When visitors come up to your website for the first time, they're not only looking to learn nearly your product. Ultimately, they're here to determine whether choosing your business organization is worth their fourth dimension, money, and free energy.

For this reason, converting customers online requires more than just an attention-grabbing production description and a sleek homepage — your website needs to engage visitors with an excellent feel. One popular way to provide such an experience is with user accounts.

Adding a user account characteristic might be a major change to your site's structure and functionality. Fortunately, today's website edifice software makes this possible in merely a few clicks. In this article, I'll explicate how to enable user accounts and profiles on 6 popular content management systems: CMS Hub, WordPress, Joomla, Wix, Drupal, and Shopify.

Learn More About HubSpot's CMS Software

Why Create a Website With User Accounts?

With a user account, a visitor creates a personalized contour on your website in club to tailor their experience with your web content. Accounts empower users to access exclusive offers, contribute to a community of swain customers, reach out to customer support, and receive content recommendations relevant to them.

All of these benefits help you gain consumer trust and catechumen visitors into engaged leads. Afterwards all, they're called "user accounts," not "company accounts."

Many sites can gain from providing user accounts, regardless of the product or industry. If your website...

  • offers paid products and/or services for account holders
  • facilitates social or professional networking
  • facilitates east-commerce and stores users' payment data, orders, and/or carts
  • offers sectional content for registered users
  • hosts public user-generated content, like web log posts, videos, or reviews
  • hosts private user-provided content, like cloud storage, notes, or e-journal entries
  • aims to build a community effectually users
  • allows reactions to content in the form of comments, ratings, and/or reviews
  • uses visitor-related information to tailor the browsing feel to individuals

...then you'll likely need user accounts on your website.

But before you continue, consider whether information technology's best for your specific site to suggest or require accounts. An account should showtime and foremost raise the user experience, so make sure the benefits to the customer are worth the fourth dimension and effort of signing upward. No one should feel "forced" to create an account when they don't need to.

This is the general process for making a website with user accounts and profiles, no affair what CMS or website builder yous utilise. Below we'll accept a closer look at the process for vi of the nigh pop platforms.

If you oasis't created a website yet, then y'all have a choice between two types of softwares.

For the simplest approach to making an account-based website, choose a website builder that specializes in membership sites. Run into our listing of thebest membership website builders and platformsfor recommendations for this blazon of service.

If you've already congenital a website using a CMS, you can hands add user accounts, too. In nigh cases, the CMS handles the functionality of a membership site for you, either by itself or with an addition. A user business relationship tool should introduce features for registration, login, contour customization, and restricting content to only certain registrants.

CMS Hub

CMS Hub is HubSpot's content management system. CMS Hub fully integrates with HubSpot CRM and HubSpot's marketing, sales, and service tools. With an Enterprise account, you can limit access to website pages, landing pages, and weblog content by contact listing. Afterwards restricting a page to selected lists, contacts on these lists will be notified via e-mail to register.

To set up membership registration for a page in CMS Hub:

  1. Navigate to Marketing, then Website, and so Website Pages or Landing Pages.
  2. Hover over the page that you desire to restrict access to and click Edit.
  3. In the Settings tab, click Advanced Options.
  4. Under "Control audience access for page," select Private - Registration required, and so choose the lists you want to register.
  5. Click Update in the upper right-hand corner.

control audience access options for making a website with user accounts in CMS Hub

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For a full guide to managing user access on your HubSpot-powered website and blog, run across our knowledge base article on membership registration with CMS Hub.

