A membership website is one that usually contains content and services that are restricted to users who log in using a membership id and password. At the same time, they may or may not have a free section for non-members. Either way, these websites aren’t actually very easy to develop. There is usually a lot of technicality involved and it takes a lot of time, patience and trial and error. However, if you indeed want to set up such a website, you could just bypass all the hassle by going for turnkey membership websites.
However, even when you go for a turnkey solution, setting up a membership website does take some work. They are different from your usual turnkey sites and we’ll take you through the ‘how’ in a few steps.
The key point about a membership website is that users pay for the subscription so that they can get unique valuable content and exclusive offers or services. This basic premise seems to be at cross purposes with the whole idea of a turnkey website. Turnkey websites come with preset content and images, and even if they don’t sell it to hundreds, a turnkey website is sold to multiple people. This means that they just won’t do for membership purposes.
However, there is actually a lot of backend involved as well. And this is where the turnkey solution comes in. When you buy the basic framework of a membership website, you actually get all the backend readymade. The content is however, yours.
So when setting it up, here is a step by step guide:
- Start by working out the topic of your website. This will help you to determine which turnkey option to buy – because the design and other aspects have to be in sync with the topic you choose.
- Research to find out what people want in your niche and whether you have any competition. Also, knowing about your competition can give you a better idea about what to do with the website.
- Get your content in order first – and make it unique and valuable. Also, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to catalogue the content you are offering at launch so you can present that as a snapshot of the privileges of an early sign up.
- If you want to make money from your membership website, you will need to get more people to join – and for this we suggest you get your marketing strategy meticulously planned.
- Now look for the specific turnkey solutions you need. They could range from simple copy-paste scripts to completely custom builds. Depending on what your requirement is, how much you are ready to spend, and what fits your budget, get the right package.
- Install the turnkey solution to your domain. But do not launch till you have tested it and have got your content up. After that start both publicity and launch.
Building a membership website is somewhat more complex and time consuming than your average website, and while turnkey membership websites can make the task easier for you, they can in no way be the only thing you do. The backend taken care of, you need to then expend your time, acumen and resources into building up a website that will attract and keep members.