 people at a time. You can also earn up to $1,000.00 (annually) per referral.
Just in case you’re wondering what Global MoneyLine is about. It is a lead building generator for online businesses who want to promote their products and services. This is quite effective since Global MoneyLine has approximately 304,742 subscribers.
Offer Promotions To Your Subscribers
Some people won’t subscribe simply because they don’t think it’s worth the money. That’s why you should segment your list for each level of subscription. For example, by offering your free members a discounted price to upgrade (if they haven’t upgraded after 30 days), it will entice them to upgrade.
The same applies to the higher levels. Offer a discounted price to upgrade from bronze to silver, silver to gold, gold to platinum, platinum to diamond, and diamond to double diamond.
The most effective way to upsell each member is to do so immediately. Once someone upgrades to a certain level, you should include in your thank you email a discounted code or link for if they want to upgrade to the next tier.
In Conclusion
Starting a WordPress membership website is all about building the foundation and creating a community. It’s not going to be an overnight success, but it can become a great money earning asset if done properly.
The examples above are just examples. Each WordPress membership website will vary depending on the service and content. So do change your approach that fits your niche.
What I can do is to provide you with proper guidance to build your WordPress membership website, but in the end. It all boils down to you. What kind of value are you offering to your subscribers? Why should they upgrade? How can you turn them into lifetime customers?
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will try my best to help you out!
Kind Regards,
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