For many online business owners, the most desirable way to build a revenue-generating website is through the use of a membership structure. When you convince someone to sign up for a membership, that person will be much more likely to buy something from you in the future (and purchase more frequently) than a nonmember.
Even if you’re just looking to create or update a website for your local organization or church, making that website a membership site can lead to a much higher level of member engagement. Your members aren’t looking to buy anything – they just want to interact with other members. And the more actively engaged your members are, the better your website will be for everyone. Unfortunately, trying to create a membership website from scratch can be difficult, if not overwhelming.
WordPress – already one of the most popular ways to get a website up and running quickly – is an ideal infrastructure for a membership site. Coupled with the Wishlist Member package of plugins, you’ll be able to launch a membership website quickly.
Wishlist Member Overview
Wishlist Member is different from most other WordPress plugins in that it completely changes how you interact with your WordPress installation. Nearly every element of building your website will be in the context of allowing access to particular content to particular membership levels. Wishlist Member makes it easy to navigate the three main components of creating a membership site—member grouping, content protection and access, and member registration
Member Grouping
Remember that the essence of a membership site is restricted access. If everyone could access everything on your site, there’d be no reason to become a member. So once you’ve installed Wishlist Member, click the “Membership Levels” tab. 
You’ll see a large number of options for creating and customizing your groups. This is essential because it gives you the greatest number of opportunities to give people reasons to join. When you create a new group, you can allow the members of that group to have access to various types of content or areas of your site. This is the first step to creating a membership site with Wishlist Member.
Content Protection and Access
The next step is to select which posts and other items are protected. Within the “Posts” section, you’ll see a Wishlist Member section near the bottom of each post creation page. 
You can use this section to protect certain posts and allow access to whichever membership level or levels you choose.
Setting Up Member Registration
The process for setting up new member registrations varies depending on whether the membership level will be free or require payment. For free membership levels, simply create a new page in WordPress and use the appropriate “Merge Codes” that are highlighted near the bottom of the page. To create a paid membership level, click the “Integration” tab in the main Wishlist Member of your website.
After you integrate a shopping cart, Wishlist Member automatically creates a registration page that will appear to a new user once they pay the fee. After you complete the shopping cart integration, you only need to create a sales page that includes your PayPal button (or whatever shopping cart you’re using), and funnel prospective members to that page.
Wishlist Member can be one of the best ways to quickly and easily set up a membership website on WordPress. By following the steps outlined above you can have new membership functions up and running on your website, just like College Bound Ballerz.
Need help setting up your membership site with WordPress?