How to Paywall Your Blog Like The New York Times
There are many paywallson websites such as The New York Times as well as The Wall Street Journal. Traditionally the setting up of these types of gates for content that have a lot of force is a complex process and significant expense.
The days of paywalls are gone. Thanks to the software, creating paywalls like the ones you find on top publication is relatively affordable and codes are for free .
In this post, we'll discuss about howyou might need to setup security for your blog's content. We'll also show how to create your own powerful paywall (just as The New York Times') directly on your website, step by step. Let's do it!
A Brief Introduction to Paywalls
A paywall may sound intimidating, but you run into paywalls more frequently than you realize. If you've ever paid for an online course, subscribed to a Patreon subscription, or even subscribed to one of the top news sites, you've probably been through a paywall.
Paywalls allow you to make money from digital content by requiring the user to pay a payment before they can access the content. Access to the content can be granted as a subscription, membership or as a one-time payment.
A common strategy is to block the content behind a paywall in exchange for other content free (to get users hooked).
It's the same with The Wall Street Journal and other online newspapers - where it is only possible to read the following content before signing up:
Patreon is another instance of a paywall. This type of paywall allows fans of musicians and other content creators can purchase memberships that grant access to restricted content:
There are numerous ways of setting up a paywall. Therefore, your choice of strategy is contingent on the kind of content that you're offering, and also on the quality and demand.
Why You Might Want to Block Your Blog with a Paywall
If you have a modest personal blog, there might be no need to monetize the blog at this point. Keep in mind, however, that adding a paywall can increase the perceived value of your blog and allow you to access information about your clients.
It is completely flexible paywalls. You can therefore decide the price you'd would like. In this case, for instance, your "required payment" could be something that is as easy (and free) as giving an email address.
If you do this, your paywall would be doing double duty and make your website appear superior while helping to build your email list.
For larger and more long-running blogs, you may be seeking a method to make sure your blog pays for itself (or even earns a profit).
Paywalls, in contrast allows you to earn money by running your blog through a method which is completely yours to control. In addition, you won't need to distract readers with ads or try to persuade them to purchase other products from third parties.
Also, using a paywalled subscription or the model of membership, you are able to...
- Generate a steady income stream with less intrusive methods.
- Increase the perceived value of your contents.
- Grow your email contact list.
How to paywall your blog with (In 3 Steps)
The process of setting up a paywall on your blog manually is complicated lengthy, tedious and takes a lot of technological know-how. Fortunately, takes care of the work involved and complexities to make it simple.
We'll show you how by step.
1. Install the plugin
Go to the WordPress dashboard, then go to the Plugins tab, then Add New. Click on the the Upload Plugin on the upper right of the screen. Click on the File tab and locate your .zip file on your system.
Within a couple of minutes, it will be unpacked and then connect to your site:
When the installation is completed, you'll need to hit the activate plugin button. Be sure to enable your plugin's license in addition. When you've done this, you'll be all in good shape and all set.
Step 2: Design your Membership Plan(s)
Next, you'll need create or make the subscription or membership plans that users will pay for in order to access your content that is protected. For this you need to go to the Memberships tab and then Create the following information::
This page lets you fully customize your membership plan. You can give the membership a name, choose the price, decide if the payment is one-time or recurring, and even set up a trial period.
You'll also find additional settings inside the Membership Options box below the editor's main menu:
There you can create a unique thank you message, customize the payment options that are available to readers for payment, and more.
Once you've finished setting up your subscription or membership plan, you can publish it.
Step 3. Paywall Your Content
Once you've provided readers with the option to buy access to premium content, you just have to create your paywall. To do that, head to the Rules tab and then Create new:
Under the heading Protected Content You can decide which areas of your blog are protected behind a paywall..
You could, for instance, simply choose all Posts to allow you to restrict access to your posts. You can also select One Post to lock just a few articles
No matter what you choose, you'll want to choose Membership from the drop-down menu in the Access Terms. Then, in the field that appears, select the subscription or membership plan that you need to access to paywalled content:
Once you've done that, you're able to make your rule permanent to repeat this procedure until you paywall all of your blogs as you'd like.
Conclusion
Finding a way to make profits from your blog could be difficult. If you're not selling a product or making money from ads then it may not be clear what you could do to turn your efforts into money.
A paywall can be the perfect solution, letting you generate money from the audience, by allowing them access to your content.
- Install the plugin.
- Design your own membership plan(s).
- Make sure you paywall your content.
Do you have any doubts about which paywall model is best for your situation? Tell us more about your blog's features in the comments section below!
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