(No, that’s not Sally Field.)
When she accepted her second Best Actress Oscar in 1985 for “Places in the Heart,” Sally field famously said, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me.” (In the popular imagination she said, “You like me, you really like me.”)
That quote came to mind as I worked my way through my daily dose of Bo Sacks articles. In Every 10th paywall stop is evaded by readers, this quote grabbed my attention: “Almost no one comes to the Web site to subscribe without first seeing the paywall.”
You’re probably wondering how those two connect. Let me explain.
When a visitor returns to your site, how do they feel about it?
All of us get links to articles — from friends, from social media, from our newsfeeds, etc. I believe there are three dynamics at work in these situations.
1. We’re annoyed when we’re asked to register or subscribe. If we’re sent to an article on a site we’re sure we’ve never visited before, are unlikely to visit again, the request is inappropriate. Why in the world would we register for — let alone give money to — a site like that?
2. Most of us are willing to pay for a service we support and use regularly.
3. Most of us don’t pay attention to what site we’re on when we read an article. We just want to read the article. And we certainly don’t keep a tally of how often we visit a particular site. We might have a vague idea that we read articles on such and so site from time to time, but we don’t keep a count.
Okay. Now what?
Adding all that up, here’s my conclusion. The website owner should keep track of how many times someone visits, and tell the visitor about it.
Some sites do this, but it’s not very friendly. Frequently I see something like this. “This is the second of your five free views.”
That sounds so cold. It’s more warning than welcome.
Why not something like this?
“Ah, a first-time visitor. Welcome.”
“You’re back. Glad to see you again.”
“It’s obvious you like us. (This is your 3rd visit this month.) Would you like to register for our e-newsletter?”
Etc.
I’m not saying that’s exactly the right language. The point is to help the reader realize that they do, in fact, like you, and they’ve demonstrated that by their behavior.
Rather than making this sound threatening — “One more time, Mister, and we’re going to slap you with a paywall!” — why not make it sound inviting?
Not sure what to do? I can help.
If this sounds interesting to you, give me a call and we can discuss how to implement a system like this on your site.
