subject: Tips To Choose Membership Software [print this page] Tips To Choose Membership Software Tips To Choose Membership Software
Before committing to any type of software for your website, you should always begin by determining the needs of your website.
Make a checklist of your membership software needs and have this ready when you begin shopping.
What features should I look for in membership software?
You may be able to answer this precisely, or reading this list may be the first time you have given it any thought. Regardless of whether you are the former or the latter, it is important to understand certain features that are available in membership software that is on the market.
Some things to think about:
* Do you want to own the software you purchase and be in full command of running your membership service?
If the answer is yes, you will pay a one-time fee for the software and will be have control over all aspects of your membership site. (The other option is to find 'hosted membership software', where you will pay monthly fees for their service.)
*Note: If you choose to buy your own membership software you will need to have a website and a MySQL database to install the software. Most companies will do this for you for a small fee.
* Is your entire site going to be membership-based or will only certain pages be secured?
Be sure that the subscription software that you purchase allows you to do both, if that is what you need. Generally speaking securing certain pages will simply require 'copy and pasting' a code onto the pages of your website.
* What is your budget for your website?
If you are just starting out, you are probably finding that there are a variety of costs to get going with your website. You can certainly find high-quality software with excellent features for around $50.00.
* Would you like membership software that is automated?
Some membership software will automate account set-up and billing, so that you do not have to be continually checking your account to set up new users and send out billing information.
* What kind of membership packages would you like to offer?
You may want to offer silver, bronze or gold membership. You may want to offer a variety of payment options (ie. monthly, yearly etc) and you also may want your subscriptions to be recurring (meaning that once the subscription expires, unless the customer cancels, it will be automatically renewed.) You also might want to offer free trial periods to your potential members as a way to entice them into joining. Be sure that your software can do all of this.
