Paywall Podcast - Subscription strategies for news and magazine publishers - 10 reasons why your subscription revenue is underperforming (and how to fix them)

10 reasons why your subscription revenue is underperforming (and how to fix them)

03/07/25 • 30 min

Paywall Podcast - Subscription strategies for news and magazine publishers

In this episode of the Paywall Podcast, sponsored by LeakyPaywall, Pete and Tyler focus on the top 10 reasons for underperforming subscription revenue for news and magazine publishers. They discuss several common issues such as the inefficacy of free registrations on paid subscription pages, the importance of visible and easily accessible subscription buttons, the issue of too many checkout fields causing friction, the negative impact of redirects to subdomains, the necessity of integrating Apple and Google Pay, and the drawbacks of having numerous plan options.

Additionally, they emphasize the importance of capturing email addresses through free registrations, the impact of newsletter frequency on driving traffic and conversions, and the detrimental effects of pop-ups on critical pages.

Lastly, the discussion highlighted the importance of having a fast website, avoiding too many free views, and considering bulk subscriptions as an advanced sales strategy.

Lastly, the discussion highlighted the importance of having a fast website, avoiding too many free views, and considering bulk subscriptions as an advanced sales strategy.

Previous Episode

Your Event Calendar challenge and our take on the solution

In this episode of the Paywall Podcast, sponsored by LeakyPaywall, Pete and Tyler discuss the difficulties faced by local and regional publishers in maintaining comprehensive and up-to-date event calendars. They introduce a new automated event calendar solution that leverages AI to collect, categorize, and display events seamlessly on WordPress websites. The system not only saves publishers time but also boosts traffic, enhances SEO, and increases engagement through email subscriptions and potential paid event features.

The discussion include sharing of success stories, including ranking improvements and increased traffic, illustrating the practical benefits of this automated solution.

Next Episode

AI-Powered LocalCalendar: How SalemReporter.com Became the Go-To Events Destination

In this episode of the Paywall Podcast, sponsored by LeakyPaywall, Pete and Tyler discuss the implementation and impact of a local events calendar on the Salem Reporter website. The calendar, live for two months, almost immediately improved SEO, driving significant traffic as events ranked on Google. The site hosts about 1000 events daily through automation, with constant updates to ensure accuracy. Despite light promotion, the calendar saw increased user engagement and steady submissions of new events from the community. Traffic to the site increased by about 30%, with a notable 5% attributed to the calendar, depending on news activity. The integration also facilitated a notable uptick in email notification sign-ups, featuring high open rates. Future plans include monetizing featured event placements. Overall, Salem Reporter benefited from time savings, increased website traffic, and ad impressions.

Learn more about Leaky Paywall, the most flexible subscription platform for news and magazine publishers.