Introduction to Membership Sites

Understanding Membership Sites

The internet has revolutionized the way we learn, interact, and do business. One of the innovative ways that businesses, creators, and educators reach their audience is through membership sites. A membership site is a part of a website that users must sign up to access. It often contains exclusive content, special offers, and the opportunity to interact with a like-minded community. Essentially, it's a gated part of your online business where only members who subscribe can access the content you've placed behind the gates.

Membership sites have become increasingly popular because they provide a recurring revenue model. Instead of a one-time purchase, members pay regularly to access your content, products, or services. This could be a monthly, quarterly, or annual payment. This model provides business owners and creators a steady income stream, which can contribute to the overall growth and sustainability of their business.

Why Choose Wix for Your Membership Site

When it comes to building a membership site, there are several platforms to choose from. Wix stands out as one of the top choices for a variety of reasons. First, Wix is user-friendly, making it easy for anyone to build a website, regardless of their technical skills. With its intuitive drag-and-drop editor and a wide selection of templates, you can create a professional-looking website in no time.

Secondly, Wix provides robust options for creating a membership site. With the Wix platform, you can easily add a members area, manage your members, create multiple membership tiers, and more. You also have the option to integrate with a variety of third-party applications to enhance the functionality of your site.

Finally, Wix offers comprehensive customer support. This means that if you ever run into any issues while setting up or managing your membership site, help is readily available.

Planning Your Membership Site

Defining Your Target Audience

Before you begin building your membership site, it's essential to define your target audience. This is the group of people that you believe will be most interested in your content, products, or services. Understanding your target audience will help guide your decisions about what content to offer, how to structure your membership tiers, and how to market your site.

To define your target audience, consider factors such as their interests, age range, occupation, and the problems or challenges they are facing that your membership site can help solve. Surveys and market research can provide valuable insights into your potential audience.

Establishing Your Site's Value Proposition

Your value proposition is the unique value that your membership site offers to members. It answers the question, "Why should someone subscribe to your site instead of a competitor's?" Your value proposition should be clear, compelling, and specific to your target audience.

When establishing your value proposition, consider what makes your content, products, or services unique. Perhaps you have expertise in a specific field, or you offer a unique approach to solving a common problem. Maybe you provide comprehensive resources that aren't available elsewhere, or you have a vibrant community that members can't find anywhere else.

Deciding on the Types of Content and Features

Your membership site can offer a wide range of content and features. The specific types of content and features you choose to include will depend on your target audience and your value proposition.

Some common types of content offered on membership sites include articles, tutorials, webinars, videos, podcasts, e-books, and downloadable resources. You might also offer features such as forums or discussion boards, live chat, private coaching or consultations, and special events or meetups.

It's important to choose content and features that will provide value to your members and align with your overall business goals.

Structuring Your Membership Levels

Many membership sites offer multiple membership levels or tiers. Each tier provides a differentlevel of access to the site's content and features, and comes at a different price point. Structuring your membership levels is a key part of planning your membership site.

When structuring your membership levels, consider your target audience and their willingness to pay for different levels of access. Also consider the value provided at each level. Each tier should provide clear value for the cost, and higher tiers should offer significantly more or higher-quality content or features.

Common structures for membership levels include a free or trial level, a basic level, and one or more premium levels. The free or trial level allows potential members to experience some of the value of your site without a financial commitment, which can be a powerful marketing tool. The basic level offers core content and features, while premium levels offer additional or enhanced content and features.

Pricing Strategy for Your Membership Site

Your pricing strategy is another key component of planning your membership site. Your prices need to reflect the value that your site provides, while also being affordable for your target audience.

When determining your prices, consider the cost of creating and maintaining your site, your business goals, and what your target audience is willing and able to pay. You might also consider what similar membership sites charge, although it's important to base your prices primarily on the value of your own site rather than on what others are doing.

Remember, pricing is not set in stone. You can experiment with different pricing strategies and adjust your prices over time based on feedback from your members and the success of your site.

Getting Started with Wix

Setting Up Your Wix Account

Creating a membership site on Wix begins with setting up a Wix account. This is a straightforward process. Visit the Wix website, click on the 'Get Started' button, and follow the prompts to create your account.

Once your account is set up, you can start creating your website. You will be prompted to choose whether you want to use the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to create your site automatically based on a series of questions, or use the Wix Editor to create your site manually. Both options are user-friendly and provide a wide range of customization options.

