WordPress.org is one of the most content management system (CMS) in the world. Used by approximately 75million websites of all types and size use WordPress to post new content each second. WordPress dominance is a result of its adaptability and the fact it can serve as the backend for standard blog, create a membership website, e-commerce websites, building a perfect website for small business and even static web pages. The CMS has quickly become favorite among both web-novices and web savvy users because of how simple yet powerful it is. One of the most misconception regarding WordPress is that it is only used for blogging. Initially WordPress began as a blogging platform, it has now grow into a powerful website builder and robust content management system (CMS).

Here are some of the most important reasons why you should start using WordPress for your business in 2022

• WordPress is customizable

WordPress is easy to use. You don’t need any coding experience to set up a website using WordPress, because it is customizable you can change or customize anything on your WordPress website without having to worry about compatibility issues. You can use one of the many it provides, or buy one of the various premium themes developed. One can also add and extend certain features to make the website function and perform just the way you want. This makes WordPress an ideal platform for small businesses who want to start up their own website but don’t have the time or resources to develop their own system.

• SEO friendly

Popular search engines like Bing and Google tend to rank websites that use WordPress higher than those that don’t. WordPress makes it easy by having some-built tools that tell you how SEO- friendly your content is. WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world when it comes to increasing search engine rankings. If you want to make your site SEO friendly, you can also add plugins such yoast SEO. These plugins make it easy to improve your site SEO and help you create more helpful pages.

• Flexibility

WordPress provide you with design flexibility this means one can design to have different layouts in their website instead of having a rational design. Allows designers and developers to create and modify layouts and applications. One has the option to just use a basic version of the platform to publish blog posts. And also use the other side for your business website and add widgets and plugin to add functionality.

• WordPress is free

WordPress is an open source software that doesn’t cost anything to download, install and use. One can use WordPress to create any kind of website. You can typically find themes and plugins for free but the premium( the ones that you pay for) ones often provide better features and quality support. Also WordPress doesn’t charge extra if your site starts to get more traffic than you anticipated. It’s important to note that the only core software is free, any themes or plugins you install may come at an additional price.

• WordPress is easy to use

WordPress is quite easy to use for beginners; one does not need any coding skills to create a website or blog. WordPress comes with a dashboard with various menus options listed in the sidebar. One can easily create posts and pages, add navigation menu’s and customize your site design.

• WordPress is safe and secure

WordPress makes it easy for you to enhance your site’s security with features like password protection for folder contents. However, if you use free security plugins and backup services, you can protect your site from hacking.

With a membership plugin, one is able to block some or all of your content allowing users to access when they pay an upfront or recurring fee.

Choosing the right platform to build your membership sites on makes a huge difference when it comes to growing your business.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST MEMBERSHIP PLUGIN FOR WORDPRESS?

With so many membership plugins it can be difficult to choose the best one for your site. Here are some of the things you need to look at when choosing a plugin:

• Features: when it comes to membership plugins you can purchase any types of features you want for your site. And if you are looking subscriptions and sell paid content depending on the feature that works best for site. You want to ensure the plugin you want to use makes it possible for you to gate the content and privileges as needed. And having an idea of what type of membership site you want to create will help you decide whether or not the membership tool you’re considering has the features needed.
• Ease to use: Always make sure you choose a plugin that is ease to use, apply and customize the various features of a membership plugin. It should also be simple to integrate payment option like PayPal, stripe etc.
• Compatibility: One should choose a membership plugin which is compatible with WordPress theme. If not, it will end up breaking your site and making things harder for yourself.

 THE BENEFITS OF USING A WORDPRESS PLUG IN MEMBERSHIP

• Collecting membership payments: One has the ability to monetize your website and collect payment from members or renew their membership without leaving your website.
• Control access to your content:  The best thing about membership plugins is  that one has the ability to control the access of their content. Allows you to release a specific amount of content periodically in order to retain subscribers.
• Community building: Effective way to build customer loyalty is by creating a community building. Which allows you to connect on a deep level with your target audience, increase your customer lifetime value and an opportunity to forge strong customer’s relationships.
• Generate revenue: requires site visitors to pay for access to your membership site.

              MOST COMMON TYPES OFMEMBERSHIP

• Online courses/ ecourses: This course might include: interactive projects, video, Quizzes and documents like PDF
• Fixed-term membership:  This is where customers pay for a short membership and they might have access to locked content for certain amount of time.
• Product membership: This is where digital and physical are sent to members on a recurring basis like clubs are popular examples of this type of membership
• A service –based membership: Requires members to pay for a certain amount of services that you provide, which includes coaching, consulting etc.
• An online community: with live charts, forums and articles to read and other resources that are not available to the public or unregistered users.

WORDPRESS MEMBERSHIP PLUGINS TO TRY IN 2022

• Member press

Member press is one of the easiest to use WordPress membership plugins. Member press provides a full membership suite with unlimited member support, digital products, drip content and coupons.

Features

• Customizable checkout
• Compatibility with WordPress theme
• Email notifications to keep you up-to date with member information
• Content dripping and contact access expiration
• Powerful LMS features for selling courses online
• Support for PayPal, stripe and authorize net
• Offer customizable coupons
• Integrate with easy affiliate plugin to create your own affiliate program
• Content restriction rules to protect posts, pages, images, video etc.

Cons

• Limited payment options: Member press only supports the 3 most payment getaways. This would be a deal breaker for site owner who live in countries not supported by these payment getaways.
• Limited integrations: While the plugins have enough support for popular services to run a membership site effectively, it still lacks extensible, you can pay someone to integrate a third-party service you would like to use.
• There are no free versions.

Price: member press starts at $179per year

• PAID MEMBERSHIP PRO

Paid membership pro is a free WordPress membership plugin that comes with great set of features and its extendable add-ons. The plugin is among the easiest to customize and even comes with its own WordPress theme. It has built- in integration of six payment getaways and extensive options for restricting content. You can get the basic version for free.

Features

• Create and control membership levels
• Compatible with PayPal, PayPal pro ,2checkout and stripe
• Unlimited membership levels
• Pay per post/view
• Customizable with email templates
• Flexible subscription pricing structures including recurring and one-time payment.
• Offer discount codes

Cons

• The paid options are out of reach of small websites
• Add-ons cannot be purchased individually
• Some of the documentation and solutions require code knowledge

Pricing starts from $247 per year.

• s2MEMBER

s2member is a popular free membership plugin. It has a variety of features for a free plugin even though some of them are limited.

FEATURES

• Free basic plugins
• Content dripping
• Integration works with mail chimp, bbpress and buddy press
• Easy- to- accept recurring payment.
• Stripe, click bank and authorize net integration are available in pro

Cons

• Free versions limitations: free versions only support PayPal, limits to only 4 membership level, does not have drip content feature
• Not very user friendly: a little more difficult to use than other membership plugins

Pricing starts from $89

• RESTRICT CONTENT PRO

Restrict content pro lets you create unlimited subscription levels. One can choose between free, trial and premium subscriptions, which gives you a good deal of flexibility. Also gives you all the features you need to create a full-featured membership site.

FEATURES

• Content dripping
• The Woo Commerce integration ensures that you can sell your membership and even include other products for sale on your website.
• Payment getaways: stripes, PayPal and Braintree comes as a free Add-ons. Also supports payment getaways include 2checkout, PayPal website payment pro, PayPal express and stripe checkout.
• 13 free Add-ons are included with each payment plan.
• Unlimited subscription levels
• Easy to understand user interface
• Membership emails
• Unlimited subscription packages

CONS

• There is no built-in affiliate system
• Unable to drip content with core plugin

Pricing  Starts at $99 for the first year