The Challenge

Salem Reporter, a local news publisher covering Oregon’s capital region, faced the same problem as most publishers: they needed to grow their email list and convert readers to paid subscribers.

Following standard advice, they had newsletter signup forms in their sidebar and within content. Google recommends this approach. Marketing guides swear by it. But the results were underwhelming. Over a 30-day period, those in-content newsletter forms generated just a trickle of signups.

The bigger issue: readers who signed up through those forms bypassed the subscription funnel entirely. No account creation. No upgrade messaging. No path to conversion. They were capturing emails but not building a subscriber pipeline.

The Solution

Salem Reporter implemented a tight registration wall funnel using Leaky Paywall:

One free article. First-time visitors get a single article before seeing the registration wall. This is tighter than the typical 3-5 article meter, but the math supports it. Analytics show average visitors read only 1.7-1.8 articles per session. A generous meter means most readers never see the registration prompt at all.

Registration on the second article. Readers who want to continue must create a free account with email and password. This captures the email, creates the account, and adds them to the newsletter automatically.

Upgrade messaging on the third article. Registered readers see the value proposition for paid subscriptions. The newsletter drives them back to the site repeatedly, where they encounter this messaging until they convert.

The key insight: registration walls tied to content access work because readers have immediate motivation to complete the form. They clicked on an article they want to read. The registration wall sits between them and that content. Newsletter signup forms offer a vague promise of future value. Registration walls offer access right now.

The Results

Over 30 days, Salem Reporter tracked both methods running simultaneously:

• 16x more signups through the registration wall compared to in-content newsletter forms
• 20% conversion rate from free registered readers to paid subscribers
• Additional trial subscribers not counted in that 20%, pushing actual conversion even higher
• Correlated peaks in free registrations and paid subscriptions, showing the funnel working

The registration wall asked for more information (email plus password) yet still dramatically outperformed the frictionless newsletter box. Readers will create an account to access content they want. A vague newsletter promise does not carry the same weight.

Quote

Forget the SEO, forget social stuff. Spend more time on growing the newsletter, getting it to a number that’s astronomical, and then get it to convert at 7, 8, 9, 10, 12%. That’s what’s working across the board, whether it’s in an affluent community or a smaller rural town.

Pete Ericson, Leaky Paywall

Key Takeaway

The meter math most publishers get wrong: if your registration wall is set at 3+ articles, most of your traffic will never see it. You’re not being generous. You’re being invisible.

Salem Reporter’s tight funnel ensures readers actually encounter the registration wall. And once they’re in the funnel, the newsletter brings them back repeatedly until they convert. The 20% free-to-paid conversion rate is the result of every piece working together: tight meter, account creation, newsletter nurturing, and consistent upgrade messaging.

Publishers running loose meters with competing newsletter signup forms are leaving conversions on the table. The data from Salem Reporter makes the choice clear.

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