How to Increase Content Creation Using Automated Tools
By Jeanne Berg
July 8, 2021
Content creation should be a part of every website’s SEO strategy. Publishing content for your targeted audience not only drives organic traffic to your website but improves your site's authority and relevance on that subject.
Consistently publishing new and meaningful content is one of the number one drivers to achieve search engine rankings. This is because search engines perceive regularly updated content as one of the best indicators of a domain’s knowledge and credibility on a subject. The outcome of this is that you’ll rank higher in search results for your keywords and bring more visibility for your website.
However, the effort of producing fresh content can be onerous - especially if you don’t have the budget to hire a content creator. But with the advent of numerous AI-powered automation tools, content generation no longer needs to be a one-man show.
How to auto-generate topic ideas
Before any writing can begin, you have to have a topic idea. Besides producing content, there are generators that can even provide the inspiration for ideas.
Hubspot’s free idea generator, can help you to brainstorm fresh article topics. This is especially useful when you’re focused on a single niche and seem to have exhausted every angle. You just need to enter a noun to start the ideas flowing.
But deciding the topic is only the first step in creating content!
Two tools to auto-generate long and short-form content
Content generating tools can speed up and streamline the writing process.
The content creating tool, Article Forge, specialises in generating long-form content.
You can generate articles from 50 to 750 words in length which can also be scheduled to post directly to a WordPress website. Article Forge claims every article is written completely from scratch, so you'll never get duplicate or plagiarised content.
With Article Forge, you start creating an article by entering a ‘keyword’ that describes the main topic of your article and then sub-keywords which help to focus the narrative. Article Forge will then need a few minutes to process the query.
As with any tool, there’s a learning curve required to produce suitable and readable content. Sometimes the quality and relevance can be hit or miss. The more precise and developed the data you input, the richer and more relevant the result.
The outputs produced for my keywords were good rough drafts but not what I would consider the quality of a ‘final copy’ without editing. Some of the text was repetitive, some irrelevant or just down-right nonsensical.
Here’s a paragraph from the output for the keyword ‘Lead Magnet’. The content output reads coherently then all of a sudden it swerves off-piste.
Article Forge has one plan billed at $57/mo or $27/mo paid annually.
The content generator Conversion.ai was recommended to me by a colleague. She found it a great resource for generating short-form copy which she could be assured was grammatically and conversationally fluent in English - as English was not her native language.
Conversion.ai has over 50 use case templates (some are still in beta) ranging from blog post outlines to email subject lines to Pinterest pin descriptions and personal bios.
With Conversion.ai, you begin by choosing the template for your use case. Then you input the topic, enter a tone of voice and click Generate. The output will display in the split screen. When generating long-form copy, you have to prompt it along by entering your own transition copy.
Here again, the output for my ‘personal bio’ suddenly crossed over into the realm of fiction with some very curious extrapolations from the data I entered:
Conversion.ai claims its generated content is 99.99% original and clear for publication.
An added bonus with conversion.ai, is their dedication to building a supportive community around their product with a private Facebook group, Training Academy and a daily 30 minute live Q&A session with its co-founder Chris Hull.
Conversion.ai has two plan tiers. The Starter plan, at $29/mo, gets you short-form copy generation such as headlines, descriptions and bios. While their Pro plan, at $109/mo, allows access to their long-form assistant for copy such as blog posts, video scripts and books.
In conclusion
While content generators can help with some of the heavy lifting of content creation, it’s quality clearly still needs the human touch.
Particularly important to keep in mind is that Google and other search engines can easily recognise auto-generated content and if they determine it to be without human review, sufficient value or curation, they may take action against - meaning your content might suddenly drop in ranking.
So use these tools to help facilitate your content production but remember that machine written articles still can’t equal words composed into meaningful thoughts by an organic being.
It can be difficult for a pure brick and mortar businesses (if any still exist) to transition to a digital environment. But it doesn’t have to be. Think of the process as digitizing your business to reach people in a different environment more effectively. Take all of the things that draw customers to your physical location, and offer them online.
Establish Your Authority
When customers visit a physical location, it is easier for them to determine if the people working there experienced and friendly. When visitors reach a website it is far more difficult to determine the type of business and people the site represents. Give your visitors a better idea of why they should trust you with their business.
Adding a testimonial section to your blog is a great way to establish your authority. Ask current clients to discuss their experiences in detail so those who are interested in your services or products are able to get a feeling for how you do business. It is the feeling of walking into a building or talking to other customers that matters in this context more than information. You need to create a digital experience of the community. Encourage social media followers to help with this project and ask if they are willing to share a photo of themselves to make it even more personal.
If you have an “About” section, be sure to include images of any awards, certifications, or relevant degrees. Link to the institutions that awarded or featured you, so as to make it easy for visitors to fact check and learn more about how these items verify your authority.
Maintain Visual Consistency
Visual consistency is as important in a digital environment as it is in a physical location. There is a reason companies have employees wear uniforms or dress in a single color, it creates visual consistency that makes it easy for customers to identify the people who are there to help them. Print ads and signs are visually consistent for a similar reason: It is important that when consumers see information about your business, they instantly make the connection. And visual “cues” make that easier.
Translated to the online world, this means you can build as much emotion as you want into your websites, emails, social media, infographics or blog posts, but it will amount to little unless your design and flow work the way users expect them to. A clean, visually consistent web or app interface gives users feelings of comfort, control, and familiarity.
Creating visual consistency online seems complicated because of the graphical nature of the environment. There are many free resources, such as Canva, that help people of all experience levels create the digital resources they need to brand and market themselves in a visually consistent way. It is important that businesses take the time to plan out the colors, typography, and type of images they want to be associated with their brand online.
Graphics are necessary for emails, social media, workbooks, infographics, blog posts, and so much more. The visual element of your digital business is as important as the way an office is decorated or the sign outside.
Offer Free Resources
In a digital environment, it is important to show people why they should trust you with their business. Testimonials and credentials are valuable for this purpose, but even better is a sample of your work.
No matter what type of business you have, there is something you can teach people. YouTube is an excellent way to promote your blog while giving potential customers something of value for free. This allows customers to get to know business owners, or employees, even if they can never visit a physical location. It makes the experience of interacting with a company feel more authentic. A marketing professional can make tutorials that walk people through how to use various marketing tools. A photographer can show visitors how to frame a shot, edit in various applications, or review photography apps. A veterinarian can make videos explaining first aid techniques for a variety of animals, grooming tips, or product reviews. You get the idea… Showcase your skills and services and prove to potential customers why they should support your business.
Your videos can be posted on individual blog posts in addition to being found on the business YouTube page. The YouTube page is also a great way to incorporate the visual branding elements the business has developed and can link to the business blog for viewers who find the company directly from the YouTube videos.
If you don’t feel comfortable in front of a video camera, tutorials are an excellent option. The key to making a tutorial truly valuable is to make it the absolute best of its kind. Don’t leave out any steps and utilize multiple pictures for each one to ensure clarity.
Create Personal Connections
Social media is one of the most commonly discussed methods of creating personal connections with potential customers. However, there is another way that is even more personal. Begin speaking at and attending conferences where your target demographic is likely to be.
Blogging conferences are a great place to get to know individual bloggers. The niche markets which are represented are extensive and most businesses find they fall within one or several. By speaking at these conferences, you can connect with bloggers passionate about your field. It is beneficial to your business and a blogger who hosts an interview with you, a review of your service or product, or a giveaway.
Attending and speaking at industry-specific conferences allows business owners to network within their field and make valuable connections. Speaking at those events lends credibility to your authority and can be featured on the company blog.
Over To You
It is possible to promote your blog simply by doing the things necessary to ensure your digital presence is as robust as your physical presence. For those businesses that operate entirely in a digital environment, this is even more important. It is vital to make the business as multi-dimensional as possible to become and remain competitive. Promote your business blog by establishing authority in your field, remaining visually consistent and recognizable, offering free resources of value, and creating personal connections with live events.
About The Author
Tracy Vides - Digital Content Strategist
Tracy is a content strategist and serial blogger who gives small businesses and entrepreneurs online marketing advice. Hit her up any time on Twitter.
When building a membership website, you don’t have to go it alone. There’s a wealth of free web tools and online resources available to take advantage of to improve your design, optimise for SEO, deliver content, investigate usability issues & much more.
We’ve rounded up some of our favorites and created a curated list of over fifty to share! None require any technical skills to use. All are free or offer free basic plans.
