Crealanta Magazine

What can you do to upsell? Create an Ad-Free Membership for your website

Apr 28, 2023

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From Zero to Hero How Ad Hatred Can Boost Your

Think back to the last time you read a news story or, perhaps, your favorite recipe from a website. The ads can be excessive.

In some sectors, however the creators and publishers require those ads to monetize their work - regardless of whether viewers are a fan or not.

And most readers don't. That's why nearly every website with recipes has the "Jump to Recipe" button. You can bet that these are the most popular hyperlinks on the web!

However, there's an opportunity to make a profit to the cloud of disdain that is hovering over your advertisements. And that silver lining is selling up.

If you've got an WordPress website built around an ad-based monetization strategy there's an amazing chance to convert free users into paying members.

It's possible to do this quickly, no matter how you or where you place your advertisements.

Low Hanging Fruit to use on WordPress Websites

You can provide an unadvertised experience that your customers will appreciate (and pay you) for.

It is easy to hide your advertisements from view of paid members. Since it's so adaptable that you are able to make custom ads based on membership levels.

A blog about recipes could publish all the content on its website for free including ads throughout. A few options for ads are:

  1. Sidebar Widgets
  2. Header Widgets
  3. Footer Widgets
  4. Blocks in-line
  5. Popups

In order to increase the value of paying members, the site owner might hide some or all ad areas from paying members.

Convert visitors who are free to paid Members Easily

You can, for instance, remove pop-up advertisements and other in-line ads for basic members.

Your basic users are still seeing the sidebar or others located outside the content section. In addition, you could provide a pro or plus upgrade in order to block ads.

The structure could look similar to this:

  • Free - Free visitors get all ads displayed in header, footer, and sidebar and in-line with content as well as pop-ups
  • Basic - Visitors only see advertisements in the footer, header and the sidebar
  • Pro - Visitors see no ads

Strategies for Serving Ads on WordPress

We'll first look at the two most common methods for serving advertisements on a WordPress website: static insertion as well as dynamic insertion.

Static Insertion

This is a great option when you have only one image or link you want to use in an ad. The process is as easy as inserting the image, and then inserting a link by using the block editor.

 Dynamic Insertion

This is the more popular technique that inserts pertinent ads in predefined locations. A theme or plugin often controls where ads will show on. Often, a third party ad network, such as Google Adsense, will determine the ads that will be displayed.

If you're using static or dynamic ad insertion, the methods to hide your advertisements from paid members are exactly the identical.

How do you hide ads to Subscribers and Paid Members on WordPress

If you're looking for the most effective method to provide your users a top-quality free of ads, you'll want to start with installing .

It's the most reliable solution for controlling content visibility in WordPress. Let me show you the way I'm referring to.

cta character

Take Action Now!

Start getting paid for your work.

How to Configure for an Ad-free Experience

Installing is as easy as installing any other plug-in. Once it is installed it guides you through all the steps to setup with ease.

We've written many articles about the subject, and we've got this video tutorial that will help you get started very quickly.

Watch >> Setup OVERVIEW

If you don't have a theme or plugin that provide ad management it is recommended to install an ad management plugin. There are a variety of free and premium plugins that allow for dynamic ad placement. My favorite, and the one we use with a is AdSanity.

However, for the examples of this blog post I'm using my 2nd most used ad management tool, Advanced Ads.

Using Rules to Remove Ads for Members

After you've been the software installed and set up the system, you can create your ad-free policy. Within the admin panel, select Rules and create an entirely new rule. You can use the Partial rule type in this.

In my sandbox site I've got two levels of membership, Premium and Executive. My rule is set to control content for those who are Executive. I'm planning to block ads from people who have joined the Executive membership.

In the image above, you can see example shortcodes to either show or conceal content in accordance with the above rule. So, let's start there.

Using a Shortcode for Hiding ads using a Shortcode to hide ads WordPress

All the popular Ad Management plugins allow you to deliver ads with shortcodes. In this case I'm making use of the Free Advanced Ads plugin.

However, this process will work with our recommended software, AdSanity, in addition to virtually any other advertising management software.

Place your ad shortcode wherever you would like to display ads. Then wrap it with it with the Hide shortcode. Here's what it looks like with an ad inline between paragraphs in my fictitious blog.

The method is designed to hide the advertisement's contents from my Executive members. Anybody who's not an Executive member is able to be able to see the advertisement. In my case, Premium members still get the advertisement.

Do you see the advertisement within the sidebar too? This is a widget section, I'll show you the best way to manage advertisements in widget areas later. But first, here is what my Executive Members experience as they go through the blog.

Using Protected Blocks to Hide advertisements by hiding ads WordPress

After installing  it, you'll be able to see a newly created block item that is called Protected. This is a protected block. You can control virtually any content element in WordPress.

It is possible to add a secured block to a webpage, course and/or lesson or an element in a widget. The AdSanity plugin permits you to add an advertisement or a set of ads inside the widget.

To hide advertisements inside a widget, put a protection block in the widget. That's how you can accomplish this with Divi.

The WordPress admin menu Navigate to Divi->Theme Customizer. Choose Widgets, and then Sidebar.

Once you have added the secured block, you can configure it to reference the rule you want to reference. Make sure you select one of the options to block information from the members that are within the rule.

The next step is dropping your advertisement or group into the protected block. Then be sure to save the configuration and test the configuration!

Wrapping UP

You can see that makes content control a breeze. If you're using ads to monetize your blog, you'll need . Imagine earning consistent, steady income from paying users or subscribers.

It's a great way to upsell the readers you trust. And it doesn't require a lot of work. The most difficult part may be deciding how much to charge for a membership...

How Much to Charge for ad-free membership

And it doesn't take several paid members for this to be worth it. Make a plan of how many return customers you'd like to convert to paid memberships. Would you like to convert just 10% of frequently customers to sign up?

If you want to see an excellent example of this strategy that is being used, take a look at my personal favorite recipe blog, 40Aprons. They're definitely among our most loyal clients too.

Watch NOW >>> 40 Aprons CUSTOMER STORY

Do you have any concerns about ways to boost sales through the creation of an ad-free version? Post them in the comments section!