Choosing the Right Wix Template

Wix offers a wide range of templates that you can use as the foundation for your website. When choosing a template, consider the needs and preferences of your target audience, as well as the type of content and features you plan to offer.

For a membership site, look for a template that includes features such as a blog, a members area, and an online store. You can also look for a template that matches the aesthetic and tone of your brand. Remember, all Wix templates are fully customizable, so you can change any aspect of the template to suit your needs.

Navigating the Wix Editor: A Brief Overview

The Wix Editor is a powerful tool that allows you to customize your website to your exact specifications. The editor operates on a drag-and-drop basis, meaning you can move and position elements on your site simply by clicking and dragging.

The main features of the Wix Editor include the site menu, where you can navigate to different pages of your site; the toolbar, where you can access tools for adding and adjusting elements; and the sidebar, where you can access settings and options for the selected element.

The Wix Editor also includes a variety of apps that you can add to your site to enhance its functionality. These include apps for adding a blog, a members area, an online store, and more. The wide range of customization options makes the Wix Editor a powerful tool for creating a unique and functional membership site.

Building Your Membership Site on Wix

Adding a Members Area

One of the first steps in creating your membership site on Wixis to add a Members Area. This is a special section of your site where members can access exclusive content, interact with other members, manage their account, and more.

To add a Members Area, go to the Wix Editor and select 'Add Apps' from the left sidebar. Then, search for 'Wix Members Area' and click 'Add'. Once you've added the Members Area, you can customize its settings, including who can become a member, what members can do, and how members sign up.

Customizing Your Members Area

After you've added a Members Area, you can customize it to suit your needs. This includes customizing the design of the Members Area, setting up member roles, and creating member-only pages.

To customize the design of your Members Area, go to the Wix Editor and select your Members Area. Then, click 'Settings' and select 'Design'. From here, you can change the colors, fonts, and other design elements of your Members Area.

To set up member roles, go to your Wix Dashboard and select 'Members Area'. Then, click 'Member Roles' and 'Add New Role'. From here, you can create different roles for your members and assign different permissions to each role.

To create member-only pages, go to the Wix Editor and select 'Menus & Pages' from the left sidebar. Then, click 'Add Page' and select 'Members Page'. From here, you can create a new page that is only accessible to members.

Setting Up Your Membership Tiers

Setting up your membership tiers is a crucial step in creating your membership site. This is where you decide what content and features are available at each tier, and how much each tier costs.

To set up your membership tiers, go to your Wix Dashboard and select 'Members Area'. Then, click 'Member Plans' and 'Add New Plan'. From here, you can create different plans for your members, including the name of the plan, the price, the billing cycle, and the access level.

Once you've created your plans, you can assign content and features to each plan. This could include access to specific pages, posts, or products, or access to special features such as live chats or forums.

Creating and Managing Member Profiles

Member profiles are an important part of any membership site. They allow members to manage their account, interact with other members, and personalize their experience on your site.

To create member profiles, go to your Wix Dashboard and select 'Members Area'. Then, click 'Member Profiles' and 'Add New Profile Field'. From here, you can add different fields to your member profiles, such as a profile picture, bio, and social media links.

Managing member profiles is also easy with Wix. You can view and manage all of your members from your Wix Dashboard. This includes viewing their profile information, managing their subscriptions, and more.

Adding Content to Your Membership Site

The content on your membership site is what will attract and retain members. Whether you're offering articles, videos, podcasts, or other types of content, it's important to add new content regularly to keep your members engaged.

To add content to your membership site, go to the Wix Editor and select 'Add' from the left sidebar. Then, choose the type of content you want to add, such as text, image, video, or audio. You can also add apps such as the Wix Blog or Wix Video to make it easier to manage and display your content.

When adding content, keep in mind your membership tiers. Some content might be available to all members, while other content might be exclusive to certain tiers. You can manage access to your content from your Wix Dashboard.

Incorporating Community Features

Community featuressuch as forums, chat rooms, and comment sections can enhance the value of your membership site by fostering interaction and engagement among your members. These features can create a sense of community and belonging, which can help retain members and attract new ones.

To incorporate community features into your Wix membership site, you can use the Wix Forum and Wix Chat apps.

Wix Forum allows you to create a fully functional forum where your members can start discussions, post replies, like, and share posts. To add Wix Forum to your site, go to the Wix Editor, select 'Add Apps', and then search for 'Wix Forum'. Once you've added the forum, you can customize it to match your site's design, create categories for discussions, and set permissions for who can post and comment.

