Content lockers are a real game-changer for publishers who want to monetize their web traffic. Content lockers are a brilliant strategy for turning each visitor’s engagement into a revenue opportunity. When a user completes a task, you get paid by the ad network – it’s a simple, straightforward way of monetizing traffic.
When you lock a piece of content, the users who want to access it are requested to perform a task. For example, you can ask them to download an app or register to it, you can ask them to read an article or watch a video or to subscribe for push notifications.
You can also ask them to follow you on a social media platform or sign up for a newsletter.
The Advantages of Content Lockers
Content lockers allow publishers to get the most out of their content. By gating (or locking) some of your best articles, videos, or downloads behind a content locker, you make sure that premium content gets the premium audience it deserves. It’s a great way to maximize monetization on your best content, the one you know has the highest performance. Later, you can collect the data of these users and use it further in a newsletter or subscription.
The engagement doesn’t just stop at reading or viewing. Users are encouraged to interact further, through filling out a survey, signing up for a newsletter, or sharing the content on social media. This deeper level also helps in building a more loyal and involved audience.
Best Content Lockers in WordPress Sites
There are several plugins available. These plugins aren’t free, so you should check the pricing to see if it’s profitable.
Here are three plugins for implementing content locking on your WordPress site:
1. Bloom
Bloom helps you create a good mailing list, by encouraging users to sign up for newsletters and follow you on social media. You can customize the plugin to your needs, and it works well with different email tools, so you can easily collect email addresses.
Pricing and Plans:
- Basic account- $13/ mo.
- Full-Serve – $286/ Year.
2. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is used for popup creation and lead generation in WordPress, offering users various content locking options. Its standout feature, the Content Lock, gates part or all of your content behind an opt-in form, engaging visitors effectively. This plugin keeps the content visible to search engines while concealing it from users – so your SEO stays intact. The plugin is simple and easy to use.
Pricing and Plans:
- Basic account- $9/ mo.
- Full-Serve – $340 per year.
3. Subscribe to Unlock Opt-In Content Locker Lite
If you have a content website, then you can use this plugin (which has a very long name – Subscribe to Unlock Opt-In Content Locker Lite) to create a paywall and lock specific content, in order to earn money. It’s easy to use, even if you are a beginner, and you can customize it to fit your needs and taste. This plugin uses shortcodes, which makes implementing a breeze. It also has a free lite version, if you want to check it out first.
Pricing and Plans:
- Demo – Free.
- “Pro“ – $15 per year.
You can also use AdMaven’s content locker in any kind of website, really, by simply embedding the content locker URL in the proper place. No plugin needed, even if you are using WordPress as your CMS. and it’s Free!
Content locker best practices
What kind of content should you lock? Here are a few good examples for peak monetization:
- Premium articles and posts: choose your best performing, most valuable articles. For example: great DIY guides, exclusive stories or interviews and so on – anything that the readers can’t resist.
- Videos: just like articles, choose the top video content on your website – exclusive material, guides that no one else has, rare footage and so on.
- Download sites: if you have a site that offers downloads, you can lock the download button itself, or content related to the software, such as reviews or other valuable information.
- E-books and manuals: as in downloads, you can put a content locker on a book’s download link. Alternatively, you can lock some of the book’s pages. When a user is already engaged in reading the book, they are more likely to do the task on the content locker in order to continue.
- Streaming websites: these websites are an excellent choice for content locking. Before a user can watch the movie or show, they must use the content locker. You can also lock extra content, such as subtitles.