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You should only use that technique if either the only way you can look at the information in context is to signup (think of a game or Facebook) or if the conten

You should only use that technique if either the only way you can look at the information in context is to signup (think of a game or Facebook) or if the content is so amazing that you're not afraid to peel off users. It should be noted that many ad driven campaigns force you to these screens — in that case the ad was about acquiring your email address so the site figures it's now or never. If you want to see if it's a good idea for your site just do some A/B testing. In fact with A/B testing you can even play with the wording of the signup to see what works and what doesn't work. You can also do A/B testing with pages that don't have a wall but have a tout to encourage you to signup. On a user generated site you might only dare to do this if you already have a pool of content that people must look at no matter what. But if you don't have that pool the kids will be very upset that you made them get an ID card.

staunch 15y ago
Thanks for the reply. My big concern is that A/B testing is so limited in scope. I know I'd get more sign ups if I have a sign up wall, but what am I trading for that? Do 50%+ less people know about my site now? Is that worth the sign ups? My gut instinct is that sign up walls suck, but then you see some people who seem to really believe in them. Just not sure how to measure the medium-term consequences or even really think about the topic in a coherent way.
- michaelpinto 15y ago
  I think you should put that energy into making a great product and marketing to get the word out! Look at it my way: If you spend 40 hours doing A/B testing that could be 20 hours adding that one cool feature and another 20 hours doing PR to get the word out. Yes if you've already spent $100k to build your product and another $100k for a banner ad campaign then put up that wall and hold onto each body -- but if you aren't that stage really focus on making something great. You'd be better off getting people on the site to tell a friend than to drive away each person with a signup (look at dropbox as an example).

staunch 15y ago

Thanks for the reply. My big concern is that A/B testing is so limited in scope. I know I'd get more sign ups if I have a sign up wall, but what am I trading for that? Do 50%+ less people know about my site now? Is that worth the sign ups? My gut instinct is that sign up walls suck, but then you see some people who seem to really believe in them. Just not sure how to measure the medium-term consequences or even really think about the topic in a coherent way.

michaelpinto 15y ago
I think you should put that energy into making a great product and marketing to get the word out! Look at it my way: If you spend 40 hours doing A/B testing that could be 20 hours adding that one cool feature and another 20 hours doing PR to get the word out. Yes if you've already spent $100k to build your product and another $100k for a banner ad campaign then put up that wall and hold onto each body -- but if you aren't that stage really focus on making something great. You'd be better off getting people on the site to tell a friend than to drive away each person with a signup (look at dropbox as an example).