Online Design Tools
You don’t have to be a designer to add creative flair to your website or social media marketing. These free resources offer a helping hand with ready-made templates and tools to enhance your website design.
Canva: create beautiful and professional looking graphics for your website and social media channels with Canva’s ready-made templates or create a custom design of your own.
PhotoADKing: this graphic design software lets you create stunning graphics for every aspect of your business.
Removebg: use this nifty tool to remove image backgrounds instantly to create silhouettes or replace with a new background.
Fotor.com: removes image backgrounds and allows replacement colors, gradients and images. Bonus: the free version is ad-free.
Freepik: effortlessly remove JPG and PNG image backgrounds with Freepik's AI background remover. The tool allows three free uses per day.
SocialSizes: instant reference for the best image and video sizes for all your social media accounts.
Website Color Scheme
Color is one of the first points of engagement a visitor experiences with a website. Make sure your website color scheme elicits the emotional response you want your brand to reflect. These tools provide palette generators and libraries to find the perfect color scheme.
Canva palette generator: a color palette generator for images. Simply upload a photo, and a color combination will be created using the hues in the photo.
ColorDrop: search the library of palette combinations for the right website color scheme.
Color Hunt: a platform for color inspiration with thousands of trendy hand-picked color palettes.
Coolors: a color palette generator that lets you pick a starting color, generate combinations at random or based on an image. Alternatively, select a palette from over one million ready-made color schemes in their library.
Logo Creators
Your brand identity starts with a logo. Even on a tight budget you can create your own brand with a template or generator.
Namecheap Logo Maker: Generate a unique logo every - tailored to your business or site through AI. Thousands of fonts, icons and colors to choose from.
Canva: Design your own by customizing one of the professionally made logo templates with the help of intuitive editing.
Looka Logo Maker: logo generator allows users to create dozens of logos based on their design preferences without any prior design experience.
DesignEvo: a free online logo maker with 10,000+ templates to choose from letting you create a unique logo in minutes.
Logaster: download a small, watermark-free logotype in PNG format at no cost. Preview the ways in which you can apply your logo.
Generate a Browser Favicon
A favicon is the little icon image in the browser tab. It serves as your brand’s representation when multiple tabs are open. Create one using these tools.
Convertico: free online converter of PNG files to ICO for favicon generation.
Favicon.io: generate a favicon from an image, text or emoji.
Favicon-generator.org: generator a favicon or search the extensive library of pre-designed icons based on color, letters or keywords to use on your website.
High-Quality Stock Images & Video
Users see before they read. Make sure your website engages visitors with beautiful, high-quality visuals. These stock libraries all provide free-use, downloadable images. Be sure to ‘optimise’ the image - so it loads fast and you avoid the ‘dribble’ effect.
Canva: besides being an amazing graphics tool, Canva has an extensive library of free images and icons.
Pexels: Amazing archive of free stock images and videos you can use everywhere.
Pixabay: Over one million photos, illustrations, vector graphics, and videos.
Pikwizard: has a searchable library of over 1 million stunning, high quality, royalty free stock images and videos. No attribution is required.
StockSnap: High resolution stock photos free from copyright restrictions.
Unsplash: nearly one million beautiful, royalty-free images and photos that you can download and use for any project.
Online Image Editors
One of the simplest design rules to follow is - be consistent. A row of images should all the same size so the page delivers a clean and professional look. Taking a few minutes to resize and crop images, delivers a powerful design punch.
Canva photo editor: another wonderful free tool from Canva that allows you to crop, resize, add effects and create collages with uploaded images.
Pixlr: a robust browser photo editor providing a suite of free online photo editing tools including the ability to create transparent PNG images.
Preview: simple copying and resizing is a snap if you have a Mac and can use its native image editor.
File Converters
CloudConvert: Online file converter supports nearly all formats. Handy when you need to convert MOV files to MP4.
ConvertICO: Free online PNG to ICO file converter and favicon (that tiny icon in the browser tab) generator.
FreeConvert.com Free online file converter and compressor. This tool also crops and trims videos.
Adobe MergePDF and CompressPDF These online tools can help you tailor your PDF embeds and downloads
Optimizing Images & Videos
Large file sizes result in a slow loading web pages which cause visitors to bounce and can affect your Google ranking. Be sure to reduce file sizes by compressing them before they’re uploaded to your website.
Compressor io: free image compression tool that reduces your file size while maintaining quality.
Optimizilla: no frills image compressor for JPEG and PNG images. Includes a slider to control compression levels along with before and after comparisons.
TinyPNG/ TinyJPG: compress the file size of your PNG and JPEG images without losing quality. The result will be a faster loading website and improved SEO.
VEED.IO: optimize your website’s performance by reducing video file sizes to enhance user experience and page loading times - without compromising video quality.
Identify Fonts
WhatFont: Chrome browser extension that quickly identifies web page fonts when you point your cursor at them.
Fonts Ninja: Chrome browser extension that lets you identify fonts on any website.
Free Icon Libraries
Use these simple graphic symbols to intuitively convey meanings and concepts to visitors and highlight content you wish to emphasize and promote.
Iconmonstr: over 300 free icon collections to choose from for your next project.
Endless icons: free icon library of downloadable PNG and SVG icons.
FlatIcon: huge database of free, editable icons in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and BASE 64 formats.
Check Page Responsiveness
Your web pages need to properly adapt and respond to your user’s viewing environment whether it’s a mobile, tablet, or desktop screen size. These tools make it very easy to review the user’s experience of your website on different screens and devices.
Responsinator: Get a quick indication of how your website will look on the most popular devices.
Screenfly: A free tool for testing a website’s responsiveness on different screen sizes and different devices.
Website Planet: Instantly preview your website on desktop, mobile devices, tablet, and custom resolutions.
Chrome Developer Tools: Easily simulate how your web page looks on multiple mobile devices from your laptop using your Chrome browser.
Increase Page Performance
Lots of issues can affect a website’s website ranking. Reviewing your web page's performance can reveal areas that need improvement. Some are very easy to fix like optimising images (so they load faster) and fixing dead links. These tools make sorting those issues a no-brainer.
Dead link checker: error 404 pages damage your website's ranking and usability. This tool can crawl a single page or entire website and identify broken links for you to correct.
Check My links: a browser extension that crawls through your webpage and looks for broken links.
Pagespeed Insights: reports on the performance of a page on both mobile and desktop devices and provides suggestions for improvement.
GTMetrix.com: provides a page speed rating and diagnostics of page speed parameters.
Test User Engagement
Collecting feedback about how your visitors are interacting and navigating your site can uncover usability issues. Fixing them can improve conversions.
Hotjar: a recording and click map tool that reveals how visitors are engaging with your website and how the user experience can be improved.
Crazy Egg: heatmap tool that lets you see where users are clicking. You can find usability issues and lost opportunities with heatmap data. For example, users clicking on content that
Conduct Keyword Research
Incorporating relevant keywords in your content is essential to show up in search results. Your content needs to include the organic terms that people are using when searching for your product. These keyword research tools will help you learn the terms you need to incorporate to get found.
Keyword Tool: using Google’s autocomplete feature this tool generates hundreds of keywords from your query term.
SEMrush: discover what keywords your competition is ranking for. Free plan allows limited daily searches.
Ubersuggest: delivers keyword suggestions based on your seed term or a competitor’s domain.
Wordtracker: serves up thousands of popular search phrases based on your seed term.
Website Content Tools
ChatGPT: an AI tool that can generate multiple forms of content based on the prompts you enter
Wayback Machine: a digital archive of the World Wide Web let’s you search for old web pages via a calendar timeline.
Character Count Tool: a useful tool to count characters when you need to stay within a limit for tweets and tags.
Infographics & Presentations
Xtensio: a collaboration platform that helps teams capture their vision into online documents. With it's easy-to-use features, it's the perfect tool to create, share and manage living folios.
Easelly is a simple infographic maker that allows you to visualise any kind of information.
Visme: create professional presentations and infographics online. Choose from thousands of templates and graphics that you can publish online or download.
Improve Teamwork
Slack: a communication & collaboration tool for teams of any size. Searchable public and private channels allow you to keep all your correspondence in one place.
Notions: an all-in-one collaboration platform that integrates note-taking, project management, and team collaboration features.
FreeConferenceCalls: provides HD audio conferencing, screen sharing and video conferencing to create the ultimate collaborationtool.
