Feature Review: Squarespace Member Areas

So Squarespace just keeps coming with the eCommerce improvements this year and the latest is one that I know everyone has been waiting on for a long time - member areas! When it comes to setting up gated or members-only content (whether free or paid), I’ve tried nearly all of them: Memberspace, Podia, Mighty Networks, and Kajabi to name a few. I’ve even done the whole password-protect-a-single-page thing! These solutions all have some good things to offer depending on what you’re looking for but you know my mantra when it comes to software and programs: why use two things when one would do just fine?

Say Goodbye to Stringing Things Together

I just love a seamless user interface but that can be hard to achieve when you’re using multiple tools. The result is either a disjointed experience, too much time spent on admin to keep things propped up, too much spent on monthly subscription fees - or all the above! So, get ready to say goodbye to spending your time babysitting a hodgepodge of programs. And if you’re new to creating members-only content altogether? This is a great way to expand your offerings right from where you’re currently doing business: Squarespace.

Hello Squarespace Member Areas

Ok, I’ve hyped it enough. You’re here for the dirt on Squarespace Member Areas. Let’s dig into the highlights of this new feature!

How to Create Secure, Gated Content on Squarespace

Old days: Create a password-protected page. Give everyone the world over access to the page with the same password. Cross your fingers and hope all goes well. Security rating: 0/10

Now: Create any page (complete with the same design/style as the rest of your site) and add it to a member area. It will now be gated and only members who 1) create an account and 2) sign up for a membership can see the content. No passwords to manage or code to fiddle with. Security rating: 10/10.

There is no limit to the number of pages you can add to a member area or to how those pages are designed. This is probably the biggest selling point to me because Squarespace pages are just so nice and the design possibilities on some other membership platforms are just so… not nice. Your gated content can also be things like downloadables, videos, a “VIP” blog, or really anything else that you’d normally create a web page for - just that now you can restrict access to it!

Share Your Expertise

Whether you’re offering classes, guides, workshops, or a whole host of other possible ideas, Squarespace Member Areas is a great place to share your expertise with the world. This is your chance to show the world that you are a thought-leader in your industry and all the stats out there about online learning show us that people are eager and willing to invest in learning from pros like you! 

Get Paid for Your Content… or Not

p.s. Since writing this post, the “One-Time” option is now called “Set Amount” and it allows you to charge members to pay your membership fee either all at once or in installments! Check out more about this here.

The beauty of Member Areas is that you can control exactly how you’d like to get paid for the content you’re sharing - even if the cost of admission is just an email sign up! You can offer membership plans with one-time or recurring fees or no fees at all.

You also have the option to customize payment intervals so they fit perfectly for your business. You could set up a one-time payment for lifetime access to your program or an ongoing monthly membership instead. If you’ve been using Squarespace digital products, switching those things up to Members Area content may also make a lot of sense. Think of this as just another eCommerce tool!

What It’s Not

As I said, all platforms have their pros and cons and since this is a brand new launch from Squarespace, it may not have all the bells and whistles of some other platforms that cater to more specific audiences. Keep in mind that this is a way to create gated members-only content, which can contain any info that you’d like including things like workshops or classes. But Member Areas is not an online learning platform so if you’re looking for things like course completion tracking, tests, or certificates - this isn’t it. For those things, you’d probably want to check out something like Podia, Thinkific, or Teachable instead. 

Steps to Get Started

Select a Plan

Just like Campaigns or Scheduling, adding Member Areas to your existing Squarespace site requires an add-on to your subscription. Some people will say that they think it should all just be included in your regular monthly/annual Squarespace subscription but I disagree. I like that you can choose just the tools you need. Don’t need Campaigns or Scheduling? Don’t pay for them! If everything was included, the monthly cost for everyone would go up. So, with that said, I still think that the monthly costs for Squarespace Member Areas are totally worth it. Here’s what the current plans look like: 

The thing to pay attention to here is the transaction fee. Depending on what you’re offering, you may be better off just paying for a higher monthly plan to get a lower transaction rate. For example, if you have just 30 members who all paid $12/month, you’d actually pay less on the Core Plan than on Starter. Starter makes sense if you’re mostly offering free content since you would never have to contend with the higher transaction fee and your monthly cost would just cover the added functionality. So, do your math first and don’t just go with the cheapest thing as it may end up costing you in the long run. 

Create a Great User Experience

Once you get going, there are lots of opportunities to create a seamless user experience right on your domain. In addition to your actual content, Members Areas also allow you to customize the member area navigation, the checkout, customer email notifications, and even the screen that shows up if people don’t have access! There’s also a new “Member Area” block that you can add to any other non-gated page on your site to direct people to your offering and turn any page into an eCommerce sales page! The key here is to just make it as easy as possible for people to engage with your content and Squarespace Member Areas just made it that much easier!