Whats better? free content with ad revenu

[spendthrift]

Ok I have to ask

I have a website where users pay for content, and advertising is an extra source of income.

Would it be better to give free content and rely on advertising revenu instead, and if so how do I convert to this format without getting my current subscribers mad?

[lorenzinho2]

Is all of your content subscription only?

[txbakers]

I don't think so. Advertisers can be fickle. If they one day pull their ads, you have no revenue.

Make the users pay for the service.

[spendthrift]

All of my content is pay for with no free stuff, I make money this way but I cant help thinking that more traffic would bring up my advertising income and id really get a big increase if my content was free.

[Shannon Moore]

Then perhaps you should consider raising your rates, or offering an additional, higher tier of service for a higher price. It might work...depends on what you're offering already.

[lorenzinho2]

I would be really cautious about replacing a revenue generating subscription service with just ads. Once it's gone, it will be really hard to bring it back.

However, if you are not supporting yourself with subscriptions alone, you may have to consider shaking things up.

One pretty common tactic is to have a free zone, and a pay zone. The free zone could be ad supported, and the pay zone would offer enhanced features, additional content, etc. (not to mention the opportunity for your most loyal users to chip in to keep the site going). Another benefit of going this route would be to create a feeder pool for your subscriptions. You should be able to generate higher traffic levels in your free zone, than to a subscription only site. If your content is good, you will hook some percentage of those as paid subscribers.