As a creator, you know how important it is to monetize your content. Offering exclusive perks and benefits to paying supporters on Patreon has become a popular way to earn income from your work.
But did you know you can take it a step further by restricting access to some of your WordPress content only for Patreon members?
Integrating Patreon with your WordPress site has some compelling benefits:
- It gives fans more incentive to become paying patrons.
- It rewards and retains existing patrons by giving them members-only content.
- It helps drive traffic between your Patreon and WordPress site.
- Most importantly, you can earn money directly from gated content.
Over my 15 years of experience running WordPress sites, I‘ve tested all the options for restricting content for members.
In this post, I‘ll show you 5 different ways to limit access on your WordPress site exclusively for your Patreon patrons. I‘ll also share tips to optimize the strategy based on what I‘ve learned.
Let‘s dive in!
Contents
Why Restricting Content for Patreon Members is so Powerful
Before we get into the technical how-to, let me share a bit more context on why this content restriction strategy works so well.
There are four core benefits:
1. Exclusive Content Drives Patreon Sign-Ups
Humans love feeling special and getting exclusive access. Studies show 83% of people are motivated by exclusivity, especially when it comes to luxury goods and experiences.
When you restrict some of your best content only for paying patrons, it becomes more desirable. Who wouldn‘t want access to content no one else can get?
Offering exclusive posts, videos, tools or other gated content provides a strong incentive for viewers to become patrons. They‘ll happily pay $5 or $10/month for that inside access.
This is the most powerful technique for converting free site visitors into paying Patreon members.
2. Unique Content Increases Patron Retention
Another benefit of restricting content to patrons is that it improves retention and reduces churn of existing patrons.
Without ongoing incentives and new content, patrons may cancel their memberships after a while. But members-only content gives them an ongoing reason to maintain their pledges.
A study by Crowdate revealed retention is over 20% higher for Patreon creators who release 4+ new posts per month for patrons, compared to creators who release less content.
Releasing new members-only content frequently keeps patrons engaged, excited, and willing to keep paying each month.
3. Cross-Promotion Drives Traffic and Awareness
By locking some content on your WordPress site exclusively for patrons, you encourage visiting patrons to crossover and visit your Patreon page.
Likewise, you can promote your gated WordPress content to existing patrons, which will drive them to your website. This cross-promotion strengthens awareness for both platforms.
According to Patreon, creators see a 13% increase in patrons when linking their website and Patreon profiles together.
Driving more patrons to your site raises visibility with potential new supporters. And driving site visitors over to Patreon gets you more pledges. It‘s a win-win.
4. You Can Monetize Content Instead of Giving It Away Free
Lastly, restricting access allows you to earn income directly from content, rather than giving it away publicly for free.
Rather than publishing everything for the world to see, you can charge money to access your most valuable content. Top podcasters like Sam Harris and Joe Rogan make millions each year from subscriber-only audio and video.
Gating written or multimedia content works the same way. You give the people what they want, but only if they pay!
Based on public data, the top 1% of Patreon creators earn over $2,500 per post. That adds up fast, especially if releasing exclusive content frequently.
Without giving some content exclusively to patrons, you leave potential earnings on the table.
5 Ways to Restrict WordPress Content for Patreon Members
Now that you know why restricting content for patrons is so powerful, let‘s explore the technical side.
Here are 5 proven ways to limit access to WordPress content only for your paying Patreon supporters:
1. Use a WordPress Membership Plugin
The most robust option is using a dedicated WordPress membership plugin. These let you create multiple packages, restrict content per package, and integrate with Patreon.
Some popular examples include:
- MemberPress – Powerful membership plugin with automatic Patreon syncing.
- WishList Member – Flexible tiers and content restriction rules.
- Paid Memberships Pro – Free membership plugin with add-ons.
The key benefit of these plugins is you can:
- Create multiple tiers linked to your Patreon pledge levels
- Restrict access to entire posts, pages, categories to certain tiers
- Automate syncing so content access is based on active Patreon pledges
- Offer time-limited access, drip content, free trials, and more
This saves you the headache of manually managing access. Content restriction happens automatically based on patron status.
And the built-in tiered access control lets you reward higher level patrons with better content, driving upgrades.
The one downside of membership plugins is they can be overkill if you want to gate only a handful of posts. They‘re better suited for large volumes of gated content and higher numbers of patrons.
2. Use a Content Restriction Plugin
If you don‘t need full membership management, a dedicated content restriction plugin is simpler. These plugins only focus on gating content.
Some top options:
- Content Control – Free plugin that lets you restrict pages and posts.
- Content Locking for Patreon – Integrates directly with Patreon API for access.
- Uncensor Content – Hide content behind shortcodes.
The setup is much faster as you don‘t need to mess with multiple packages and integrations. Most content restriction plugins have very intuitive UIs.
