Restricting Your WooCommerce Shop Page with Indeed Membership Pro: A Comprehensive Guide
Introduction:
Do you want to offer exclusive products or pricing only to your loyal members in your WooCommerce store? Indeed Membership Pro is a powerful plugin that allows you to tightly control access to content on your WordPress site, including your WooCommerce shop page. By integrating Indeed Membership Pro, you can create a tiered membership system where certain products, discounts, or even the entire shop, are only visible to members with the correct subscription level. This not only encourages sign-ups but also rewards existing members with exclusive benefits, boosting customer loyalty and increasing revenue. This article will guide you through the process of restricting your WooCommerce shop page using Indeed Membership Pro.
Why Restrict Your WooCommerce Shop Page?
Before diving into the how-to, let’s consider why restricting your WooCommerce shop page might be a good idea:
- Exclusive Content: Offer unique products or services exclusively to members.
- Tiered Pricing: Provide discounts to members based on their subscription level.
- Increased Membership Conversions: Motivate users to sign up for membership to gain access to valuable content and deals.
- Improved Customer Loyalty: Reward members with exclusive benefits, fostering a stronger sense of community and loyalty.
- Targeted Marketing: Segment your audience and offer tailored products/promotions to specific membership groups.
- Ensure you have both WooCommerce and Indeed Membership Pro plugins installed and activated on your WordPress site.
- If you haven’t already, download and install Indeed Membership Pro from the Indeed Membership Pro website.
- Activate both plugins in the WordPress Plugins dashboard.
- Navigate to Indeed Membership Pro > Memberships Levels.
- Create your desired membership levels. Consider naming them Bronze, Silver, Gold, or using names specific to your brand.
- For each membership level, configure the pricing, duration, and other relevant settings. Carefully consider the benefits associated with each level.
- Title: Give your rule a descriptive name (e.g., “Restrict Shop Page”).
- Rule Type: Select “URL Restriction”.
- Access URL: Enter the URL of your WooCommerce shop page. This is typically `/shop/` or `/store/`, depending on your WooCommerce settings. *Verify the correct URL by visiting your shop page in your browser.*
- Access Condition: Choose “Membership Level”.
- Membership Levels: Select the membership levels that should have access to the shop page. Important: If no levels are selected, everyone will be restricted!
- Show Page Instead: You can select a page to show when access is denied. This could be a landing page explaining the benefits of membership, or a redirect to the registration page.
- Block Content By: Show or Hide Content. Use “Show Content” to display the page only to members with selected levels.
- Save Rule: Click “Save Rule”.
- Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Display.
- In the “Shop page” dropdown, make sure you have the “Shop” page selected, *not* a custom page. If a custom page is selected, the Indeed Membership Pro redirect may not work as expected.
- Customize Access Denied Messages: Indeed Membership Pro allows you to customize the message displayed to users who don’t have access. You can create a compelling call to action, encouraging them to sign up for membership. Navigate to Indeed Membership Pro > Settings > General Options > Pages/Messages to customize these messages.
Main Part: Setting Up WooCommerce Shop Page Restriction with Indeed Membership Pro
Here’s a step-by-step guide to restricting your WooCommerce shop page using Indeed Membership Pro:
1. Install and Activate the Necessary Plugins:
2. Configure Indeed Membership Pro Membership Levels:
3. Restricting the WooCommerce Shop Page:
Indeed Membership Pro offers multiple ways to restrict content. We will explore using categories and the built-in restriction settings.
A. Restricting by Category (Recommended for Specific Products):
This method is suitable if you want to restrict access to a *selection* of products and not the entire shop page.
1. Create Product Categories: In WooCommerce, create categories for your member-exclusive products (e.g., “Member Exclusive,” “VIP Products”).
2. Assign Products: Assign the relevant member-exclusive products to these newly created categories.
3. Restrict the Category: Navigate to Indeed Membership Pro > Showcases > Product Categories. You might need to create a new showcase if one does not exist. Find the product category you just created and select the membership levels that are allowed to access that category.
B. Restricting the Entire Shop Page (Using Indeed Membership Pro’s Built-in Settings):
If you want to restrict access to the entire shop page, you can use Indeed Membership Pro’s built-in features.
1. Create a New Rule: Go to Indeed Membership Pro > Rules > Add New Rule.
2. Configure the Rule:
3. Adjusting WooCommerce Settings (If Necessary):
Sometimes, WooCommerce’s own shop page settings can interfere with the redirection. To prevent issues:
4. Customization (Optional):
Conslusion: Mastering WooCommerce Shop Page Control with Indeed Membership Pro
Restricting your WooCommerce shop page with Indeed Membership Pro is a strategic move for businesses seeking to enhance customer loyalty, boost membership conversions, and offer exclusive content to their valued members. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can effectively control access to your shop page and create a tiered membership system that benefits both your business and your customers. Remember to thoroughly test your setup to ensure it functions as expected before launching it to your audience. Regularly review and refine your membership levels and content restrictions to optimize your membership program’s effectiveness.