From what I hear from new clients and inquiries through this site, many of you want to turn your established site into a membership site that you can manage yourself. You are not a techy and don’t want to become one, right?
Whys (why it’s a smart monetization move for an established site):
You already have the hard part done: proven content, traffic, and trust. Membership turns that archive into ongoing revenue instead of leaving it as free/ad-supported value.
Recurring revenue is more predictable and scalable than one-off product sales or sporadic consulting. Even modest monthly fees compound once you have a core group of members.
It lets you gate or expand your best material (deeper tutorials, templates, updates, live Q&A, private resources) without starting from zero.
Members tend to engage more deeply than free readers, which strengthens loyalty, word-of-mouth, and future upsells (courses, coaching, higher tiers).
You gain clearer data on what people actually value and will pay for, making it easier to refine offers and content priorities.
It creates a natural filter: the people who join are more serious about the topic, which improves the quality of community interaction and reduces tire-kickers.
Existing email list and organic traffic become a ready-made warm audience for the launch and ongoing promotions.
What to consider before doing it:
Audience size and willingness to pay: Do you have enough engaged readers who already consume your free content and trust you? Test interest with a waitlist, survey, or soft launch before building the full system.
Content readiness: Is there enough exclusive or enhanced material (or a clear plan to create it) so membership feels clearly more valuable than the free site? Thin or recycled content kills retention.
Technical and operational load: Membership plugins, member areas, payment processing, access control, and ongoing support take time. Factor in hosting performance, security, and whether you’ll handle it yourself or need help.
Pricing and packaging: Decide on tiers, billing cadence (monthly vs annual), free trials, and grand-fathering existing fans. Underpricing is common and hard to raise later; overpricing slows acquisition.
Ongoing commitment: Memberships require regular value (new content, updates, community moderation, or live elements). If you can’t sustain that, churn will rise quickly.
Legal and admin basics: Clear terms of service, refund policy, privacy handling of member data, and tax implications for recurring revenue.
Transition messaging: How you frame the change to free users matters. Emphasize added value rather than “now you have to pay.” Plan communication carefully to avoid backlash.
Metrics and sustainability: Track conversion rate from free to paid, retention/churn, lifetime value, and support burden. Be ready to adjust or sunset if the numbers don’t work.
Now you know what you need to consider and think about. Next, you’ll need just the right plugin to make it happen.
A WordPress Plugin that Make it Easy
That’s why I put this quick post together for you to check out. Especially considering I have a favorite membership plugin and one I have used on and off over the years.
I won’t even talk about a plugin unless it meets the three criteria I look for to get a mention here on my site.
Top 3 WordPress Plugin Requirements
Easy to Use and Set Up
Works With Premium WordPress Themes
Outstanding Support
In addition to the above, I must have used it myself at some point. If I don’t have 100% confidence in a product, how can I possibly recommend it to you? Enter MemberPress*.
Access Rules are the magic behind MemberPress. With the click of a button, you can have extraordinary WordPress paywall power. You determine who has access to what.
Online Courses
Sell what you know. MemberPress Courses’ powerful LMS platform makes it easy for any creator to build and sell online courses and earn recurring income.
Coupons
Sell more and keep your customers with easy-to-customize coupons. Make as many as you want, and control expiration dates and the number of uses as well.
Drip Content
With timed content releases and content access expiration, you keep your content irresistible and your customers’ interest alive. Use FOMO to your advantage.
Community Building
Customers who hang together stay together. Make your website a place where customers can truly feel at home – and home is where their hearts will be. Community is a home run.
Pricing Pages
Short on time? Use one of the default themes to create a high-converting, dynamic pricing page in minutes – no coding required. That’s right — no coding required.
WordPress Affiliate Plugin
Use Easy Affiliate to build a non-salaried sales team. Referral marketing is the most effective and affordable promotional tool for new online businesses.
Payment Gateways
Never miss a sale because you didn’t offer the right payment method. MemberPress’s diverse (and easy-to-set-up) payment gateway has you covered.
WordPress Subscription Plugin
Enjoy the security of automated billing. And give members the freedom to join, upgrade, or cancel right from your website—that’s called easy account management.
More Membership Features
Multiple Membership Levels Your membership site can have multiple membership levels. You can create membership levels, such as Silver, Gold, Platinum, and so on.
Flexible Membership Options In addition to multiple membership levels, you can set different billing options for unlimited subscriptions.
Easy Integration with Existing or New Blogs Follow a few easy steps, and MemberPress will turn your existing or new blog into a powerful membership site.
Payment Modules Integration MemberPress seamlessly integrates with PayPal, ClickBank, Authorize.net, and other popular payment gateways.
Easy Member Management MemberPress lets you view all your members’ status, level, and other information in one easy-to-read location.
Pay Per Post Access The Pay Per Post access feature allows even more flexibility. MemberPress lets you offer free memberships that let users purchase content or articles on a per-post basis.
Download Manager Protect downloads from unauthorized access by assigning permissions based on different access levels.
Autoresponder Integrations MemberPress integrates seamlessly with AWeber, GetResponse, and MailChimp.
Customizable Check out and Members-Only Dashboard too.
Memberships + Communities = Success
This membership plugin is so robust that it’s impossible to list all its features here. Be sure to visit the MemberPress Membership Plugin website and check it out for yourself. Then go through the checklist above to get your ducks in a row and get to work.
At your service,
*Some of the links on this page are to companies with which I have a professional affiliation. Read my complete affiliate statement here.
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