Ten subscription website publishing posts for developing profitable websites in 2015 and beyond
If you publish any type of periodical, then you’re no stranger to subscription websites. This year we published more than fifty posts about subscription website publishing. Below, you’ll find the ten read most by our web visitors and email subscribers.
For many years, our subscription website publishing posts have been the most popular players on our website. In fact, many of the Gold Members we work with today, started by reading the first post in this list. Enjoy!
1. The 9 Most Profitable Subscription Website Business Models [+ Video]
Choosing your content focus is a business-critical decision, as the focus you choose pretty much dictates your chances of success with a subscription website. However, more serious than the focus of a subscription website is the business model. Not considering the subscription website business model is a major mistake some publishers make. We’re currently researching an update to this very instrumental post for a comprehensive update of Subscription Website Publishing in Q2 of 2015. Look out for it!
2. The Mysterious UTM Code Explained
An Urchin Traffic Monitor (UTM) code is the way that businesses track sales from their origination point (like a tweet, email or a brochure) down the funnel to their conversion page. Every audience development campaign is packed with UTM codes to see which campaigns perform best. In Google Analytics, these codes can be tracked under the general “Traffic Sources” area just like any other source. How are you tracking your content?
3. The Membership Subscription Website Business Model
In this subscription website model, members (subscribers) register and pay to access information that is organized by topic or to research information and find answers to a question. Are you using a Membership as part of your business model?
4. 3 Top Niche Membership Website Ideas for 2014
Users of membership websites are looking for other people: Some are looking for dates, such as at Match.com, and others are looking for employers, as at The Ladders. Membership sites are about connecting people to people in a value transaction, and they work best when there are repeated transactions – if you’re single, you’ll be looking for many dates in order to find Mr. or Ms. Right. Here are three membership website ideas we like – can you add any more?
5. What Do the Best Membership Websites Have in Common?
The goal of a membership website is to acquire and retain members. After all, membership websites generate the majority of their revenues from user access fees. The business model is similar to a print newsletter or magazine that accepts little or no advertising, relying primarily on user support. What other characteristics can you find in common?
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6. Best-Practice Font Tips for Effective Website Design
A recent Digiday story on publishers’ new approach to site redesign reveals that in place of the customary massive overhauls every few years, magazines are now outfitting their portals with infrastructure enabling periodic tweaks and tune-ups rather than part-and-parcel transformations. The realization that redesigns are capable of doing more harm than good has fueled this change in thinking. What fonts work best for you? Which ones do you like on websites, and which do you dislike?
7. Usability Testing: 5 Heat Map Tracking Tools to Watch What Your Visitors Do
If you want to know why your website is, or is not performing, start conducting usability studies. A/B tests are great for content, but when it comes to seeing how users engage with your website, online heatmap tracking tools can make all the difference. What A/B and heatmap tests have you performed with surprising results?
8. 10 Types of Landing Pages and Knowing When to Use Them
The first thing you need in order to create great landing pages is a basic understanding of the types of landing page templates used by publishers. With that in mind, your odds of increasing landing page conversion rates will definitely improve. How many of these landing pages do you use?
9. Website Masthead, Nameplate or Header?
Print periodicals in the US have traditionally used the phrase nameplate to describe the top of their front page, which includes the publications logo. Masthead has traditionally referred to a listing of staff and ownership on an interior page in the US. International publications often use the phrase masthead to describe what publishers in the US call their nameplate. Web designers have taken a more basic approach in many cases by simply referring to the top of the webpage as the website header. What do you call them?
10. Create Better Vanity URLs: 8 Do’s and 8 Don’ts
You know the importance of landing pages, but it’s completely possible you don’t know how important your vanity URLs are. Vanity URLs that are too long, don’t make sense, or are hard to read can actually turn someone away, rather than attracting them to your site. Do you have any vanity URL tips to add?
Do you have a favorite subscription website publishing post? Let us know in the comments!
