The Art of Creating a Membership Site

Creating a membership site is an excellent addition to any business site or blog. They offer you a way to build an audience and grow your community of followers, while also making money with each new member.

Membership sites can be used for everything from creating an online course to offering members-only content like ebooks, monthly templates, coaching, webinars, and more.

Define your audience.

Before you can build a membership site, you need to know exactly who your audience is.

Who are they? What are their interests? What are their goals and aspirations?

If you don't have these answers, then how can you create content that will resonate with them? How can you engage them in a way that will make them feel like they're part of something special? How can you make sure they feel connected to one another and the community they're building together?

You have to know what makes your audience tick. You have to understand what drives them—what keeps them up at night, what makes them excited about waking up in the morning. When you know those things, then you can start building an experience around those desires—and that's when true magic happens!

Decide on your approach to monetization.

The first step in creating a membership site is deciding on your approach to monetization. There are three main methods:

• Subscription-based (members pay monthly or annually)

• Per-product (buyers pay per product they purchase)

• Paid content (members pay for access to blog posts, videos and other media)

Deciding what kind of business model you want will help you determine how much content you should create, how much it should cost and how often it needs to be updated. Remember that the more exclusive your membership site is, the higher its perceived value will be—and therefore the more likely people are going to buy into it.

Decide how you want to deliver content.

You can deliver content in myriad ways on your membership site. For example, you could use video content or audio podcasts. You might even want to create a members-only forum where people can chat and share ideas with others who are interested in the same topic as they are.

In addition, you could offer bonus material to members only, such as interviews with other experts in the field of your focus area. This is one of the most effective ways to create a sense of exclusivity among your subscribers.

Decide if you want to host it yourself or use a membership platform

Hosting your own membership site is more expensive, but can be more secure and gives you more control over your data. If you do decide to host it yourself, make sure that the software you're using is regularly updated so that security holes can be patched. Also consider hiring an expert to help with installation or troubleshooting issues as needed.

Plugins, themes and resources for membership sites

Membership sites make money by offering paid plans to subscribers. While there are many ways to do this, we recommend using a plugin called Memberships Pro. This is our go-to plugin for managing membership sites on WordPress and it's been well-developed over the years. It has many features like payment gateways, recurring payments and more.

The best resources for learning about membership site creation include:

• Mighty Networks - this is a platform that helps guide you through setting up your first membership site

• Kajabi - you can create, market, and sell your own profitable membership site with Kajabi's powerful all-in-one platform.

Your site will need several key pages.

Now that you have a clear idea of what your membership site will look like, it's time to start thinking about the key pages you'll need. The first is your welcome page, which should include a video that lets your customers know what they're getting into. It should also include an explanation of the benefits of being a member and show them how to get started.

You'll also need a login page, where users can log in with their user name and password to access their account. This page should also have an option for users who have forgotten their password or want to reset it.

Your members' area needs to be broken down into sections that include a dashboard, where members can see how much time they've spent on your site and how much they've earned; an inventory section, where members can see what they own; and a marketplace section, where they can sell items from their inventory for money or other goods.

In addition to the welcome page, there are several other pages that should be included in your site's navigation. These include:

1. A landing page

2. A product page for each product you sell

3. An about page that explains who you are and why your audience should trust you

4. A pricing page that explains what each membership package costs, along with any other fees or add-ons

5. An order page where customers can purchase their memberships

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You'll also likely need a forum for discussions with your members.

There are three main options for the forum:

• You can set up a forum with a plugin. This is the easiest way to install a forum, but it's also limiting. Because they're built into WordPress, they don't offer many customization options.

• You can set up a forum with a forum software like Mighty Networks. This option has many more features than plugins, but it's also more difficult to install and configure these types of platforms on your own site. Plus, there may be other things you want to do besides just create a membership site (like sell products), so this method might not work for your needs if that's included in your plans for expansion down the road.

• You can set up a forum hosting service that makes setting up and maintaining an active community much easier than doing it yourself! There are pros and cons to each platform though so make sure you read reviews before making any final decisions.

You'll need to set up automation rules for your membership site.

Automation rules allow you to set up triggers and actions for your membership site. You can use automation rules to send out emails, send out messages to members, or even send out messages to other members on your site. Automation rules are a great way to keep your members engaged by keeping them informed of upcoming events or updates.

You can also automate manual tasks like merging new members into groups or sending welcome emails when someone purchases a membership.

You'll need a way for members to pay and renew their subscriptions, and you'll need a way of tracking all of this and giving out login credentials.

In order to set up a membership site, you'll need a way for members to pay and renew their subscriptions. You'll also need a way of tracking all of this and giving out login credentials.

There are many different ways in which you can do this—some sites have specific software that does all the work for them, while others use free plugins or other tools.

The design of your site must be clean and easy to navigate (and mobile-friendly, of course).

The design of your site must be clean and easy to navigate (and mobile-friendly, of course).

Design should be consistent with your brand. As with any other part of your business, the design of your membership site should express what you stand for and communicate it clearly to visitors.

For example, if you’re selling yoga studio memberships, consider using imagery that evokes tranquility and peace. Or if you’re selling products online, use bright colors and bold fonts that attract attention. Designing a website is one way to tell people who you are without having to spend too much time explaining it—simply put: The look of the site says more than words ever could!

Design should be easy to update as well as user-friendly so users can find what they are looking for quickly and easily (no one wants a difficult user experience). If someone has trouble finding things or navigating through the pages on their first visit, chances are they won't come back again!

Conclusion

If you've been thinking about creating a membership site for your business, now is the time to get started. Membership sites are a great way to build a community around your brand, create a space for members to communicate with each other, engage with you, and let you monetize your content in a variety of ways. The best part? There are plenty of tools out there that can help make this process easier!

If you're looking to create a membership site for your business, or just get it online altogether, click here to learn more about how we can help you get it all set up!