If I give all of my content away for free - or without requiring people to become “members” - am I cheating myself?
What are your thoughts on Premium content?
Will people become members or even pay for Premium content?
It seems like all of the major online publishers/newspapers are struggling with this topic, and yet, if people can come to my website (or client’s) and not have to do anything (e.g. register) or give anything (e.g. paid subscription) then how do you establish quality visitors?
I am also asking this question, because it is starting to occur to me that I need to build a “loyal” following instead of “drive-by” visitors who never return.
I need loyal visitors/members sort of like SitePoint has…
For most sites, the point of providing free content is that visitors keep coming back for that and then become aware of the products for sale (or ads that are being displayed). It’s a rare site that can get away with charging for content. It’s not even guaranteed that the big news websites will get away with it. We’ll see.
Some sites like ThinkVitamin (which runs online video courses) have some content for free and other content that you pay for. The free stuff is very good, which may inspire visitors to pay for the rest. That seems to be a valid modus operandi. But the content will have to be pretty darned good, I would think.
Premium content is rarely successful. To make it work, you have to have absolute killer content. Basically, if people can get it free anywhere else, even if it isn’t quite as good as your site, then you won’t get more than a handful of people paying to get into your site. And that assumes that you already have a reputation for excellent content, or some other USP to draw people in.
There was a thought a few years back that rather than pay for website subscriptions - which can be expensive up front, and don’t necessarily give value for money if you don’t end up using the website a lot - that we might move to a model of micropayments, where people would pay a few pence/cents each time they accessed a page. This vision of reality seems to have dropped out altogether. People are so used to being able to access everything for free online that the idea of paying for content is completely alien.
A name doesn’t really tell you who they are; and a location doesn’t mean much either: and they can easily just lie about both. It’s hard enough to get people to visit your site without locking them out until they give you information that they don’t want you to have and that you don’t need.
There are very few sites that really do well with premium content and the ones that do, it’s only because their free content is steller. You have to have really really good content for people to want to pay for premium. Why would they pay for something they might be able to get elsewhere for free?
I don’t think it would be wise to restrict your viewers commenting rights until they register, many won’t take the time to do it. I would use a simple comment form (name, email, message body), then let them submit the comment immediately. That said, I see no reason you couldn’t encourage your viewers to register.
When you ask your visitors to register, think how many will have the time and patience to go through the process, even if it is free and very simple? There are other sites which offer the same content free of cost and most of the visitors are likely to switch over to the other one unless your content is very unique, authentic and authoritative. With a very good and dynamic content, you can get your visitors to return to your site as often as possible…
But it does make things a bit more personal, and it lets them know that I know who they are (e.g. “Welcome Ralph”)
and a location doesn’t mean much either: and they can easily just lie about both.
Not entirely true.
For my one client who wants to do workshops, it would be helpful to know where people are located.
It’s hard enough to get people to visit your site without locking them out until they give you information that they don’t want you to have and that you don’t need.
But is asking for an Email, Password, Name and Location that big of a deal?
You give that much at SitePoint or registering for GMail.
Also, I never said I wanted force people to register before they can access the site. But maybe restrict how much they can see (e.g. Premium Content) and do (e.g. Post Comments).
I registered on the New York Times, SitePoint, other forums, Yahoo, GMail, etc.
There are other sites which offer the same content free of cost and most of the visitors are likely to switch over to the other one unless your content is very unique, authentic and authoritative.
If my content was already on the Internet or in a bookstore then I wouldn’t be building a business online. (And I think my clients feel the same?!)
With a very good and dynamic content, you can get your visitors to return to your site as often as possible…
What do you mean by “dynamic content”?
Well, from what I’ve seen so far (e.g. my Financial Planning client), excellent content is NOT enough to get first-time visitors or even repeat visitors.
(That is what this is ultimately all about.)
Want proof that horrible, nauseating content can flourish online think about sites like “Rate My Poo”…
I believe unique, informative, well-written content can be extremely success IF you can just reach people and get them hooked. However I have clearly failed myself and my client on figuring this point out…
I guess I need to find people who were in a similar situation and went from “Great Content with No Visitors” to “Great Content leading to $100,000/year in revenue”.
All those places are offer killer content. No one can compete with them so they can offer their content at premium. Chances are, your field is saturated with competition, many of which are offering free (reasonably good) content. If I were to start a site covering similar topics as Time (or some other big magazine) would people leave Time for my content? No! Why? Because I can’t compete with a well known magazine with such good content. Same with the web world, where there is just so much good content for free, mine would have to be a step (or two) above the rest which is really hard to do.
Users on a forum join because they want to take part in the discussion. Content is totally different, most viewers reading your content are looking for information on whatever subject, once they find the info they need, they’ll leave. Possibly returning to see what else you have later. That is when they might take the time to register. But if most of your good content is premium, how will they know that it is worth paying for? Your site should be free and viewers shouldn’t have to register to see your content. If your community is very large, then you could get away with charging for some of your content. But most of it should be completely free.