Screen Recorders
Must have tool for website admins. Create instructional recordings to share with members or screen record issues that need troubleshooting by your web support.
Veed.io: screen capture meets powerful online video editing. Add subtitles, create overlays, edit scenes and more. Perfect for product demos and walk through videos.
Screencastify: easy to use screen recorder - just add it to your browser. Record, edit and share videos in seconds.
Screencast-O-matic: intuitive tool that lets you capture any part of your screen and start recording.
Video Editing
Motionbox: helps teams create & collaborate on video content and share ideas together in real-time. You can perform basic video editing tasks, like cutting, trimming, cropping, resize, add music and add subtitles.
CapCut: is a free versatile video editing platform that has gained popularity for its user-friendly interface and robust set of editing tools - trim, cut and arrange clips, add transitions, text overlays and music, as well as apply various filters and effects. CapCut’s seamless integration with popular social media platforms facilitates easy sharing of the created content.
Screenshare
Screenleap: allows you to instantly share your screen and conduct a 30 minute meeting. Just initiate and send the generated link to participants.
Conduct Webinars
Loom: capture your screen and record with your front facing camera, all at once and then share it.
Zoom: a video solution that allows you to host webinar events for up to 100 participants. on-demand or recorded.
Ready to transform your knowledge into an online business with a membership website but don’t have the time or skill to build it yourself? Our design service could be the solution.
Your member homepage is one of the most important pages on your site. It's where members land each time they log in, and it should be designed to keep them engaged, help them easily navigate your content, and encourage them to remain active subscribers.
Resizing images in bulk is essential when optimizing photos for websites, social media, or storage. Instead of resizing each image manually, using bulk processing tools can save time and effort. This guide will walk you through three popular methods: Adobe Photoshop, Picsart, and Imageresizer.com.
1. Resizing Images in Bulk Using Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a powerful tool that allows you to resize multiple images at once using its Image Processor feature.
Steps to Resize Images in Bulk Using Photoshop:
Open Photoshop and go to File > Scripts > Image Processor.
Select the folder containing the images you want to resize.
Choose the destination folder where resized images will be saved.
Under File Type, check Resize to Fit and enter the desired width and height (e.g., 800x600 pixels).
Select the file format (JPEG, PSD, or TIFF) and adjust quality settings if needed.
Click Run, and Photoshop will resize all images in the selected folder automatically.
Pros: ✔ High-quality output ✔ Supports batch processing with additional adjustments (e.g., sharpening, color correction) ✔ Saves time when handling large projects
Cons: ✖ Requires a paid Adobe subscription ✖ May have a learning curve for beginners
2. Resizing Images in Bulk Using Picsart
Picsart is a user-friendly tool with bulk resizing capabilities, available as a desktop app or online editor.
Steps to Resize Images in Bulk Using Picsart:
Open Picsart (either the desktop app or the online version at picsart.com).
Click on Batch Editor in the tools menu.
Upload multiple images by selecting or dragging them into the editor.
Choose the Resize option and set your desired dimensions.
Apply the changes and click Export to save all resized images.
Pros: ✔ Simple, user-friendly interface ✔ Free version available ✔ Additional editing options like cropping and filters
Cons: ✖ Free version has limited features ✖ Web-based version may be slow for large batches
3. Resizing Images in Bulk Using Imageresizer.com
Imageresizer.com is a free, web-based tool that allows you to resize multiple images quickly without downloading software.
Steps to Resize Images in Bulk Using Imageresizer.com:
Yoga continues to thrive as one of the most adaptable and accessible fitness practices, making it an ideal discipline for online instruction. With minimal equipment and the flexibility to practice anywhere, transitioning from an in-person studio to an online membership-based platform is easier than ever.
Lower Overhead Costs – Eliminate expenses associated with running a physical studio.
Flexible Income Streams – Generate passive income through on-demand classes, memberships, and live sessions.
Personalised Learning – Provide students with an extensive library of yoga sessions categorised by style, duration, and focus, allowing them to tailor their practice.
Deborah Stanley, founder of ThriveYoga, successfully launched her online yoga studio with these benefits in mind. She leveraged the SubHub membership platform to create a seamless experience for her students. We spoke with her about her journey, insights, and tips for building a thriving online yoga community in 2025.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led to you to setting up your site?
I've been a yoga teacher for 12 years and I wanted to offer my classes online so my pupils could practice at home and people who couldn't attend my in-person classes could enjoy the benefits of yoga whenever they wanted to.
Why did you decide to use SubHub and how long did it take for your website to be online?
I wanted a membership site that did everything - hosted the website, managed the members, linked to the payment method, that I could update and add to myself and offered support and back-up when I needed it.
How involved were you in developing the website, and did you have any experience in creating a website before?
I was involved in building the website from scratch and worked closely with the developers to ensure the site worked as I needed it to. I have created a very basic website for my in-person classes before.
How hands on are you with updating your site? Do you create everything yourself, do you have any staff, or do you outsource?
I create everything myself. I write a weekly blog and add a weekly video myself. I don't have any staff, except a slightly more tech-savvy and willing-to-help husband.
How much time do you spend updating your website?
I don't make many changes to it apart from writing my weekly blog and setting up my weekly video. How do you interact with members and what’s the key to keeping them happy? I keep in contact with them via my blog, newsletters and social media. A variety of different classes and different information about yoga keeps people happy, plus a smooth-running, straightforward membership process with no surprises or glitches so they can view their videos whenever they want to.
How has SubHub enabled you to grow?
I am able to teach yoga to many more people than I could in my in-person classes and potentially make more money from doing so.
What kind of content is most popular on your website and why do you think that is?
The videos - people join Thrive Yoga to practice yoga with an experienced teacher who offers varied classes suitable for all abilities.
How have you grown your email subscribers and how do you manage them?
I have not done much advertising yet but some members have found me through word-of-mouth, the Thrive Yoga Facebook page and Google search. I manage them via Mailchimp.
How important is your website for your business?
My website IS Thrive Yoga. Without it I can't offer the videos or the membership.
Now that you've created a website, how do you make money from it?
I sell a monthly membership package.
From your experience, what are the basic steps somebody needs to take to setup and develop a successful website?
Help from an expert - it is extremely time-consuming if you don't know what you are doing. To develop it you need to be consistent with what you are offering in a clear and easily-understandable way.
What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own website with SubHub?
I would say that if they don't have any experience of putting together a website or membership site then getting everything done 'all under one roof' with SubHub rather than trying to piece individual bits together using lots of different providers saves time, sanity and money. SubHub has yoga membership website temples that you get started with.
What can people expect from your site or company the next 6 or 12 months?
Melody White launched Sacred Space Online to provide comprehensive support for yoga teachers and students. Her vision was to create an online platform offering teacher training resources, expert sequencing guidance, and a full studio of yoga classes based on Samdhaana Yoga’s healing movement patterns. After extensive research, she chose SubHub for its affordability, support and ease of management.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what led to you to setting up your site?
This website has long been the dream and vision of Melody White, founder of Samdhaana Yoga and owner of Sacred Space yoga studio and Sacred Space Online.
Her vision was to create a site that provided:
1. Full online support for our in-house Yoga Teacher Training programs.
2. Online resources for yoga teachers to learn how to masterfully sequence yoga classes and to understand patterns of movement and the energetic aspects of the yoga practice
3. A full online studio of yoga classes, all of which are founded upon Samdhaana Yoga's healing patterns of movement, and which build precept upon precept, allowing our site members to evolve their own yoga practices seamlessly, at their own pace, from beginner to advanced; along with specialized yoga videos to address using yoga to maintain a healthy back, reduce stress and anxiety, and more.
Why did you decide to use SubHub and how long did it take for your website to be online?
We thoroughly researched all of our options for creating a subscription-based website. We needed a beautiful robust site that we could manage on our own, but that also offered us support when we need it, all at an affordable price. SubHub was by far the best option for meeting our needs. The process took 6 months only because we had to put the project on hold for several months - had we not, it probably would have taken about 2 - 3 months.
How involved were you in developing the website, and did you have any experience in creating a website before?
We had SubHub custom design our site. We had a very clear vision of how we wanted the site to look and function and SubHub's team did a brilliant job of bringing that to life. We also created all of our written content and a substantial library of videos before we started the process of creating the site. I have managed a number of websites before, but I've never done the technical side of creating a website.
How hands on are you with updating your site? Do you create everything yourself, do you have any staff, or do you outsource?