You can selectively gate any content you want without dealing with a full membership site.
The limitations are you have fewer options for automatically syncing access with Patreon pledges. And less ability to segment content across different patron tiers.
But for quick, selective access restrictions, a dedicated plugin works great.
3. Use WordPress Password Protection
For small volumes of gated content, WordPress‘s built-in password protection can work.
To enable it:
- Edit the post or page you want to restrict.
- Expand the Visibility section.
- Check the box next to Password protected and enter a password.
- Click Update.
Now only people who have the password can access that content.
As the admin, you can selectively share passwords with patrons of your choosing.
The biggest downside is you‘ll need to manually manage distributing the passwords. This doesn‘t scale well if you have many patrons or gated posts.
I‘d only recommend using WordPress password protection for few pieces of exclusive content or for giving temporary sneak peeks before public release.
4. Integrate Patreon APIs in Code
For ultimate flexibility, developers can integrate Patreon APIs and WordPress hooks to check patronage status and dynamically gate content programmatically.
For example, you could:
- Call the Patreon API to verify patron access on page load
- Conditionally show or hide content based on patron data
- Display certain content blocks to certain patron tiers
This approach requires custom coding skills. But offers virtually endless options for creatively restricting content based on patron data from Patreon.
The limit is the time investment required compared to using an existing plugin. But if you want 100% control, API integration is powerful.
5. Use a Gated Content Plugin
One final option is using a gated content plugin like Memberful.
While not a full membership plugin, Memberful makes it easy to sell digital content like ebooks, videos, images, and more.
It focuses specifically on locking downloadable/digital content behind payments.
You can deliver items to buyers via Memberful or integrate it with Patreon, Stripe, Gumroad and more. It essentially functions like a shopping cart for digital products.
If your gated content is downloadable files, PDFs, etc, Memberful streamlines the delivery and restriction process.
Optimizing Exclusive Content for Patrons
Now that you know how to gate WordPress content for Patreon members, let‘s discuss some optimization best practices.
Here are my top tips for creating and managing exclusive content based on my experience:
Clearly Indicate Content is For Patrons Only
Don’t surprise visitors who aren’t patrons by hiding all the content behind a paywall.
Make it clear certain sections or posts are restricted for patrons only to set expectations. Communicate this both visually and with messaging.
Tools like Content Control allow you to display custom “patron only” messages and calls-to-action to encourage non-patrons to pledge for access.
While some content should be 100% exclusive to patrons, you can also generate excitement by sharing snippets, samples or teasers publicly.
Giving a small taste or preview builds anticipation for the full restricted content waiting behind the paywall. Just enough to entice visitors to become patrons.
This content marketing technique works extremely well.
Reduce Friction to View Exclusive Content
Make the process of signing up for your Patreon and accessing exclusive WordPress content as quick and seamless as possible.
The easier it is to become a patron and view gated content, the more sign-ups and retention you’ll see. Be sure to minimize any speed bumps in the process.
Automated integrations between your WordPress site and Patreon accounts plays a big role here.
Find the Right Content Balance
Be thoughtful about the volume and type of content you restrict. You want to encourage patronage, not hide all your content behind a paid wall.
In general, 80% of your content should remain free and public to retain search traffic and build awareness. Gate only your most valuable 20% of content.
Premium content like courses, in-depth guides, toolkits, or multimedia work best for restricting. Avoid putting all blog posts behind a paywall.
Reward Higher Tiers with Better Content
To maximize revenue, if possible assign different exclusive content to different Patreon tiers.
For example, make short videos free for all patrons but make webinar replays only for patrons paying $20+/month.
This content segmentation gives higher value patrons extra incentives to maintain their pledges.
Automate Syncing Patreon and WordPress Accounts
Rather than managing content access manually, use integrations like MemberPress to automatically sync based on active patron pledges.
This saves enormous time and headaches. Content restriction happens dynamically based on real-time patron data from Patreon.
Automation speeds up restricting new content for patrons significantly.
Analyze Performance to Optimize
Pay close attention to engagement and earnings metrics for each piece of gated content you publish.
See which exclusive content resonates most with your audience and drives the most new pledges or payments. Then produce more of that type of content.
Continuously optimizing your exclusives based on data is key for maximizing the return from patron-only content.
Conclusion
If you’re not already restricting some content for paying Patreon members only, you’re leaving money on the table!
Gating exclusive content is one of the most powerful ways to incentivize new patron sign-ups, keep existing patrons happy, and earn more from your work.
Just be sure you find the right balance. You don’t want to hide all your content behind a paywall. Offer a mix of free public content and premium gated content.
I hope this guide gave you plenty of options for integrating Patreon exclusives into your WordPress site, as well ideas for optimizing it. Used correctly, restricted content can significantly grow your creator income!
Let me know if you have any other questions. I‘m happy to help fellow creators maximize their Patreon earnings.
