Creative tips and tricks

How to Upsell by Creating an Ad-Free Membership for Your website

Apr 28, 2023

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Recall when you last read a news story or, perhaps, your favorite recipe from a website. The ads can be exaggerated.

In some industries, though, publishers and creators need those ads to monetize their products - no matter if readers are a fan or not.

And most readers don't. So, almost every recipe website has an "Jump to Recipe" button. It's likely that those are the most frequently clicked links on the internet!

There's also the silver lining of potential to the cloud of disdain hovering over your ads. And that silver lining is upselling.

If you've got an WordPress website that is built on the concept of monetizing ads there's an amazing opportunity to upsell free readers into paying members.

And you can do it quickly, no matter how or where you show your advertisements.

Low Hanging Fruits to use on WordPress Websites

can create an ad-free experience that your customers will appreciate (and be willing to pay) for.

It is easy to hide your ads from the view of members who pay. And because is so flexible that you are able to design a unique ad experience based on membership levels.

A blog about recipes could publish all its content for free, including ads throughout. A few options for ads include:

  1. Sidebar Widgets
  2. Header Widgets
  3. Footer Widgets
  4. In-line Blocks
  5. Popups

In order to create value for paying members, the site owner may block certain or all advertising areas for paid members.

Convert visitors who are free to paid Members easily

For example, you can hide pop-up ads and in-line ads for basic members.

So, your basic members will still be able to see the sidebar or others located outside the content section. In addition, you could give them a pro upgrade that will block all advertisements.

The structure might look like this:

  • Free Visitors who are free can view all advertisements in the header, footer, sidebar and in-line with content as well as pop-ups
  • Basic - Visitors only see ads in footer, header and the sidebar
  • Pro - Visitors see no ads

Strategies for Serving Ads on WordPress

First, let's look over the most popular methods of serving advertisements on the WordPress website: static insertion and dynamic insertion.

Static Insertion

This method is great for those with one image or link to share as an ad. You can do it by inserting the image, and then placing a link behind it with an editor for blocks.

 Dynamic Insertion

This is a more common technique that inserts pertinent ads within specific areas. A plugin or theme often determines where advertisements will be displayed up. Most often, a third party advertising network, like Google Adsense, will determine the ads that will be displayed.

Whether your ads are dynamic or static ad insertion, the methods for hiding your ads from paying members are the same.

How to hide advertisements for Paid Members or Subscribers on WordPress

If you're seeking the best way to give your readers a premium level and ad-free experience, then it's best to begin by installing .

It's the most reliable solution for controlling content visibility for content on WordPress. I'll show you what I mean.

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What can you do to configure your system for an Ad-free Experience

Installation is just as simple like installing any other plugin. After installation the program guides you through the main steps to setup easily.

We've written a lot about the subject, and we've got this video tutorial that will start you off fast.

WATCH >> SETUP OVERVIEW

If you don't already use a theme or plugin which can manage ads then you'll need to set up a plugin. There are a variety of free and premium plugins that provide dynamic ads insertion. The one I like the most, and one we use for , is AdSanity.

In the case of the illustrations of this blog post I'm using my 2nd most used ad management tool, Advanced Ads.

Using Rules to Remove Ads for Members

After you've been installed and configured now, you're ready to create your ad-free policy. Within the admin panel, go to -> Rules and create an entirely new rule. Use the partial rule type for this.

In my sandbox site, I have two levels of membership: Premium and Executive. The rule I've set up is to limit the content I offer the Executive membership. I intend to hide adverts from members who have joined my Executive membership.

In the image above, you can see example shortcodes that show or conceal content in accordance with this principle. So, let's start there.

Using a Shortcode for Hiding advertisements on WordPress

All the popular Ad Management plugins allow you to display ads using shortcodes. In this case I'm making use of the Free Advanced Ads plugin.

This method can be accomplished using our suggested AdSanity, a plugin and virtually every other ad management plugin.

Put your advertising shortcode in the place you wish to show ads. Wrap it around your Hide shortcode. This is how it appears using an in-line ad spot between paragraphs in my fictitious blog.

This method hides the ad contents from my executive level members. Anyone not an Executive member is able to see the ad. In my use case, the Premium members will still see the advertisement.

You can see ads in the sidebar as well? It's a widget, I'll show you the best way to manage ads in widget areas next. But first, here is what my Executive members experience when they read the same article.

Utilizing Protected Blocks to block advertisements by hiding ads WordPress

When you install , you'll see a new block item called Protected. This is a protected block. It gives you control over nearly any component of your content within WordPress.

You can add a protected block to a course, page, lesson, or even the form of a widget. The AdSanity plugin lets you add an advertisement or a group of ads into the widget.

So, to hide ads inside a widget, put a protection block in the widget. That's how you can do it with Divi.

The WordPress admin menu go to Divi > Theme Customizer. Select Widgets, and then Sidebar.

When you add the protected block, just configure it to reference your preferred rule. Then be sure to select the option to block the content of members who are included in the rule.

The next step is dropping your advertisement or group in the block that is protected. Then be sure to save the configuration and test the configuration!

Wrapping UP

It's clear that makes content control a breeze. If you're using advertisements to make money from your blog, you need . Imagine earning consistent, steady revenue from paid customers or members.

It's a great way to upsell those who are your faithful readers. This doesn't need a lot of work. One of the most challenging aspects could be deciding how much to charge for subscription...

How much should you charge for Ad-free Membership

It doesn't require many paid subscribers to be worthwhile. You should set a target of how many return visitors you'd like to convert into paying members. Are you able to convert just 20percent of your frequently visitors to subscribe?

For a great illustration of how this technique is being put to use check out my personal favourite recipe blog 40Aprons. Of course, they're also among our most loyal customers too.

Watch NOW >>40 Aprons STORY OF A CUSTOMER

Are you unsure of the best way to increase sales by creating an advertisement-free version? Ask away in the comments section!