We are 100% hands on, from writing our content to filming and editing our videos.
How much time do you spend updating your website?
I spend from 1 to 3 hours per week updating the website. It's always evolving and we're always adding new content.
How do you interact with members and what’s the key to keeping them happy?
We interact with members through social media, monthly e-newsletters and by promptly responding to any questions or comments they email to us. The key to keeping them happy is to be extremely responsive to their needs and wants. For instance, we created our Yoga for Runner series of videos at the request of some of our clients who are runners.
How has SubHub enabled you to grow?
It enables us to reach people worldwide, far beyond what we would ever be able to do with our physical yoga studio (which is located in a town with a population of just 10,000).
What kind of content is most popular on your website and why do you think that is?
Our Online Yoga Classes and Specialized Yoga videos are the most popular content on our site because we offer something for everyone, from 5 minute Workday Quickie routines to full classes (Beginner, Foundations, Vinyasa, Power Hour, Restorative). We also have a lot of free content, no subscription required, so that people can dip their toes in the water before taking the plunge and subscribing.
How have you grown your email subscribers and how do you manage them?
Our email list has grown gradually and organically over time as our physical studio has grown. Our website subscribers are now being added to that list. We are very consistent in communicating, sending out an e-newsletter on the first of every month, as well as emails about special events or to highlight specific features of the website. Our goal is to keep people informed without pestering them with too many emails.
How important is your website for your business?
Our website is absolutely essential for the growth and future of our business.
Now that you've created a website, how do you make money from it?
We make money through subscriptions to our online yoga classes, as well as separate subscriptions that provide teaching tutorials and other resources for yoga teachers.
What has been the most effective way to drive traffic to your website?
This is an area we are constantly working on and experimenting with. So far, Facebook and Facebook ads have been the most effective tools for us.
From your experience, what are the basic steps somebody needs to take to setup and develop a successful website?
1. Decide what the main purpose of your site is.
2. Think about what kind of experience you want your site visitors to have.
3. When you're online, pay attention and identify sites that you like and dislike. This will help you decide what features to include or avoid when you set up your own site.
4. Create as much of your initial content (written and otherwise) as possible before you begin the process. This will help tremendously in thinking about how to set up your site to best deliver that content.
5. Get professional help in areas where you or your team do not have the skills needed. For instance, if writing is not your thing, there are many talented and affordable freelance writers who can help you. First impressions really matter. For us, it was well worth paying to have SubHub custom design our site.
6. Be prepared for some bumps along the road, but keep going! What advice would you give to somebody thinking of starting their own website with SubHub? Take advantage of SubHub's excellent support - schedule a phone call to ask questions and then start a free trial so you can learn more.
Final thoughts
Building a successful website requires careful planning, clear goals and a strong user experience. By defining your site's purpose, researching design preferences and preparing content in advance, you can streamline the development process. Seeking professional design can ensure a polished final product. While challenges may arise, persistence is key. For those considering SubHub, start by opening a free trial and leverage their outstanding customer support to help you build your website.
Eric Tyson is the best-selling author of personal finance guides Let’s Get Real About Money and Personal Finance For Dummies (the first non-computer title in the ‘For Dummies’ series.) After working as a management consultant for a number of Fortune 500 firms, he started offering personal financial advice back in 1990.
Since then, his work has featured in hundreds of local and national publications, while he has also lectured at the University of California and even appeared as a guest speaker at the White House.
In 2008, with traditional print media on the decline, EricTyson.com was launched in an effort to reach a wider audience. We asked him a few questions about running the website.
How and why did you get started?
Over the years, I have seen many otherwise intelligent people make major mistakes in managing their money. Additionally, much of the personal finance writing and reporting I see is biased, jargon-laden and, in some cases, filled with bad advice.
For example, rather than telling people the hard truth - that one must live within one's means as a prerequisite to building wealth - many publications offer unrealistic ‘get rich without taking risks’ hype.
I came to realize that I could reach many more people and a more economically diverse audience through writing and I began my website out of concern that I wouldn't be able to continue to reach folks through traditional newspapers.
I don’t accept endorsement deals or fees of any type from companies in the financial services industry. As such, readers can be assured that they’re getting real, honest, independent advice.
Did you face any problems in the beginning?
Given the unfolding financial crisis in 2008, I had plenty to write about. Over the years, I've been able to cover timely topics in many areas of personal finance and the business has continued to grow naturally.
Few people realize the enormous conflicts of interest that exist when small publishing enterprises (websites, local newspapers, magazines) give away its content for free and generates revenue from advertising.
Whenever I go to a ‘free’ site, I spend time thinking about what the agenda is. If they accept advertising, this creates a major conflict of interest.
In order for me to continue offering impartial advice, I have to charge my members.
The subscription model works well, with my members paying an annual fee of $19.95 - which is tax deductible! This allows me freedom to provide objective expertise, free of commercial interest, as I offer insights on breaking news stories, archived articles, exclusive book excerpts and much more.
How do you interact with members and what's the key to keeping them happy?
Our annual fee is modest and we allow a free-look period for folks to make sure that getting expert personal finance insights and information is for them.
Members get priority when it comes to answering questions, and I receive letters and emails from folks all the time. I enjoy these interactions because it allows me to understand what folks are thinking about and struggling with. While you can't make everyone happy all of the time, if you offer good information at a fair price along with good service, you will generally keep people happy.
Final thoughts
Using a subscription model, Eric ensures his content remains free from commercial influence, allowing readers to access expert insights with confidence. The SubHub platform has helped streamline the technical side of his business, enabling him to focus on delivering high-quality financial guidance. Through affordable memberships and direct interactions with subscribers, Eric continues to grow his audience.
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Herself360 is an online magazine that supports and encourages women everywhere offering them a space to connect through stories. Herself360 fosters a community where women can find inspiration, advice, and solidarity.
Co-founded by Cathie Briggette, Herself360 is a magazine-style membership website designed for women who "embrace, engage, and support each other." Covering a wide range of topics—including lifestyle, finance, news, fashion, food, and wellness—the platform remains committed to amplifying women's voices and championing empowerment.
Herself360 is a relatively new venture, and was launcSince its launch in January 2018 on the SubHub platform, Herself360 has evolved into a thriving online space where women can exchange experiences, find valuable insights, and build meaningful connections.ed in January 2018 on the SubHub platform.
A brand new online magazine
Cathie and her co-founders knew they wanted to create an online media magazine with a membership option. But they didn’t want to build the whole website from scratch by themselves, so they turned to Google to research their options, and there was SubHub.
Cathie says, “I loved the pricing structure [of SubHub] - that was really good. Because we had no members whatsoever, I liked the way that the pricing tiers worked: so as we started out it was not so much and then we got bigger the price got comparably bigger. I really like that. I liked the examples that you showed because a lot of them were of what we were thinking about doing, so that was helpful too.”
No pressure
Cathie also appreciated our low-pressure sales approach. She says, “I did a trial and Louise was the one who got in touch me. She was just so helpful and easy to talk to. At the time I wasn't quite ready to make a decision but she was ready to wait for me. She was right with me all the way through all of us [the co-founders] making the decision, and she made it easy to make that decision. That made me feel much more comfortable.”
Speedy setup
Cathie took advantage of our Speedy Setup Service, which got her new site up and running in a month, and meant that her and her team were able to concentrate on doing all the other tasks a new business requires, without having to worry about their website.
Cathie says, “It was kind of bumpy in the beginning - we didn’t have a logo yet and we hadn't picked our font and our colours – but the support was really good. Jean was our main person to get in touch with, and everything that we were looking to do she just made it happen.
“I think the biggest thing with us was that we were a start-up company and there was only three of us. We had a whole bunch of other things that were going on, so it was really great that we could throw stuff at you guys and then you could start building it in the background while we were trying to get the rest of our stuff together.”
Marketing savvy
Initially Herself360 was open to everyone, with none of the articles pay-walled behind a subscription. Cathie and her team were keen to use all of their content to generate interest and awareness – a canny marketing strategy.
Cathie says, “We wanted to get people into it first. To see what the site was about, understand what it was we were doing, and be interested in it before we locked it all down.”
Herself360 has now done just that – a few articles are still available on the site to be read by anyone, but the majority of the content, and the community, has been transferred to a members-only area. The site continues to grow, and reaches over a thousand women every month. A wonderful achievement after only six months online, and we’re sure they’ll continue to go from strength to strength.
