Monetize your blog posts or require visitors to sign up to view them.

Build a readership by controlling access to your blog posts. This is a great way to sell your writing to a specific audience and learn more about your readers when they sign up. When you add a paywall to your blog page, visitors can purchase access to read your posts or view them for free after providing their email address.

You can also paywall a podcast hosted on your blog page. If you do, be aware that visitors can only listen to your podcast while logged into your site. Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps won't be able to read your RSS feed.

This guide covers the steps to create a blog page, add a paywall, and show a preview post.

You can only add a paywall to blog pages on version 7.1 sites. To sell access to your blog posts on version 7.0, create a blog page and place it in a member site. You can also update your site to version 7.1 to gain access to this feature and many more. 

Step 1 - Build a blog page

After creating your site, add a blog page in your Pages panel. Fill your blog with posts that include text, images, audio, and video. For complete steps to add and style your blog page and posts, visit Blogging with Squarespace. If you're moving to Squarespace from Wordpress, Blogger, or Tumblr, you can import existing posts.

Tip: If your site is live, you can disable the blog page to hide it from visitors until you're ready to publish.

Step 2 - Add a pricing plan

Pricing plans require your visitors to sign up to view your blog posts. You can charge for access or ask that visitors provide their email address. To add your blog page to a pricing plan:

1. Open the Pages panel and click the blog page you want to add to a pricing plan.
2. Click Add a pricing plan, then click Create pricing plan.
3. In the Details section, review the Name and Description of your blog page.
4. Enter up for five Benefits included that outline what visitors get by signing up. Benefits must be 60 characters or fewer.
5. In the Pricing section, select a pricing structure. If you're charging for access to your blog posts, enter the Price. Select the number of payments for fixed-amount plans or the frequency of payments for subscription plans.

6. (Optional) In the Sign up limits section, you can select a Start date and End date during which your visitors can sign up. If you add enrollment dates, we recommend listing them in the Description field to ensure your visitors understand the sign-up timeline.

7. (Optional) In the Included products section, click Add digital product to add up to 10 other videos pages, blog pages, member sites, or course pages to your pricing plan.

8. Click Create. In your Pages panel, your blog page displays a Paywall label after you add a pricing plan. 

For steps to add enrollment dates or included products, visit Pricing plan details.

Pricing plan structures

You have a choice of three pricing plan structures:

• Free - Visitors sign up by providing their email address and creating a customer account. Free plans are a great way to grow your mailing list.
• Fixed amount - Visitors pay a single sum once or in installments to gain permanent access to your blog posts. Fixed-amount plans work well if you want a one and done purchase for your customers.
• Subscription - Visitors pay recurring payments to maintain access to your blog posts. Subscription plans create weekly, monthly, or annual passive income. They also offer your visitors the option to pay for temporary access.

Step 3 - Edit your paywall

After you add your blog page to a pricing plan, you can choose where the paywall appears for your visitors. When a visitor encounters a paywall, they must sign up for your pricing plan to access your posts.

To select where a paywall appears on your blog:

1. In the Pages panel, click your blog page, then click Paywall.
2. In the Paywall placement section, select one of the following options:
   • Blog posts only - The paywall appears on the individual blog posts. Visitors can view the overview page, but the content of the blog posts is hidden.
   • Blog overview and blog posts - The paywall appears when visitors click the blog overview page. Visitors can't view any content on the blog page without signing up.
3. Click Save.

Customize your paywall (optional)

The paywall invites visitors to sign up for your pricing plan. You can customize your paywall by editing the headline, description, and which pricing plans display.

To customize the details on a digital product’s paywall:

1. In the Pages panel, click the blog page, then click Paywall.
2. Customize the Headline and Description message.
3. Click the eye icon to Hide or Show the pricing plans that include this blog page.
4. Click Save.

To further customize your paywall using style options, visit How to style a paywall.

Step 4 - Offer a blog post preview

Offer blog post previews to encourage visitors to sign up. Any visitor that hasn't signed up for your pricing plan can read the full preview post. Preview posts can function in a similar manner to an article limit. Instead of visitors choosing a few posts to read, you select the ones they can access before signing up.

To show a specific post as a preview:

1. Ensure your paywall settings are set to show Blog posts only.
2. In the Pages panel, click the paywalled blog page.
3. Hover over the blog post in the side panel, click ..., then click Set as public preview.
4. If you decide to no longer offer the post as a preview, click Remove as public preview.

Blog posts set to public show a "preview" badge on the overview page. There's no limit to the number of preview posts you can offer.

Step 5 - Add a payment processor

To charge for access to your posts, you need to connect your site to a payment processor in the Store payments panel. Choose to connect Squarespace Payments, Stripe, or PayPal. For complete steps connecting a payment processor and collecting payments, visit Connecting a payment processor.

Step 6 - Publish your posts

When you’re ready to show the world your blog posts, publish your site (if needed) and ensure the blog page is enabled. You may want to include it in your site navigation.

Next steps

As your visitors sign up to read your posts, review these topics to keep your site running smoothly:

• Style your blog page and posts - Customize your blog overview page and blog posts. You can change the layout, edit text column width, set the number of posts that display, and more.
• Promote your site - Use your site’s built-in features to market your posts and grow your audience.
• Review transaction fees and payment processing rates - When a visitor purchases a pricing plan, you pay a transaction fee to Squarespace. Similarly, your payment processor charges a fee on each transaction. To learn more, visit Transaction fees and payment processing rates.
• Keep writing - Post to your blog regularly. Schedule posts to publish in advance of important dates or on a consistent timeline. Set up featured blog posts to highlight popular and pivotal ones.