You could include simple spam protection to take care of that (e.g “What is 1 + 6?” or “Is snow white?”).
Many web communities allow people to take part without registering, although they give the option of registering for people who want to get more involved. This allows people to dip their toe in the water and decide whether they really do want to join you, without being put off by a pushy registration form at the first attempt. You have to give them a good reason for registering, and allowing them to participate as a guest user is a good way of engaging them.
The first rule of required information online is “Don’t ask for more than you need”. For a typical web community, that will be nothing more than username (why ask for first name and surname? For a start, that doesn’t work in all cultures, and for a second, many people prefer to be known by nicknames online (such as Stevie D, or DoubleDee)), email address and password. Once people have registered, you can them give them the opportunity to build a profile. (Again - city, state and zip are very US-centric. Being unnecessarily prescriptive will put off people from other countries. As soon as I see a website asking for my address/location in those terms, I’ll assume it’s aimed at USAliens and not a global audience).
If you let people “dip their toes” will they ever come back and register?
The first rule of required information online is “Don’t ask for more than you need”. For a typical web community, that will be nothing more than username (why ask for first name and surname? For a start, that doesn’t work in all cultures, and for a second, many people prefer to be known by nicknames online (such as Stevie D, or DoubleDee)), email address and password.
So let’s frame what I’m envisioning for my Financial Planning client…
He writes articles that help middle-class people be smarter with their money. As such, his advice could appeal to a large geographic and demographic audience.
At the same time, he would like to target people in his state, so that they can come in, sit down, and become face-to-face customers. (So knowing a little about people beyond an e-mail and password is important.)
He has also talked about giving Financial Planning workshops. Possibly for free or for pay. (So knowing a little about people beyond an e-mail and password is again important.)
So here are some different scenarios that I’m trying to tackle…
Scenario #1:
If people in his area wanted to attend an “Estate Planning workshop”, they could go to the registration form, enter their real information and pay with a credit card.
Here registration and creating a customer profile is easy.
Scenario #2:
Someone would like to comment on an article, but isn’t that committed to the website or getting financial planning help or attending a workshop.
What is the best approach here?
Scenario #3:
Someone is interested in certain types of articles (e.g. Small Business Help) or wants to know when new articles on some topic (e.g. New Tax Laws) becomes available. However, this person isn’t that committed to the website or getting financial planning help or attending a workshop.
What is the best approach here?
Scenario #3:
Someone is a casual surfer that may wish to comment on an article but has limited commitment to the site (at this point.)
However, with some coaxing and an ask for commitment, maybe they will take a leap of faith and register and become more active in the site.
What is the best approach here?
How can I take your advice and address these competing and conflicting target audiences??
Once people have registered, you can them give them the opportunity to build a profile. (Again - city, state and zip are very US-centric. Being unnecessarily prescriptive will put off people from other countries. As soon as I see a website asking for my address/location in those terms, I’ll assume it’s aimed at USAliens and not a global audience).
Well, for my client, he is USA-only based at this point. And in fact is even more narrowly focused on people in his home state. (Then again, based on your answers to my scenarios above, maybe there is a way to appeal to a larger global audience as well?!)
These are excellent questions and I am learning much from the many comments. I have similar questions, but am much earlier in my development. It seems like Debbie is looking for an increase in traffic, more return visitors, and a better understanding of the site visitors’ basic profile. Not knowing much about the site makes many of these discussions somewhat abstract. I would guess that a discussion board is more likely to garner user signups than a news site, for example. Anyway, I have a few thoughts/questions:
It occurs to me that there must be ways of gaining demographic insights using something other than user registration. Perhaps some sort of giveaway for people willing to complete a survey? Any site that sells its own advertising (rather than using a network) would seem likely to have a strong understanding of its users. How do sights that have their own ad sales do it?
I think some types of content can work for a paid or subscription model, but agree that those instances are probably more the exception than the rule. Knowing what sort of content DoubleDee has would help to assess this. I would suspect that most repeat visitors are more likely to be willing to register and sometimes it might take a few visits before that will happen.
It seems to me that some types of content are more likely than others to bring repeat visits due to the nature of the subject matter. I would think that if a site has info about a complicated or multi-faceted thing, (think, web promotions or photography or parenting) it is likely to generate a lot of repeat visitors because there is so much to learn.
I hear people say that if you have killer content, that people and search engines will find you. Providing value for your visitors seems to me to be an important step (maybe the most important), but it also seems to me that there is more to it than that. Just because a site has great content, it doesn’t guarantee visitors from what I have read. So what are the keys to letting the world find you? This is of particular interest to me because of the sites I am considering developing, I am unsure how I am going to get the traffic I would need to monetize it. The steps (SEO, PPC, link or banner exchanges, on and offline media, etc.) seem to be a bit like a bunch of puzzle pieces that don’t quite add up to a picture. If you build it, how can you be certain they will come?