A bit of advice
Finally, we asked Cathie if she had any advice for someone who wanted to set up a membership site. She said, “I would say you should try SubHub. They're really good - they're very easy to use and their customer service is excellent. The people over there are very easy to talk to and understand what it is that you're looking for and how you want it to show up. The SubHub platform is very comprehensible, and so far everything is just been really easy to do.”
As a membership website owner, your primary task is to write content for your members. This is especially important if you are collecting recurring payments from them in return for fresh content. So obviously, you want every article you write to shine!
Writing the perfect article may sound like a daunting task, but with a little planning and some best practices, you can craft content that captivates your members while imparting real information or advice. The steps here are a great start. The only missing piece is to make sure all your content has your distinctive stamp on the voice, tone, and flavour of your articles.
Know Your Audience
This should be easy since your members have already committed to you. Therefore, they already know, like and trust you. But before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), take a moment to think a little more deeply about who they are, their habits, their needs and wants. You may even know some of them personally. This is a golden opportunity to tailor your piece to answer a question you know they have, or to speak to a particular segment of your group.
Questions to ask yourself:
What does my audience care about?
What problems are they trying to solve?
What kind of tone will resonate with them (formal, conversational, humorous)?
For example, as a nutrition expert, your membership is varied. Some may be vegan, some paleo, some who like everything! They are each going to have slightly different problems day to day. You could answer questions like “is there such a thing as too much protein?”, or “how many carbs is too many?” The list is endless!.
Start with a Strong Hook
First impressions matter. The opening of your article should grab your member’s attention and make them want to continue reading. A strong hook could be:
Examples:
A compelling statistic: “Did you know that over 90% of Americans fail to meet daily vegetable intake recommendations?”
A question: “Are you struggling to understand what ‘eating clean’ really means?”
A personal story: “Last year, I decided to cut out processed sugar. The first week was tough, but the results were life-changing.”
Structure Your Article with Care
A well-structured article keeps readers engaged and ensures your points come across clearly. Follow this basic structure:
Introduction: Introduce the topic and explain why it’s important (e.g., “Why meal prepping saves time and money while improving health.”)
Body: Break down the main points into easily digestible sections, using subheadings and bullet points.
Conclusion: Summarize key takeaways and provide a call-to-action (e.g., “Start your journey to better nutrition by trying these three simple meal prep tips!”).
Using subheadings, lists, and short paragraphs also improves readability, especially for online content.
Write with Clarity and Confidence
Good writing is clear, concise, and confident. Avoid jargon and unnecessary fluff that might confuse or bore your members. Instead (continuing with our nutritionist example):
Use active voice: “Include leafy greens in your meals” is stronger than “Leafy greens should be included in meals.”
Be concise: Replace long explanations with direct, impactful sentences.
Explain complex concepts: Use examples, such as describing how fiber aids digestion by comparing it to a “broom” sweeping out your digestive system.
Add Value with Examples and Data
Readers appreciate actionable advice and real-world examples. Back up your points with data, case studies, or personal experiences. For example:
Share meal plans, recipes, or client success stories to make your points relatable.
Share a success story or cautionary tale to illustrate your point.
Example: Rather than saying, “Fiber is important for digestion,” say, “Studies show that increasing dietary fiber can reduce the risk of heart disease by up to 30%.”
Include a Call to Action
Never leave your readers hanging. A strong call to action (CTA) directs them on what to do next. Whether it's subscribing to your newsletter, leaving a comment, or sharing your article, make your CTA clear and compelling.
This is also a great place to upsell your members. Perhaps you are introducing a new program or challenge. Invite your members to apply to get a free pass or fast action discount.
Example CTA:“Ready for the next level? Join my new 90-day no-carb challenge for free!”
Use Gripping Headlines
Your headline is the first thing readers see, so make it count. A good headline is clear, intriguing, and gives a promise of value. Tools like CoSchedule Headline Analyzer can help refine your titles for maximum impact.
Instead of “Nutrition Tips,” try “7 Science-Backed Nutrition Tips to Transform Your Health.”
Use power words like “Ultimate,” “Proven,” or “Life-Changing” to add impact.
Use Subheads and Bullet Points
Breaking up your text with subheads and bullet points makes it easier for readers to scan and digest your content. This is especially important for online readers who tend to skim rather than read word-for-word.
Use subheads to introduce new sections.
Use bullet points for lists or key takeaways.
Inject Personal Stories and Opinions
Adding personal stories or opinions makes your article more relatable and engaging. Share your experiences, challenges, and insights to build a connection with your readers.
Example: Offer opinions on debated topics, like plant-based diets or intermittent fasting, to spark discussion.
Edit Ruthlessly
This is a phrase that you sometimes here from editors and publishers. What they mean is that you should be ruthless with your editing. You many have just written the cutest, most creative title in the world for your article. But does it tell your member what the article is about?
Consider a cute headline like “You Say Potato, I Say Potahto!”, or “Do You Want Fries With That?”. Do these tell you what the article is about? Not really. It’s usually a good idea to err on the side of the obvious. Something like 5 Ways to Ditch French Fries for Good – With No Regrets”. Now you have a headline that is still engaging but is also more explanatory.
Your first draft is rarely perfect. Once you’ve finished writing, you should also take the time to edit your article. Look for:
Spelling and grammar errors.
Sentences or sections that are unclear or repetitive.
Opportunities to improve flow and readability.
Tools like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor can help polish your writing, but don’t underestimate the value of a second pair of eyes. Ask a friend or colleague for feedback.
Final Thoughts
Writing the perfect article isn’t about following a rigid formula; it’s about understanding your audience, communicating clearly, and providing value. And don’t forget to be authentic in your writing. Use your writing voice to spark or deepen your connection with your members. They want to hear from you, in your unique style. So give the people what they want!
It's a fact that website design styles evolve rapidly from year to year, reflecting changes in technology, user behavior and aesthetics. Just think about how far websites have come since the early days of the late 1990's and early 2000's. Back then, websites were packed with dense information, featuring clunky elements like left side navigation, small text, minimal images and definitely no video. A quick trip to the Wayback Machine can offer a glimpse into that era’s chaotic, cluttered, and often confusing designs.
Here is a snapshot of microsoft.com from way back in 2002:
By today’s standards, those early websites are hard to imagine as functional, especially with modern design's focus on clarity, simplicity and seamless navigation. The emphasis now is on user-centric design, where every element serves a clear purpose and enhances the user experience. We’ve come a long way - and aren’t you glad?
Now here is microsoft.com in 2025:
Now let's explore at a few web design trends shaping 2025. There won't be a huge change from last year but there are some impactful innovations redefining what websites can do and how they look.
Trend #1: Bold colors, simplistic hero sections and dynamic interactions
In 2025, the shift toward bold simplicity continues to redefine website hero banners. Instead of traditional background images with overlay text, bold solid colors paired with striking typography and subtle animations have become the hallmark of modern design.
Subtle motion effects or gradient animations give your hero section a dynamic feel.
Large, bold typography paired with clean layouts ensures clarity and accessibility.
Strategic micro-interactions, like hover effects or interactive call-to-action (CTA) buttons, engage visitors without overwhelming them.
This trend aligns with the continued focus on minimalism and extreme contrast, but with added interactivity.
The goal is to capture attention instantly while making navigation intuitive. This approach eliminates the distractions of complex visuals, ensuring your core message stands out. It’s not just visually appealing - it’s functional and user-centric.
Trend #2: Story-centric design
Storytelling remains an essential element of web design in 2025, but it has evolved into a more immersive and interactive experience. Websites now guide users through tailored narratives.
Video-driven narratives: Include fullscreen videos or interactive video segments that walk users through your brand’s story, creating emotional connections.
The essence of storytelling hasn’t changed: it’s still about showing the customer’s transformation. However, the delivery has advanced, making the journey more compelling than ever. Pair these stories with testimonials, infographics and explainer videos to deepen the connection and emphasize real-world results.
Trend #3: Membership, courses and monetization
As creator-driven economies continue to thrive, websites are evolving into comprehensive hubs for monetization. In 2025, membership and course platforms have reached new levels of sophistication, offering seamless integration with diverse revenue streams. By uniting these monetization methods on a single platform, you can provide a versatile and engaging experience that caters to the varied needs of your audience, fostering loyalty while maximizing income potential.
Offer Tiered Memberships: Provide different membership levels with varying benefits (e.g., basic, premium, VIP) to cater to a wider audience.
