Building a membership site is hard work. Between developing high-quality content and attracting new customers to your page, getting a membership site up and running is no easy task.
Unfortunately, the hard work isn’t completed just because the website is finished.
For your members to get the most out of their subscription, you need to create an easy-to-follow content structure that makes it easy for them to move from piece to piece. If the content of your structure is sloppy, it may push your members away.
Why Is Structured Content so Important?
When a customer logs in to your membership site, they’re going to be looking for a path to follow. If your content is thrown together without any clear structure, members may get overwhelmed and leave your page.
Strategically laying out your content shows your members exactly where to begin. Not only does this make their experience more enjoyable, but it will also prevent them from skipping around, getting confused, and leaving your site. Instead, they can find the information they need easily and efficiently.
How Should You Structure Your Membership Site Content?
There is no right or wrong way to structure the content within your membership site. What works for one membership page may not work the same for you. In order to find your right structure, you need to consider the types of content you’re sharing and what your audience may be expecting.
There are many ways you can structure your content, but let’s take a look at a few of the most popular:
Create a Web of Linking Pages
If your content follows a clear trajectory, creating linking pages is one of the simplest ways to structure your content. With linking pages, your user moves through your content by moving from one page to the next.
Linking your pages in the order it should be followed can also prevent your member from getting lost or skipping ahead. Because they will need to view each page before they move on to the next one, you’ll have more control over how they view your content. Here’s an example of what that navigation looks like from Sprout Social’s Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing:
Source:Â Sprout Social
Unfortunately, this does come with some drawbacks as well. Members may have a difficult time finding the page they left off on or may need to click through a number of pages before they find the one they’re looking for.
Use Modules or Courses
Creating modules or courses is another way to provide some structure to your content. By breaking your content down into pieces, your members can follow through on their own time. Courses and modules allow you to segment your content based on topic and provide a clear path from start to finish.
Source:Â DigitalMarketer Lab
Courses are useful for in-depth information and DigitalMarketer Lab is a great example of this type of structure. They use Execution Plans to break their content into smaller chunks, making the content easier for users to absorb and more focused on specific topics. If you’re looking to share detailed content or information that can be complicated to grasp, courses may be the right way to go.
Keep in mind that courses give the impression that you will teach the readers how to do something. If your reader won’t walk away with a new skill or a deeper understanding of a topic, a course may not be the right structure.
Develop a Drip Campaign
A drip campaign is a way of sharing content where pieces of information are slowly fed to the user over a predetermined amount of time, typically through email or a workshop format. Because you determine when the content is shared with the member, you can control their pace when absorbing content.
The subscription yoga website, Udaya, utilizes this strategy for existing members. In addition to unlimited streaming of hundreds of yoga classes, members can sign up for yoga workshops and challenges, where they receive access to one yoga class per day, in a predetermined order.
Source:Â Udaya Yoga
Content dripping is a great way to ensure your member continuously comes back to your site. Because your user isn’t able to breeze through your content in a day or two, they become more loyal to your brand and your business. It also prevents them from canceling a membership early. As long as they’re waiting on content from your drip campaign, they’ll stick around.
However, many customers are used to instant gratification. You don’t want space your content too far apart or users may lose interest in what you’re sharing.
To appeal to members who want everything quickly, you could consider offering membership site tiers. Offering different content at different price points would give users the opportunity to purchase all the information at once.
How to Create Great Content for Your Membership Site
Finally, the way you structure and share your content is important, but it won’t matter much if you’re not creating valuable information for your members. If you want to retain your member’s interest (and business), you need to create the best quality content possible.
When creating a membership site, it’s always worthwhile to invest in quality tools that will produce better content for your audience members. This can include a camera for recording video blogs or podcasting and screencasting tools for webinars. Developing valuable materials for your membership site means you can charge more per subscription, retain more customers, and attract new business.
Remember to focus your content on what your target audience needs, not what you think they need.
Consider what questions they need answered, what kinds of content they enjoy engaging with, and how they may want to navigate your membership site. Instead of forcing them to follow a structure you think works, collaborate with your target audience to develop a page they’re excited to visit.
Organization is key when it comes to creating and maintaining a great membership site. Using the right membership site software can help you create an awesome page that both you and your members love.
