Popular cycling consumer website, CyclingTips.com, has added a metered paywall to its site. From now on, readers can access five articles in a rolling 30 days before they are asked to become a member for unlimited access.
Membership costs 75 cents per week, US$3.99 per month. The paywall became effective on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.
The paywall be seen on the cyclingtips.com website (excluding press releases, public interest content such as fundraising, serious issues, etc). Podcasts, platforms, etc., will remain unchanged.
CyclingTips explained that the move still allows people to discover its content (via search or article sharing) and light users are kept on board without any friction. The new move will affect medium to heavy users who visit the site more than five times per month.
‘Most users have 2-3 devices, and the paywall intentionally does not span across devices so most users will likely be able to see 10-15 articles in 30 days before they experience the paywall.
‘We are aware that all that needs to be done for these users to get around the paywall is to clear their cookies or open an incognito session. But that’s okay. We still want to serve these readers and if we’re doing our job by offering invaluable content, they will keep coming back despite the paywall and we still value those readers.’
The site will not be doing away with advertising, and CyclingTips adds that it strongly believes that the membership and advertising model is one it will always embrace. The media company notes that its advertising partners have lots to offer… ‘such as product for review, sponsored teams and athletes we want to access, industry insight, product expertise, news, and so much more that our audience values as part of our content offering. We will always see this as a symbiotic relationship.’
Wade Wallace, Founder at CyclingTips.com issued a statement giving some background to the new development…
On November 6 it will be exactly five years since we launched our membership program we call VeloClub which has attracted thousands of supporters for CyclingTips. Now, five years later we’ve taken another big leap just like we first did when [we] launched Veloclub.
‘Today we took a monumental step in CT’s evolution by launching a metered paywall. It’s a big step for us.
I’ve been told ‘don’t call it a paywall!’, but no matter how we redefine it, you know what it is. We’ve been talking about this since 2014 but never had the confidence, know-how, and systems to do so. If I’m honest we’re still nervous, but at the same time I’ve never been more confident we’ve made the right choice for our long-term future. Early signs throughout the day have been very promising.
Wade Wallace | Founder
CyclingTips.com