Is the issue (and I’m speaking generally, not just about DoubleDee’s site) all about letting people find you, or is the issue about repeat visitors? It seems to me that if a site is not getting a lot of traffic, that’s one problem, but if it’s getting some traffic, but a super low rate of repeat traffic, then that’s a related, but slightly different problem. So to ask the question of DoubleDee, how many of your visitors are repeat visitors? What are your bounce rates?
Are things technically and strategically in line with the goals and value proposition of the site? Do your keywords line up with your target demographic? Does your UVP resonate with your visitors? Is the site optimized to serve both? Where is the white space (unmet need) in your particular vertical and are you optimized to fill it?
I am not sure if any of these are even relevant questions to ask, and have no idea of the value of such comments. But I would be interested in learning more about DoubleDee’s strategies and tactics, and learning what steps she is taking to achieve success.
If they like the site and see the value in coming back, they will come back whether they have registered or not. Bullying people into registering before they’ve decided that they do like your site and want to engage with it long-term will not make them come back. And having people who register and then leave immediately without ever returning isn’t any better than having unauthenticated visitors who leave immediately without ever returning.
Getting people to register is not an end in itself – you need to have a solid reason for both you and them why they need to register.
He writes articles that help middle-class people be smarter with their money. As such, his advice could appeal to a large geographic and demographic audience.
OK, that’s good, but I’m not seeing anything there that would require, or even benefit from, registration.
At the same time, he would like to target people in his state, so that they can come in, sit down, and become face-to-face customers. (So knowing a little about people beyond an e-mail and password is important.)
If you’re looking to push site registrants into coming in to an appointment, that’s what we’d call spam. It doesn’t matter if they’ve registered to use the site, that doesn’t give you the right to pester them into buying services.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for people to express an interest in making an appointment to see him, that’s different. But I’m then not sure how it ties in with registering to use the website. You could have an advert and quick form prominently linked on every article, encouraging people to sign up for an appointment, and at that point it would be perfectly reasonable to ask for a bit more information than just their name.
Scenario #2:
Someone would like to comment on an article, but isn’t that committed to the website or getting financial planning help or attending a workshop.
What is the best approach here?
Let them comment as an unregistered user. Why not, what have you got to lose? If they feel that they are welcome on the site, they are more likely to come back another time – when maybe they will be more open to the idea of using the pay services – whereas if they feel that the site is only there to push the pay services then they are less likely to return at all.
Well, for my client, he is USA-only based at this point. And in fact is even more narrowly focused on people in his home state. (Then again, based on your answers to my scenarios above, maybe there is a way to appeal to a larger global audience as well?!)
If the site really is aimed at a local audience then there is little need to worry about internationalisation. And financial planning possibly is an area where it’s safer to specialise in your own country, as taxes, laws and regulations can vary so much around the world.
Also, for determining locations of your general audiences, you could always use GeoIP to get a relatively accurate gauge of where they are.
9 times out of 10, when I go to a site that asks me to register right off the bat, I hit my Backspace button and click another link in Google. =p
Even if you were going to ask people to enter information, I think you’re looking for way too much.
For example, if you’re just interested in their state, you could easily just ask for zip without the need for an address. And as I said earlier, you can use GeoIP to determine their location, so you really don’t even need to ask for that.
Likewise, you could just ask easily ask them for “Name” instead of First and Last name, and just use whatever they enter if you wanted to make it personalized.
Asking people to register at all is difficult. Each question you add, the more difficult it becomes… it’s often hard enough just to get an email address.
Requiring people to register before they can add content (i.e. their comments) to a website that is not theirs is not unreasonable. (As far as I can see, every major online newspaper does this.)
Getting people to register is not an end in itself – you need to have a solid reason for both you and them why they need to register.
The same reason SitePoint requires it.
OK, that’s good, but I’m not seeing anything there that would require, or even benefit from, registration.
If you’re looking to push site registrants into coming in to an appointment, that’s what we’d call spam. It doesn’t matter if they’ve registered to use the site, that doesn’t give you the right to pester them into buying services.
Again, a bit presumptuous.
If people registered and left a zipcode or city and state, my one client would know how far people are away, if there is interest in a particular city or part of the state, etc. Then, if it turned out that there was a large number of people in Des Moines or Kansas City, then maybe he could write articles targeting those areas or run promotions for those areas.
No one said he was going to contact anyone directly…
Let them comment as an unregistered user. Why not, what have you got to lose? If they feel that they are welcome on the site, they are more likely to come back another time – when maybe they will be more open to the idea of using the pay services – whereas if they feel that the site is only there to push the pay services then they are less likely to return at all.
Personally, I think registered users give a site “character”. Can there ever be another Paul O or DeathShadow?!
Technically SitePoint could function on no registered users, but 60% of what makes SitePoint successful is the “community” it has established over time.
I realize commentors may be more one-off, but if people could register and have a screen-name and thumbnail and where they are located, it might encourage a community versus random anonymous posts?!
