What paywall or pay model is best?


Paid content and advertising revenue models are, of course, not mutually exclusive and both make sense in various situations, but having the right tools and approach is crucial if you want to get the most value out of your publications.

Paid Content Options

There are several alternatives for paid models mixing free access and paid content.  Here is short list of some options that have worked well for others.


Simple Restricted access - This is not a direct paid model but a possible strategy to increase revenues.
Paid only for select articles - The WSJ model.
Paid after n articles are read - The FT and NYT model.
Paid after n articles weighted by scoring metric - Hybrid of Selected articles and Limited view.
Paid newsletters or premium publications - Distribute paid content in another channel.
Paid reports, guides, books, or services. - Traditional shopping cart model for special items. 

If your current paid model is not working you may want to consider variations of your model to allow more access to non paying subscribers. Augmenting with advertising is another option to consider,  particularly internal advertising that is targeted to non-paying viewers and to up sell others.
 

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