Skill-Based Training: Develop in-depth courses on a specific skill or topic that appeals to your target audience.
More website owners are moving away from Facebook groups and other social media platforms to house their communities. The shift away from social media giants continues to gain traction in 2025 as creators and businesses reclaim control over their communities. Websites now serve as fully-equipped hubs for interaction and connection.
Built-in Forum: Many membership platforms now include built-in forums. SubHub's forum feature allows segmentation by member group, enabling restricted access for premium memberships or separate forums for different groups.
Member Directory: Members can create profiles with photos, videos, and text for others to search and view.
The takeaway for 2025
Website design in 2025 revolves around clarity, connection, and control. Bold visuals, immersive storytelling, monetization tools and community-building features will let your website deliver both a memorable experience and measurable results.
AI Tools in some ways are nothing new. Much of the marketing software that has been available for several years could be considered AI. But in the last couple of years, AI tools have come to mean something more useful and elaborate, especially when it comes to marketing.
As a membership website owner, you probably already spend a lot of time on marketing, so you know how important it is to a thriving business. Consistently getting new members to join your website is the most important mission you have, apart from consistently providing value to current members. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help. By using AI’s capabilities, you can create personalized experiences, fine-tune your marketing, and keep your website fresh and engaging. Here are 3 smart ways to harness the power of AI to keep your business growing.
Speak Directly to Your Visitor with Personalized Marketing
Everyone responds better to a personalized communication than a generic one. AI can look at data from social media, website activity, and even search habits to create tailored marketing messages. When your messages feel personal, people are more likely to pay attention and consider joining.
AI Tools: Facebook or Google ad campaign account, AdRoll to retarget ads based on user interactions with your website, Mailchimp to create personalized email campaigns, Google Analytics to track website visits.
Example: Dynamic advertising tools can be used to recommend your membership site to people based on their browsing history or preferences. For instance, if someone recently searched for "online fitness programs," an AI tool like AdRoll or Facebook retargeting ads could identify this and display an ad for your fitness-related membership site, highlighting its most relevant features. If the person seeing the ad clicks on it and ends up contacting you or signing up for something on your website, you can use the same information to target relevant emails to them. Google Analytics can track the process and record the conversion as well.
Find the Right Audience with Predictive Analytics
AI can help you figure out who is most likely to become a member by analyzing patterns in user behavior. This means you can focus on the people who are most interested in what you offer. AI-driven customer relationship management (CRM) tools can help you create targeted campaigns that really resonate.
Tools:Mailchimp for personalized email campaigns and audience segmentation, HubSpot CRM to identify the leads most likely to convert based on behaviour, Google Analytics to track user behaviour and identify engagement patterns, Pipedrive CRM.
Example: Customer relationship management tools like Pipedrive use AI to help you understand what your website visitors are doing and how you can use that information. It can grade leads by which are more likely to convert, and allow you to send personalized email campaigns and follow-ups.
For instance, someone who visits your pricing page multiple times and opens every email you send may be more likely to join your site. These tools can also remind you to follow up with leads at the right time, such as after they’ve completed your free trial but haven’t subscribed yet.
Let’s say you’re a nutrition membership website. AI tools can tell you if visitors are engaging with your website in the morning, in which case you could offer a “daily breakfast menu” to entice these potential members.
Turn Visitors Into Members with Chatbots
AI chatbots can answer questions, guide visitors through your site, and even help them sign up—all in real time. This instant interaction can make a big difference, especially if you have your chatbot offer free resources, like eBooks or webinars, to showcase the value of your membership.
Tools:There are multiple chatbots available, and most are easy to implement on your SubHub website. Simply add the provided embed code to your site and watch the magic happen! Popular chatbots are Intercom, Tidio, Drift, and ManyChat.
Example: Chatbots are smarter than you think. They can actually do a lot more than just tell your visitor to leave an email address and someone will get back to them. For instance, let’s say your membership website sells professional development courses. When a visitor lands on your site, a chatbot can ask a short series of questions. Based on the answers, the bot can direct your visitor to a particular article, course, or webinar. They can also handle common questions in real time. For instance, a visitor might ask “What’s included in the membership?”, “Can I cancel anytime?”, or “Do you offer discounts?” Your chatbot can provide instant, consistent answers, improving user experience and reducing bounce rates.
There you have it—three powerful ways to harness AI to attract and convert visitors into members, plus strategies to keep them engaged and coming back. No tool is foolproof, and AI doesn’t replace your expertise. But it can help you unlock your website’s full potential, making it more efficient and engaging at the same time. Start small, experiment with tools, and see how AI can elevate your membership website.
BONUS CONTENT: Quick Video - How to Install Tidio Chatbot into Your SubHub Website
When building your homepage, don’t overlook the many benefits of incorporating icons into your website design. These simple yet impactful graphics can elevate your site's aesthetic appeal, enhance user experience, and effectively communicate information at a glance. In today’s visually driven digital landscape, icons are a must-have tool for engaging visitors and guiding them through your content seamlessly.
Why icons matter in website design
Icons are more than just decorative elements. They are functional, versatile, and powerful. Their elementary forms can enrich minimal content and provide structure to your pages by visually dividing text sections. This not only improves readability but also ensures that your content feels organised and approachable.
Icons have a unique ability to encapsulate complex ideas and instantly convey meaning intuitively. Unlike lengthy text, icons communicate universally, making them invaluable for diverse audiences or websites with an international reach.
Benefits of using icons
Highlight Key Content: Icons draw attention to specific sections of your site, such as membership benefits, special offers, or calls-to-action. By visually emphasizing important information, you can guide users to the content you most want them to engage with.
Improve Navigation: Icons make your navigation menus more intuitive. For instance, a shopping cart icon for your e-commerce store or a magnifying glass for search instantly conveys functionality, reducing cognitive load for users.
Enhance Aesthetics: Icons bring a polished and cohesive look to your site. They’re especially effective when paired with a minimalistic design approach, adding visual interest without overwhelming the layout.
Boost Accessibility: Well-designed icons can support users with visual or cognitive impairments by providing clear visual cues, ensuring a more inclusive browsing experience.
Save Space: Icons allow you to communicate more with less. For instance, a single icon can represent an action (like downloading a file) or an idea (such as sustainability), freeing up space for other design elements.
Where to find free icons
Finding high-quality icons doesn’t have to break the bank. Platforms like FontAwesome, Icons8 and Flaticon offer extensive libraries of free icons for nearly every purpose imaginable. Their user-friendly dashboards allow you to easily edit icons for color, scale and style, ensuring they align perfectly with your website’s design.
Other excellent sources for free icons include:
Font Awesome: A popular toolkit that offers scalable vector icons customizable with CSS.
Icons8: A vast collection of free and premium icons, including sets tailored for specific themes or industries.
FlatIcon: Download Free Icons and Stickers for your projects. Resources made by and for designers. PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and CSS formats.
Tips for effectively using icons
Stay Consistent: Choose icons that share a common style or theme. This helps maintain a cohesive design throughout your site.
Prioritise Simplicity: Avoid overly complex or detailed icons. Simpler designs are easier to recognize and scale well across devices.
Match Your Brand: Ensure that the colors and style of your icons align with your brand’s identity. Customizing colors can help integrate them seamlessly into your design.
Don’t Overuse: While icons are great for enhancing design, using too many can clutter your site. Be strategic and use them to emphasise only the most important elements.
Conclusion
Icons are small but mighty elements that can transform your website into a visually engaging and user-friendly experience. Whether you’re looking to emphasise content, improve navigation, or add a professional touch, the strategic use of icons can make a big impact. Explore the creative possibilities, and let these versatile tools work their magic on your site!
Running a membership website is rewarding, but it can be a lot to manage—especially when it comes to keeping your members engaged and organized. That’s where Mailchimp’s automated workflows come in. Think of them as your behind-the-scenes assistant, handling communication so you can focus on growing your community.
Let’s explore how Mailchimp automation works and how you can use it to streamline tasks like welcoming new members, managing cancellations, and sending renewal reminders.
What Are Mailchimp Automation Workflows?
Mailchimp’s automated workflows are like pre-programmed email sequences that respond to specific triggers. For example, when a new member signs up, an automated workflow can send a series of emails to welcome them and show them the ropes.
The best part? It all happens automatically. No more manually sending emails or keeping track of everyone’s status. Mailchimp ensures your members get the right message at the right time, making your life a lot easier.
