A paywall blocks users and asks or requires them to pay for subscription in order to access content. And with digital reader revenue strategies on the rise across the globe, paywalls are popping up across publisher’s websites.
Here are 130+ paywall benchmark examples to inspire your own paywalling efforts!
*Note: these have been collected since October 2022 and are continuously added to, meaning the paywall you see here may not be live on the publisher’s website right now.
Paywall best practices to takeaway:
✅ Consider a soft conversion strategy, such as registration, to increase engagement prior to fully blocking the reader
✅ Ensure users have the chance to discover the value of your premium content
✅ Communicate a strong value proposition
✅ Include brand colors, selecting a single color to represent subscription
✅ In a freemium model, label premium content to reduce frustration
✅ Integrate other funnel steps into the paywall (such as the offers, payment or data collection) to reduce clicks and potential friction points
✅ Work on optimizing paywall visibility rate, aiming to balance frustration and engagement (we found 80% to be optimal, but A/B testing is recommended to find the best visibility for your publication)
✅ Make subscription easy, such as by offering account creation through Facebook/Google or payment through PayPal or Apple
✅ If you’ve already collected key data points (such as name or content interests) make use of it to personalize the paywall and experience. For instance, you could build a subscription offer suited to content consumption habits, or adapt the value proposition to their profile