WordPress

To enable user membership on your WordPress site, a plugin is needed. There are many reputable options for WordPress website account management — here are some we recommend:

  • Memberpress is an all-in-one WordPress plugin for building and managing membership sites. It includes tools for handling payment information, setting up user forums, and tracking performance. Memberpress has also congenital a reputation for its strong security and client support.
  • MemberSpace contains tools for membership websites and integrates with many website builders and CMS platforms, including WordPress. With MemberSpace, administrators permit admission to specific website pages based on user deportment like logging in or submitting a class.
  • ARMember is a free plugin for creating a membership site on WordPress. For the (lack of) price, ARMember is a very comprehensive solution. It includes a form builder, content post scheduler, and tools for limiting page access by membership level. You can read our full review of ARMember for more info.
  • Memberful is a lightweight solution for integrated checkout and account management on WordPress. Memberful emphasizes its ease of utilise, assuasive users to prepare up their service quickly and deeply. Memberful does not offer members-only pages — it instead sends sectional content through emails and Discourse forums.

They might have similar names, but be sure to consider how each plugin fits your specific needs and budget. For more than WordPress plugin recommendations and some first-class examples of membership sites built with WordPress, run into our guide to creating a WordPress membership site.

Joomla

To activate user accounts on your Joomla site:

  1. Navigate to the User Managing director by clicking on the User icon on the left sidebar. Alternatively, in the height navigation bar, you can click Users > Manage.
  2. On the upper-correct hand corner, click the Options push button.
  3. Next to Allow User Registration, cull Yep.
  4. After assuasive user registration, put a login course somewhere on your site. You tin link to the form as a page module and/or as a carte du jour item.

Joomla user options page for allowing user accounts

Paradigm Source

You can too toggle how to confirm membership through electronic mail confirmation or administrator approval. For more detailed instructions on enabling user registration with Joomla, see Joomla'south user documentation.

Wix

Wix lets administrators activate user accounts with the Members Area feature, bachelor with whatsoever Wix plan. With a Members Area set up on your Wix site, visitors tin can annals and view exclusive content on fellow member pages, and administrators can easily view and manage their site members.

Wix member list page for viewing visitors with user accounts

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This tool is designed for easy setup, and integrates with add together-on applications for chat, blogging, events, due east-commerce, and more. Acquire how to set up a Members Area on Wix's support site.

If you want to restrict access to content without setting up a Members Area, yous can set admission to specific pages based on member roles or make pages exclusive to paid members simply.

Drupal

Drupal lets site administrators create roles for different visitors. These roles grant different permissions for viewing and creating website content. Drupal creates three roles past default:

  • bearding user, a company who has not logged in
  • authenticated user, a company who is logged in
  • administrator, someone with control over website functionality

In Drupal core, you can also add together additional roles specific for whoever may come up to your website, and assign permissions to these roles. For example, a blog site might have a "writer" role for visitors with permission to create and publish content.

To configure who can create accounts on your Drupal site and customize the registration and counterfoil processes:

  1. Open the Manage menu, then select Configuration.
  2. Select People, then Business relationship Settings.
  3. Open the Registration and Cancellation panel to view your options.
  4. Select Visitors under "Who can register accounts?"
  5. Click on the checkbox that says Crave e-mail verification when a visitor creates an account.

Drupal user registration and cancellation page for making a website with user accounts

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For more circuitous membership site functions, Drupal relies on third-party modules. Select a well-maintained, reputable Drupal module like Membership, Drupal Commerce, and/or Rules for more than hands-on control over your membership site. For guidance on installing these modules, see Drupal's instructions.

Shopify

To enable customer accounts in Shopify:

  • Navigate to Settings, then Checkout.
  • Under Customer Accounts, cull to activate either optional or required accounts for customers.
  • Click Save.

For more help editing customer account settings on your Shopify site, including how to alter your site settings on a mobile device, see Shopify'southward help folio.

How to Create a Login Page for My Website

Once you lot've set up user registration with a built-in feature or plugin, yous'll need to create a registration form. This type of form will enable visitors to create a user account by filling out some bones information, like their proper noun, email address, and a password.

Adjacent, you'll need to create a login page where users tin can log in afterward they've registered. The full general process is outlined below, but the exact steps volition depend on what CMS or website builder yous utilize.

ane. Create a login form using a course builder.

Some website builders and content direction systems have congenital-in class builders, while others require a plugin. Whatever tool you're using, you lot desire to create a login course that provides a good user feel. Some best practices to consider are accepting login alternatives like an email address or phone number, adding a clear "Forgot password?" link, and alarm users when Caps Lock is on.

ii. Create a login folio.