Why Automation Matters for Membership Websites
Membership websites thrive on connection, but managing communication can be time-consuming. Automation lets you handle these tasks effortlessly:
Welcome new members with personalized emails.
Gently nudge members to renew their subscriptions.
Remove canceled members from your mailing list without awkward manual updates.
With workflows in place, you can focus less on logistics and more on creating an amazing experience for your members.
How Membership Websites Can Use Mailchimp Automation Workflows
Here are five ways you can use Mailchimp’s automation features to make your membership website run more smoothly:
1. Roll Out the Welcome Mat
First impressions count, and a thoughtful welcome series can set the tone for your members’ entire experience.
How it works:
Trigger: A new member joins your site.
What happens next:
Email 1: A warm welcome with an overview of your community and resources.
Email 2 (a few days later): Tips on getting the most out of their membership.
Email 3 (a week later): An invitation to an upcoming event or feature spotlight.
This series helps members feel at home and excited about their decision to join.
2. Handle Cancellations Smoothly
Cancellations are part of running a membership site, but they don’t have to create extra work. Mailchimp can automatically unsubscribe members who cancel, keeping your mailing list up-to-date and avoiding awkward follow-ups.
How it works:
Trigger: Your membership platform (via an integration like Zapier) notifies Mailchimp of a cancellation.
What happens next:
The member is automatically unsubscribed or moved to an inactive list.
If the unsubscribed member has been moved to another list, you can send a polite goodbye email thanking them for their time and inviting them back anytime. (List members have to be “subscribed” to received list emails.)
3. Send Friendly Renewal Reminders
Keeping members engaged is key to reducing churn. A well-timed reminder can make all the difference when it’s time for them to renew.
How it works:
Trigger: A member’s subscription is about to expire.
What happens next:
30 days before expiration: Send a friendly nudge with a renewal link.
15 days before expiration: Highlight the value of their membership and what they’ll miss out on if they don’t renew.
5 days before expiration: Create urgency with a final reminder—perhaps offering a special discount.
This automated workflow ensures your members don’t miss their renewal window, helping you maintain a steady membership base. This functionality is available on some membership platforms, including SubHub, but you can enhance it using Mailchimp.
Trigger: A member hits a milestone, like six months of active membership, or frequently engages with your content.
What happens next:
Send an email showcasing premium-tier benefits.
Include testimonials from happy premium members.
Offer a limited-time upgrade discount to create a sense of urgency.
This approach makes upgrading feel like an opportunity rather than a hard sell.
5. Keep Members in the Loop About Events
Hosting a webinar, meetup, or virtual event? Use Mailchimp to make sure everyone stays informed and excited.
How it works:
Trigger: A member registers for your event.
What happens next:
Email 1: Send a confirmation email with event details and a calendar link.
Email 2 (3 days before the event): Share a quick reminder to keep it top-of-mind.
Email 3 (1 hour before the event): Send a final reminder with the login link or instructions.
With automated reminders, your members are far less likely to forget or miss the event.
Getting Started with Mailchimp Automation Workflows
Here’s how to set up your workflows:
Connect Your Membership Platform: Tools like Zapier make it easy to sync data between your membership site and Mailchimp.
Use Tags and Segments to categorize your lists: Organize your email list by categories like active members, inactive members, or premium-tier subscribers with the Segments feature.
Optionally, you can use the tagging feature to tag certain members of your lists, then segment the tagged group.
Design Your Emails: Use Mailchimp’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor to set up the list or segment you want to mail to, and create a polished, on-brand email sequence.
Test Before Launching: Run a few test workflows to ensure everything works as expected.
The Bottom Line
Mailchimp automation is a game-changer for membership websites. It helps you build strong, meaningful connections with your members while saving time and simplifying operations. From welcoming new members to managing cancellations and renewals, automation keeps your community running smoothly.
Some membership platforms, including SubHub, are integrated with Mailchimp, making these types of workflows a breeze to set up. If you’re on a platform that isn’t directly integrated with Mailchimp, you can most likely use Zapier to create the connection and set up your triggers and actions.
Ready to level up your membership site? Open a free SubHub trial and dive into Mailchimp’s automated workflows.
Creating a successful membership website requires a fundamental change in thinking of how you view your content. It's not just a product but a strategic marketing tool. Content is no longer just something you sell. It is the foundation of your value proposition to attract, engage and retain your audience.
Free content can act as a magnet, drawing in potential members while demonstrating the expertise and benefits your membership website offers. Meanwhile, premium content serves as the hook, enticing users to transition from casual visitors to committed subscribers. By aligning your content with both marketing objectives and member needs, you can create an ecosystem that both drives growth and revenue.
5 Steps to transform your content into a powerful marketing tool:
1. Identify what content is valuable in your market
Identifying what content is valuable in your market is crucial for creating resources that resonate with your audience and drive engagement. Start by understanding your target market's needs and pain points. Analyse trends and competitor strategies to pinpoint gaps in existing offerings and uncover opportunities to stand out.
Focus on creating content that educates, entertains or inspires. By delivering high-value content, you can establish your authority, foster trust and position yourself as an indispensable resource in your market.
2. Treat free content as a customer acquisition tool
Free content is one of the most effective tools for customer acquisition, serving as the first touchpoint to attract and engage your target audience. By offering high-quality, relevant and accessible free content, you create opportunities to showcase your expertise, build trust and demonstrate the value your product. Free content can take many forms, such as blog posts, courses, events, digital downloads or webinars.
Free content acts as a gateway to your premium offerings, drawing in potential customers who appreciate the value you’ve already provided and are more likely to invest in your paid products or services. When strategically designed, free content acts as a lead generator moving prospects through your sales funnel and turning them into loyal members.
3. Change your perspective on “free” content
Free content should be viewed as a strategic tool to drive growth and conversions. Instead of lamenting the inability to charge for every piece of online content, you should embrace free offerings as a powerful means to attract a broader audience. Free content can serve as a gateway, showcasing the value and quality of your paid subscriptions while establishing trust and credibility with potential members. By offering high-quality free content, membership websites can drive traffic and convert visitors into paying subscribers. This approach not only widens the reach of your brand but also creates a pipeline for member growth and revenue.
4. Create targeted content for new members
Purposefully create relevant content that focuses on the needs of your audience. Targeted content for new members fosters engagement and builds trust. Tailored content makes new members feel valued and understood. It could take the form of beginner-friendly tutorials, curated guides or live Q&A sessions. By focusing on the specific needs of new members, you create an environment that encourages active participation and long-term commitment.
5. Build a pathway from free to paid content
Once you’ve attracted new users with free content, the next step is to guide them toward becoming paying members. This requires a strategic blend of education, trust-building, and targeted offers:
Teaser content: Allow free users to sample parts of premium content or offer a free trial with limited-time access.
Harness Social Media: Use platforms like TikTok and Instagram to amplify your content and connect with potential members. Share snippets of valuable insights, direct users to your website and build communities around your niche.
Invest in Analytics: Track user behavior on your site to understand what content resonates most. Use this data to refine your offerings and better address your audience's needs.
Focus on Community Building: Membership websites that foster a sense of community enjoy higher retention rates. Provide forums, live Q&A events, or exclusive webinars where members can engage with experts and peers.
Conclusion
By thinking of your content as your marketing and leveraging these strategies, you can create a thriving membership website. Success lies in understanding your audience, delivering unmatched value and nurturing a clear journey from free content to paid membership. With the right mindset and tools, your content can do more than inform - it can drive sustainable growth and profitability.
Incorporating events into your membership website strategy can be a game-changer for boosting engagement and generating additional revenue. Including virtual events into a subscription plan can elevate the perceived value of membership and set your offerings apart from competitors
Virtual meetings have become an integral part of modern communication, bridging the gap for businesses, organizations, and individuals worldwide. Whether a team meeting, webinar, or membership session, knowing how to run a virtual meeting effectively is a key skill. A virtual meeting is the ideal environment to encourage collaboration and boost productivity. Virtual meetings are a great way to promote your membership business too, for another way to encourage sign-up to your membership. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you set up and manage virtual meetings with ease.
Step 1: Identify the Type of Meeting
The first step in running a successful virtual meeting is to determine what kind of meeting you’re creating. Different types of virtual meetings include:
Networking events
Meet-and-greet sessions
Job interviews
Classes or courses
Private or public events
Team meetings
Membership discussions
Webinars
Whether you’re part of a company, an organization, or an entrepreneurial venture—you undoubtedly host or attend virtual meetings regularly. This is especially true if your team operates remotely or globally.
