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Features Of A Membership Site

One thing that makes your membership site stand out from all the rest is your combination of features that you have to offer to your members. There are certain features that are pretty standard for most membership site and then there are advanced features that may be unique to your membership site. Features can create the atmosphere of your membership site. 

Standard features are those features that most membership sites have because they carry with them common needs of all membership sites such as having Login ID or passwords to protect certain areas of the site that are private and for members only, or automated renewal reminders that go out so that members won't be surprised by the arrival of the date to renew their membership, and also content formats and membership subscription types, as well as the ability to handle account suspension and cancellations. Other standard features include the ability to handle data exports and reports.

Advanced features include the ability to have Real Time member tracking, and the ability for members to be able to initiate account creation and a responsive shopping cart system.

Payment features should include the ability to accept payment from payment services such as PayPal, or major credit cards. The website should be able to integrate a shopping cart as well as a forum so that the members can interact with each other.

Your shopping cart should have features that your membership will need especially if you have an international membership such as flexible tax models, the ability of members to manage their User Accounts, having the ability to manage their shipping address, and have the shopping cart in multiple languages.

Since most membership sites have content in various formats, products, tools and resources it is important to have catalog features that can encompass all that your membership will utilize as they grow as well as the things that administration will need as the membership site grows. These features may be the capability to have an unlimited number of products and categories, the ability to search for products, resources and tools, the ability to handle downloadable products.

There are also membership sites that offer both free and paid memberships so this is a unique feature. Free members can start to use and understand the value of the site before deciding to become a paid member.

One area of features that definitely makes a membership site unique is what the site has to offer as far as specialized content such as articles, eBooks, audio and video materials, forums and chat rooms or a discussion board. What kinds of resources and tools are offered on the site for the members to use that enhances their experience?