The need of the hour is to analyze successful websites so as to obtain clues on designing and marketing your own site. Since this is a business that is growing in leaps and bounds, it is necessary to learn the good aspects to ensure you adapt all good aspects of the craft. While this industry is still in its infancy, the prospects are very good and this appears to be a business that is here to stay.

Aspects to Assess.

While browsing the internet and coming across sites that offer subscriptions, make a habit of analyzing them for their functionality, their design and structure. Some of the components that must be assessed are:

1. What is your initial reaction to the site?

A site has a positive effect on you when it meets your specific requirements. Many internet users do not like to be distracted by banners and advertisements. These are considered as distractions and therefore, many sites are constructed in a user friendly manner. These are constructed to give information to those who seek information on need to know basis. The links and directories are available but require proactive steps from the user to access.

2. Does the site make a statement in terms of what it is meant for?

The site must make a statement in terms of its reason for being. A simple button About Us provides information such as Who are they? Why are they here? and What do they want from you?

3. Has the Subscription Button placed prominently?

When the site requires you to subscribe, the information for subscription as well as costing should be prominently available. When you want people to subscribe, it should be made easy for them. The pricing page and payment details should be placed in several locations. Some sites place a Subscribe button on every content page that is made available to the public.

4. Are security aspects looked after?

The most important issue to look at is whether you are entering your personal information on a secure page. There are many sites that require you to enter your credit card number and information on an insecure page. This can lead to misuse of your important information. The best way to look or confirm if the site or subscriber page is secure is to look if the page has a SSL certificate. This can be confirmed by a small gold lock that appears at the bottom right hand corner of the browser when using Internet Explorer or a solid key in a small blue block appears that is available in Netscape Navigator. Another way to confirm this is by checking the site address; the "http" in the url changes to "https".

5. When you subscribe do you have to wait for an email with your username and password or do you get immediate access?

A great way to attract and keep subscribers is that they should not wait when they subscribe. As soon as they subscribe, they should be able to access the information they have paid for. To attract subscribers, do not make them wait.

These are some of the aspects that must be assessed when looking at sites that require subscription. These will allow you to design your site for users who are internet savvy, and can spot weaknesses without any effort. The design of the site should be catering to a customer base that is accustomed to using the internet and does not tolerate weakness in design and execution.

A great example would be to consider the internet as an expressway where these tips are exit ramps on which you do not want your customers. The site should be so designed that the customer is propelled towards the tool gate, is able to pay tool easily and can gain access to an unrestricted road beyond.