Subscription-Based Content Writing Platforms Pros and Cons
Learn how paid subscription websites affect both readers and writers.
The Pros and Cons of Subscription Based Content Platforms
This article examines how requiring readers to pay for unlimited access to articles affects both readers and authors, with examples from the Medium content platform.
To determine the pros and cons, it helps to understand the difference between organic and subscriber traffic.
Organic Traffic
Readers that come from search engine queries to content platforms that do not require payment can read as much as they desire. The hosting service receives revenue from selling advertising space.
Online content publishers who write on these websites do not need to worry about having a following. That is because they get their readers from search engines.
In addition, when they offer high-quality, useful information with answers to the questions people are searching for online, the traffic can be considerable. And that can increase as the ranking is improved based on reader retention.
Subscriber Traffic
Platforms that limit readers' views with a paywall require authors to build a following. Medium is an example that has that agenda. They expect readers to discover writers they like and want to follow for more content. Therefore, authors need to focus more on attracting a following.
Search engines do index Medium articles, but revenue comes only from subscribers who pay for unlimited access. A Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism survey revealed that only 20% of Americans pay to subscribe to online content.1
If a reader comes from a Google search, for example, and they are not a subscriber, they are limited from reading.
The Pros: No Ads
Subscription sites such as Medium pay revenue to authors received from paid subscribers rather than from ads. This method avoids the distraction of advertisements.
That may entice some people to subscribe, especially when they see the quality of what they read. In addition, some people may appreciate the fact that they don't see ads all over the page and might be willing to pay for that privilege.
That method does work. Medium reported paying nearly $5 million to its writers in a recent year, and that money came from paying subscribers.2
The Cons: No Income From Organic Traffic
The problem is that writers creating content on Medium don't make money from organic traffic (such as Google).
I have analyzed the revenue details in my stats on Medium. I noticed some articles get over 82% of their views from Google. Those articles make no money.
On the other hand, articles that get over 90% of their views from Medium followers and curated recommendations are earning money for me monthly.
That data makes it clear that a subscription service can work, but it involves the extra effort of acquiring a following. And the platform sending recommended reading referrals to paid subscribers helps too.
How Are Organic and Subscriber Traffic Different?
To attract organic traffic, authors need to apply proper Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the best results. But that doesn't help much when writing for a subscription service.
That is because organic traffic from search engines does not generate revenue on a subscription-based platform. Writers only make money when paid subscribers read their articles.
What’s Necessary for Getting Search Traffic
- Write about any topic. People will find it based on their search query. New visitors will always come along if the article provides valuable content that answers questions.
- Titles need to relate to search results and clearly show what to expect.
- Publish on a unique web domain dedicated to the niche to help Google understand the topic.
- Publish evergreen articles anytime. Quality is more important than quantity.
What’s Necessary for Getting Subscriber Traffic
- Write for a specific niche and be consistent with your topics. Otherwise, your followers will be confused. In addition, writing for a relevant publication will help readers discover you.
- Titles need to capture attention with a meaningful but catchy statement.
- Location doesn’t really matter, but specific publications can help readers discover you.
- Publish frequently so followers remember you, and always provide quality.
Woman engaged in reading on her tablet.
Subscribers Are Hyper-Engaged Readers
When I started reading articles on Medium, I found that, over time, writers develop a following of hyper-engaged readers. These are people who are willing to pay $5 a month to have unlimited access.
Since they pay for access, they are more prone to return for more reading.
Medium has many niche publications where authors can publish rather than post under their own profile. That method can attract hyper-engaged readers in a particular subject or niche.
In addition, readers find content by two methods:
1. Curators select articles that meet its editorial standards and recommend them to readers based on interest.
2. Algorithms determine readers' interests and send referrals for recommended reading. It does that by analyzing the level of engagement with specific topics they have been reading.
How Do Writers Earn Revenue Without Ads?
Medium does not sell advertising. Instead, they rely solely on paid subscriptions to run the business and to pay authors. Without ads, articles are free of any distractions.
They pay authors their earnings in the first week of each month for the prior month. There is no 30-day waiting period because they don't need to wait for ad agencies to pay them. They already have the money from the prepaid member subscriptions.
Revenue is distributed from the pool of subscribers' fees. The amount each author gets is calculated based on the reading time. The longer a reader spends reading, the more the author is paid. Therefore, quality and reader satisfaction is crucial.
The algorithm that determines reading time also detects valid scrolling, so no one can game the system by scrolling to the end without reading.
Writing for Organic vs. Subscriber Traffic
- For organic traffic, content needs to answer people's search queries. That requires an understanding of SEO to be successful. Readers are people who are searching for something specific through a search engine.
Titles need to relate closely to search arguments, and the article needs to provide what the title has promised.
Authors do best with attracting organic search readers when they create evergreen magazine-style content providing useful and valuable information. - When writing for subscribers, authors need to know their audience and provide content followers want to read. Readers are generally people who want good things to read, and they're willing to pay for it. So authors do best with writing for specific followers when focusing on a particular audience.
Titles are done differently. Rather than making titles relate to what people are searching for, they need to be catchy to attract attention.
HubPages’ Organic Readers vs. Medium’s Subscribers
Medium focuses on earning revenue from readers who are subscribers. Therefore, it requires building a following of paying members. The problem is that authors miss out on revenue from organic traffic.
Since articles on Medium are written for a following rather than organic traffic, writers must keep their readers engaged by writing often.
Articles on HubPages that are written as evergreen will continue to bring future revenue. That's because HubPages is more search focused. Therefore, it's not crucial to write often for organic traffic. That traffic continues to grow as search ranking increases. Therefore, it's a better choice for writers who provide content people search for online.
When writing on a platform that works best with followers, as with Medium, followers might get confused when they find unrelated topics they were not initially interested in when they decided to follow a particular writer. That is never an issue when writing articles for organic search traffic.
However, a solution for Medium is to separate one's content by publishing in specific niche publications.
Reading an article with ads on the right column.
Why Advertising Doesn’t Work Well on Content Farms
Magazines and newspapers make an income by selling subscriptions to readers. So we know that works.
Placing ads with online articles works well to produce revenue if the content is written with quality and focused on providing information promised by its title.
It's crucial that content among all articles on an ad-based site need to relate to the same subject matter. Google doesn't like websites that combine unrelated content under one domain. These types of sites are considered content farms, and most of them have gone out of business.3
Avoiding a content-farm impression for subscription services is less critical because the readership is based mainly on how followers respond to a specific author. And SEO is not such a consideration.
To Sum Up
The two types of platforms discussed above don't compete with one another since they each use different methods for their revenue stream.
It all boils down to two things, what writers prefer and what readers want:
1. What writers prefer to concentrate on, either receiving revenue from ads or making money from subscriptions.
2. What readers want, either free content when searching for answers or reader-friendly content without distractions from advertising.
References
- Richard Fletcher. (n.d.) "How and Why People are Paying for Online News" | Reuters Institute
- Data from Medium's November 2018 Partner Program recap
- Glenn Stok. (January 2, 2015). "Why Bubblews, Persona Paper, and Niume Failed for Writers" | Discover, originally published on ToughNickel.com
© 2018 Glenn Stok