Step 2: Define the Purpose of the Meeting
Every meeting should have a clear goal. Set this at the outset. If you a recruiter, your goal might be determining if your interviewee is a good fit for the job opening. If running a course or class, what should the key outcome or takeaway be for your audience?
Step 3: Choose the Right Tools and Equipment
Now that you know what kind of meeting you want to run and its purpose, it’s time to determine the equipment and tools you’ll need to actually set it up. Here’s what you’ll need for this step:
A computer with camera and microphone. Make sure all your participants also have access to the needed equipment. Attendees can participate in the meeting via desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, as long as they have access to the platform you’re using.
A virtual platform. Three of the most popular in use today are Zoom, Streamyard, and Slack.
Zoom:
Zoom has many features including the ability to set up a series of meetings, and live streaming to platforms like YouTube and Facebook. What Zoom is used most is for meetings, conferences, and classes across a wide range of industries. It offers many go-to features such as screen sharing and an easy to use chat area. Meetings can be recorded with one click, and hosts can implement break-out rooms so participants can meeting smaller groups. Here is how to set up a meeting in Zoom:
Streamyard:
Streamyard is a very popular alternative to Zoom, and is used most frequently for live streaming. You can embed registration forms on your website, and livestream your meeting or event to several different platforms at once. It also has most of the same features as Zoom including virtual backgrounds and recording of meetings. Here is how to set up a live stream in Streamyard:
Slack:
Primarily used for workplace communication, Slack is ideal for team meetings, private meetings, and the ability to share files and information. Once each team member is set up on Slack, they can send messages or chat in real time without having to set up a link in advance. Meetings are known as “huddles” in Slack, and support video, audio, and chat. Here is how to set up a Slack huddle:
Step 4: Send Invitations and Prepare an Agenda
Now that you’ve determined the type of meeting you want to set up, its purpose, and the equipment and platform you will be using, it’s time to send out invitations. Include the meeting link and an agenda in your invitation, explaining your goals for the meeting, structure and timeline. Let participants have a chance to review the agenda prior to the meeting, and offer feedback if desired.
Step 5: Break the Ice and Set the Tone
Once everyone is gathered, there won’t be much in the way of discussion among the participants prior to the start of the meeting, like you have with live meetings. They will be looking to you as webinar leader to get the meeting started. it’s a good idea to have a welcome message ready, and to thank everyone for being there. You might break the ice a bit more by asking everyone to introduce themselves, and/or answer a question. Where they are located, or what their goal for the meeting is as an attendee make good opening questions. Don’t forget to press the Record button if recording the meeting.
Step 6: Follow Best Practices During the Meeting
Once the meeting is underway, follow the agenda you previously set out. You may want to give people a chance to ask questions during or at the end of the meeting. Ensure everyone knows how to use the various features of the platform, such as raising their hand, and using emojis. You can mute everyone while the meeting is going on, which gives you control over the discussion.
Step 7: Gather Feedback
Participants might have feedback for you on the tone or structure of the meeting, which you can use to improve your meetings in the future.
Conclusion
Virtual meetings are the norm these days, even within brick and mortar organizations. With the convenience and accessibility of smartphones and computers, anyone can join a virtual meeting. Virtual meetings save time and money. You don’t have to rent a meeting room, or book time in a conference room. Most of all, they are the perfect environment for information sharing and recording the events of the meeting, as opposed to painstakingly taking minutes by hand.
Whether it’s a quick team huddle or a large-scale webinar, mastering the art of virtual meetings is a skill that will benefit any business or individual in today’s digital-first world.
Ready to start running virtual meetings? You can link to virtual meetings from your SubHub website. Open a free trial today.
Creating a membership website homepage is more than just designing a visually appealing page; it’s about crafting an experience that guides visitors seamlessly toward becoming subscribers. Membership homepages need content designed to introduce, inform, build trust, peak interest and prompt the subscription of a visitor. And they also need to be optimised with keywords to be found by search engines.
We've created a checklist of homepage elements and best practices to use when building your membership website.
Key elements of a high-converting membership homepage
1. A simple logo
The first element most people add to their website is a logo. Your logo should reflect your brand identity without dominating the page. Oversized logos can waste valuable space and push important content below the fold. Unless you’re a household name, your logo alone won’t drive conversions—so keep it subtle.
2. Add a favicon
That small icon in your browser tab, known as a favicon, is an often-overlooked detail. It enhances your brand’s visibility when users have multiple tabs open. Including one reinforces professionalism and helps visitors easily locate your site.
When building your homepage, make sure you pay attention to even the smallest detail.
3. Streamlined navigation links
A clutter-free header is crucial for usability. Stick to six or fewer navigation links to maintain a clean and intuitive structure. Essential links like Home, Subscribe, or Services should be prominent, while secondary ones like About or Contact can be placed in the footer.
Take some time to plan how your members will navigate your content. Make sure your site's navigation is logical and user friendly. Good structure is important for both users and search engines when they are crawling your site to index it.
4. Create an impactful banner
Your banner is the first point of engagement for a visitor as it’s ‘above the fold’. This means it’s the content that first fills the screen. Here’s where you need to make an impact and capture a visitor’s interest.
Use a high-quality, appealing image. Make sure you’ve compressed the file so it loads quickly, saves bandwidth and doesn’t ‘dribble’ down the screen. Use online image compression tools like tinyjpg and tinypng.
Your banner headline needs to connect with and inspire your audience AND be compelling enough to convince a visitor to keep scrolling. Exercise “power words” to motivate your audience to convert.
Use the supportive subheadline, to add clarity and emphasise your value proposition or unique selling point.
Anchor the text with a call to action button to trigger further action. Link it to your subscribe, store or learn more page.
5. Showcase member benefits
Dedicate a section to highlight 3–4 key benefits of becoming a member. Use concise, descriptive text and relevant keywords for better SEO. Enhance readability by pairing benefits with icons to draw attention and make your message visually engaging.
6. Tell your story
A well-written “About” section can humanise your brand. Share your mission, values and the inspiration behind your service. This is your opportunity to connect with visitors emotionally, fostering trust and encouraging them to explore further.
7. Highlight results with before & after visuals
For industries like fitness or design, before-and-after images are powerful tools to establish credibility. Real-life examples showcase tangible benefits, encouraging potential members to envision their own success.
8. Build trust with testimonials
Incorporate 2–4 authentic testimonials to validate your service. Member endorsements are a proven way to boost credibility and reduce hesitation. A homepage with social proof is far more likely to convert.
9. Offer free samples
Give visitors a sneak peek at what’s behind the paywall. This could include free tutorials, downloadable resources, or access to a limited section of your content. Not only does this build trust, but it also improves your site’s SEO by offering publicly indexable content.
Having a mix of member and non-member content is essential as Google doesn’t index content behind paywalls.
10. Optimise for SEO
On your homepage and throughout your membership website, you should be optimising your content to get found by search engines (SEO). This means incorporating the keywords and phrases that are being used when people are searching for content like yours.
Keywords help search bots understand your website and identify if it's relevant to a search query.
Keywords should be present in titles, headlines, body text, image tags and most importantly meta tags. Of course, this doesn't mean to keyword stuff. But to use keywords in a natural and authentic manner meant to inform and accurately describe your content and website.
11. Fast load times matter
Visitors won’t stick around if your site is slow. Large images are often the culprit, so compress files to reduce load time. Make sure to resize and compress large image files so they load fast and deliver a positive impression to visitors.
12. Capture leads with a newsletter
A pop-up or signup form for a monthly newsletter lets you stay connected with potential members who aren’t ready to subscribe immediately. Use newsletters to share updates, free resources, and exclusive deals, nurturing these leads over time.
13. Transparent pricing plans
Make it easy for visitors to see the value you offer. Display your subscription options near the bottom of the homepage, and include a CTA linking to the signup page. A clear pricing breakdown builds trust and aids decision-making.
14. Prioritise clean design
A simple, uncluttered layout ensures visitors focus on the key elements of your site. Incorporate white space strategically to improve readability and highlight important sections. Additionally, choose colors wisely to evoke the desired emotions and complement your branding.
Final thoughts
This improved version streamlines the content, makes it more engaging, and provides actionable advice with a clear and professional tone.