Wix Chat, on the other hand, allows you to have real-time conversations with your members. You can use it to provide customer support, answer questions, or simply engage with your community. To add Wix Chat to your site, follow the same steps as adding Wix Forum, but search for 'Wix Chat' instead.

Remember, fostering a sense of community on your membership site isn't just about adding the right features. It's also about how you engage with your members. Make sure to participate in discussions, respond to comments, and show that you value your members' contributions.

Marketing Your Membership Site

Creating a Marketing Strategy

Once you've created your membership site, it's time to attract members. This is where a solid marketing strategy comes into play. A marketing strategy is a plan of action for promoting your site to your target audience.

Your marketing strategy should include tactics for both attracting new members and retaining existing ones. This might include content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, paid advertising, and more. Your specific tactics will depend on your target audience, your resources, and what has worked well for your business in the past.

Building an Email List

Building an email list is a powerful way to attract and retain members. You can use your email list to promote your content, offer special deals, and keep your audience engaged with your site.

Wix makes it easy to build an email list with its integrated email marketing tool, Wix ShoutOut. To start building your email list, go to your Wix Dashboard and select 'Marketing Tools', then 'Email Marketing'. From here, you can create a sign-up form for your site, create and send email campaigns, and track your results.

Using Social Media to Promote Your Site

Social media is another effective way to attract members to your membership site. You can use social media to share your content, engage with your audience, and increase awareness of your site.

To use social media to promote your site, start by setting up business accounts on the platforms where your target audience spends their time. This might include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. Then, start posting regularly about your content, your membership site, and your industry.

Wix also offers integration with many social media platforms, making it easy to share your content directly from your site.

Leveraging SEO for Increased Visibility

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a technique for improving your site's visibility in search engine results. This can help attract more visitors to your site, increasing the chance of gaining new members.

Wix offers a variety of SEO tools to help improve your site's visibility. These include the Wix SEO Wiz, which guides you through the process of optimizing your site for search engines, and the Wix SEO Patterns, which allow you to set SEO patterns for your site's pages, blog posts, and products.

Managing and Growing Your Membership Site

Monitoring Your Site's Performance

Once your membership site is up and running, it's important to monitor its performance. This includes tracking your site's traffic, member engagement, and revenue.

Wix provides several tools for monitoring your site's performance. These include the Wix Analytics, which provides insights into your site's traffic and visitor behavior, and the Wix Reports, which allows you to create custom reports on your members, sales, and more.

Engaging with Your MembersEngaging with your members is crucial for the success of your membership site. It not only helps to retain existing members but also attracts new ones by creating a vibrant, active community.

There are many ways you can engage with your members on your Wix membership site. As mentioned earlier, community features like Wix Forum and Wix Chat are excellent for fostering engagement. You can also engage with your members by responding to their comments, featuring their content, hosting live events, and more.

Another effective way to engage with your members is through email. Regular email updates about new content, upcoming events, and other news can keep your members engaged and informed. You can also use email to gather feedback from your members, which can help you improve your site and your offerings.

Continually Adding Value

To keep your members coming back, it's important to continually add value to your membership site. This means regularly updating your content, introducing new features, and responding to your members' needs and interests.

One way to add value is by offering exclusive content or experiences to your members. This could be a monthly webinar, a downloadable resource, a members-only podcast, or anything else that might interest your audience.

Another way to add value is by improving your site based on feedback from your members. Listen to what your members have to say about your site and your content, and make changes accordingly. This shows your members that you value their input and are committed to providing a great experience.

Planning for Growth

Finally, it's important to plan for the growth of your membership site. As your site grows, you may need to upgrade your Wix plan to accommodate more members, add more features, or increase your site's performance.

You should also have a plan for scaling your content production as your site grows. This might mean hiring additional content creators, investing in better content creation tools, or finding ways to create more content more efficiently.

Planning for growth also means being prepared for the challenges that come with a larger membership base. This could include managing a larger community, dealing with increased customer service demands, or maintaining the quality of your site as your membership grows.

Conclusion

Building a membership site on Wix is a comprehensive process that involves planning your site, setting it up on Wix, creating and managing your content, marketing your site, and managing and growing your site.

By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a successful membership site that provides value to your members, achieves your business goals, and grows over time.

Remember, building a successful membership site is a journey, not a destination. It requires ongoing effort, experimentation, and improvement. But with the right approach and the right tools, it's a journey that can be incredibly rewarding.