To Paywall or Not to Paywall - That is the Question

When is a good time to go paid and how to do it (a brief guide)

Photo by ​Jonny Caspari​ on ​Unsplash​

🚀 Ready to grow your Substack? I just launched a 12-email crash course sharing how I gained 500 subscribers in 3 months. Grab it now before the price increases.

If you enjoy my content, I’ve got some extra special posts just for my paid subscribers:

• Special Edition: How To Get Your First Paid Newsletter Subscribers In Just 3 Months ⚡️

• How To Build an Online Business in 2024: One Product a Month ⚡️

• 3 Key Reasons Why Letting Go Of Niche Writing Was The Best Decision Ever ⚡️

For only $7/month you get instant access and a review of your newsletter.

---

To Paywall or Not to Paywall

A reader recently asked me whether they should paywall their content or not, and when would be the right time to start considering it.

There’s a lot to unpack—what impact does it have on the algorithm, how do readers react, and what changes overall?

Let's dive in.

1. When to Go Paid

I usually recommend considering a paywall once you have around 100-300 subscribers. At this stage, it’s a great time to strategize as it helps clarify the value you provide, who your audience is, and the direction you want to take your content.

In the beginning, you’ll likely get just a few paid subscribers, but the real growth starts once you reach around 2,000 subscribers. Early on, about 0.5-1% of your audience may convert to paid, but after reaching 2,000 subscribers, that percentage can start climbing above 1%.

This isn't a hard rule, but it’s a trend I’ve noticed from creators sharing their Substack journeys.

2. Substack's Approach to Paywalled Content

Substack itself doesn’t seem to have a complex algorithm that prioritizes paywalled or free content. However, because Substack’s business model relies on subscriptions (from which it takes a 10% fee), there is an inherent interest in encouraging paid subscriptions. This doesn’t mean there’s a direct algorithmic boost for paywalled content, but writers who successfully build a paying audience are crucial to Substack's model.

3. Impact on SEO

• Free Content for Growth: Free content is generally easier to distribute and share, which can help with discoverability. Readers are more likely to share articles that others can read without barriers, leading to greater reach.

• SEO Considerations: Search engines like Google are more likely to index and rank content that is accessible to all users. Paywalled content can still be indexed, but it might be less prioritized in search results since users can’t access it freely. It is worthwhile to consider that factor when going paid.

Pro tip: When drafting a post, click the settings button in the lower right corner. Scroll down to the SEO options section and select it. Here, you can customize the title and description to help algorithms find your article more easily online. Make it a habit to do this before publishing, so you don’t forget.

4. Balancing Paywalled and Free Content

• Freemium Model: Many successful Substack writers use a hybrid approach, offering some content for free to attract and grow an audience while paywalling premium content to monetize. This allows for the benefits of SEO and broader distribution while still generating revenue from dedicated readers.

• Teasers and Excerpts: Try offering teasers or short previews of your paywalled content to attract new subscribers. For example, if you're sharing a list with valuable information, provide the first few steps to free subscribers and reserve the final steps for paid members. This way, both free and paid subscribers benefit, while encouraging upgrades to paid subscriptions.

5. Strategic Considerations

If you’re still growing your audience, offering more free content might be beneficial to build a larger base before moving more content behind a paywall.

I personally prefer a mix of free and paid. I began offering paid content once I reached around 300 subscribers. Though growth in paid subscriptions has been slow, I believe in the process and know that building trust with readers comes first.

Pro tip: Offer most of your posts for free, and monitor which ones perform the best. After a few weeks, you can turn those high-performing posts into paid content. This way, you build engagement first, and then create an incentive for new readers to upgrade to paid subscriptions.

---

If you follow my journey, you know that I am currently changing my life and moving to South America for a while. As I fly with my dog, I have started my trip from Berlin, Germany to Madrid, Spain via train, because only from there I can fly easily with my dog to Colombia.

The quickest way is via Paris, so here we are. Mambo was excited to see the Louvre.

---

Can you believe there are 650 of us here now? 🤯

If you are thinking about monetizing your efforts like the other 650 achievers, then join our Wander Wealth Community

If a subscription is not possible, please comment, like, share. It really helps.