Imagine walking into a museum that’s open to the public and allows you to check out all the exhibits whenever you like. Then, one day, you arrive and the staff asks you to subscribe to a friendly newsletter in order to see certain pieces, which happen to be your favorite ones.
What do you do?
Well, if the museum was good enough, you’ll certainly sign up and continue as planned.
The same situation happens when you gate the content on your website. But, in your case, getting that subscription means making a profit, so you need to make sure your museum is up to scratch.
Let’s take a look at some tips to help publishers lock the right content in order to increase profits.
What is Content Locking?
As you may have heard already, content locking is an awesome new feature that allows you to limit the parts of your website visitors can see without subscribing first. This means that you can gate entire pages, specific content inside of a page in order to encourage users to subscribe and gain full access to your platform.
With this feature, you can start profiting from the content that’s already on your website. You can also choose to keep the content that’s already on there accessible and simply implement this strategy with the new content you upload from now on!
Content Locking No-Nos You Have to Avoid
As you can imagine, content locking hangs on the quality of your content. But, this isn’t the only thing that can affect your visitor’s experience.
- Failure to Meet Expectations
Locking the content on your site is like starting a drumroll, so you need to make sure your visitors are dazzled by your delivery. If you don’t succeed or even meet expectations, you’ll have a major unsubscribing issue down the line.
- Gating All of Your Content
Gating all the content without giving anything away will raise suspicion, so users will quickly turn around and go somewhere else. You need to have both free and locked content on your platform in order to create a sustainable ecosystem. The free content on your site will attract visitors and gated content will help monetize your site as your popularity grows.
9 Content Locking Scenarios You Can Implement Now
There are hundreds of different niches that publishers can specialize in, all of which offer unique opportunities to lock content.
Below, we’ve put together a few examples of content you can gate based on specific website types. But, keep in mind you can use these ideas as inspiration when choosing which content to lock on your site.
Blogs and News Sites
Blogs and news websites should lock the most valuable pieces of content. This could be the latest news, editorial pieces, quality videos, exclusive photos, interviews, or other pieces of powerful content.
You can also leave the first portion of an article accessible and lock the main body. This will entices readers by giving them a sample and trying to spark their curiosity.
Aggregators
Aggregator sites usually have customizable features like playlists, reading preferences, or similar choices. You can also choose to lock searching features, calendars, or limit the number of times users can use your platform before subscribing.
Download Websites
Besides obviously blocking downloadable content on these platforms, you can also limit the search capacities or support features until you get the desired action.
Streaming Sites
Streaming platforms can contain anything from live sporting events to movies and shows. Whatever the stream may be, it offers a great chance to lock your content. You can even choose to lock all new additions and make them accessible to everyone as time goes by.
Converters
Currency, file, and other converters are used by some folks every day and the best way to lock these platforms is to limit the go button and other functionalities. The more complex the platform, the more chance you’ll have of limiting the features that are accessible.
Online Consults and Live Chat Platforms
As you’re probably already thinking, live chats and consults are the main things you can block on these sites. If you don’t want to go as far as blocking the chat or live consult features, you can request users to sign up after they have received advice or suggest additional content that requires a subscription.
Social Websites
Up and coming social media platforms should allow basic capacities, but request sign-ups for users that want to enjoy additional features. Or, you can opt to limit the ability to search for friends or view profiles after a specific number of queries.
Educational Sites
Besides informational content, these platforms usually contain quizzes, trackers, and other interactive features that are ideal for locking. Just make sure you leave enough content free to attract enough traffic.
eCommerce and Retail
Retail and ecommerce sites can also have gated content. While the products should still be available, you can ask users to create an account to view reviews, special offers, and exclusive selections that are only available to subscribers.
Selecting the content you want to lock on your site isn’t always easy or straight to the point. But, the tips above should give you a great idea of the parts of the website you’ll want to gate in order to boost your profits.
