Paywall earlier
More subscriptions, fewer articles read. Both belong in the same experiment.
MEFor media and publishers
Test subscriptions without
burning reach.
Every barrier that brings more subscriptions costs reach. Without a guardrail you measure only one half of that, and celebrate a win the newsroom pays for later.
The pattern
The conflict you
have to measure.
Newsletter everywhere
More signups, more bounces. Time on page is the guardrail.
Only the home page tested
Most readers arrive directly in the article from search and social.
Concretely
Where to start
Position of the paywall
After paragraph three versus after paragraph six. Goal: subscription, guardrail: articles read.
Newsletter inside the article
In context at the end versus a bar everywhere. Goal: signup.
Read-next recommendations
Editorial versus automatic. Goal: second article.
Subscription page as a redirect test
Short page versus detailed page. Goal: subscription with revenue.
Measuring
The right goal
The primary goal is the completed subscription, ideally with revenue, so monthly and yearly plans do not count the same. Articles read per visitor belongs alongside as a guardrail, a variation that brings subscriptions and halves reach is not a winner.
Sample size and runtimeMatching platforms
Other industries
Elsewhere it looks different.
Make your next change an informed one
Less guesswork.
More now we know.
One question is a good place to start.