Next, y'all need to create the folio where you lot'll embed the login form. This volition become your login page. A login page should exist elementary and consistent with your branding.

iii. Embed the login grade on the login page.

Once you've created your login page, embed the login class. This process is relatively simple on any CMS or website builder. For instance, here's what the process looks like in CMS Hub:

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to your landing pages or website pages.
  • Hover over the login folio you just created and click Edit.
  • In the page editor, click the form module.
  • On the Options tab in the left panel, select Login Form from the Choose a class dropdown menu.

You lot can then customize the course's settings and the login page until you're happy with its design and functionality.

The effect should be equally simple and sleek as Facebook's login folio and form.

Facebook login page and form is excellent inspiration for those creating a login form on their own website

Test Your New User Accounts

After setting up user accounts on your website and creating a login page, be sure to exam the user registration process on your site. Accept yourself and others create test accounts on your website. Modify your test account profiles, change their permissions, and bank check that exclusive content is actually set to sectional. If your website is already online, consider setting information technology to maintenance manner while testing these changes. Temporarily hiding your site prevents any complications from new signups in this phase.

Some other pick is to create a staging site where you lot tin can freely experiment with user accounts, while your alive site stays untouched. During this testing phase, you'll want to check on the following:

Sign-Upwardly Confirmation Email

Did you receive a confirmation electronic mail upon signing up? If not, you'll want to ensure you've fix that up. Your CMS platform may either provide an option to send a confirmation electronic mail or yous can install a plugin or extension that gives you the choice.

Countersign Change Workflow

Exam the workflow a user would accept when irresolute their countersign. If you don't receive a password change link in a timely manner, something may have gone amiss during activation. You also desire to take a look at the password modify email to ensure it aligns with your brand both in verbiage and pattern.

Member Area Blueprint

A member area may be uncomplicated, or it may exist more elaborate depending on the nature of your website. Double-check that it looks right and that it offers all the options a user needs. If yous're an ecommerce make, ensure there are options to view previous orders, alter menu information, and found their aircraft address.

Examination for mobile-responsiveness as well. If buttons are cut off or users tin't get to sure sections, y'all'll desire to tinker with the design of the membership area.

Exclusive Offers

We've touched upon this briefly, but brand sure all exclusive content is truly exclusive to your users. If you're planning to distribute exclusive PDFs and documents, mark them with robots.txt files or noindex, nofollow meta tags so that search engines don't crawl them, and unregistered users can't find them via a site search.

Privacy Policies and Terms of Utilise

As an owner of a website where people give yous access to their contact and card information, y'all'll want to ensure yous have a privacy policy that protects these users from abuse. Fifty-fifty if you already have a privacy policy, you'll need to update it to reflect your new user department. To get started, use a privacy policy generator such every bit Termsfeed, Termly.io, or Shopify'southward.

SSL Certificate

If you don't already have one, invest in an SSL certificate to ensure your website is every bit secure as possible. If you lot're not sure if you lot have one, use an SSL checker. This certificate changes your internet protocol from HTTP to HTTPS. In some browsers, there will be a padlock next to your URL, signifying that all the information users share with y'all will be kept individual.

Things Yous'll Need to to Make a Website with User Logins

Now that nosotros've covered how to set up upward user accounts and profiles, how to create a login page, and how to test user accounts, permit'southward recap what yous'll need to make a website with user accounts and profiles:

  • CMS or website builder
  • Budget for user business relationship and/or course plugin if needed
  • Theme that comes arranged or is compatible with a membership plugin if needed
  • Registration class and page
  • Login form and folio
  • Edit profile class and page
  • Exclusive content offers
  • Privacy Policy
  • SSL certificate

Grow Your Website with User Profiles

Whether you're running an online store, building loyalty through a membership site, or providing a domicile for user content with a hosting service, user accounts empower your visitors to stay engaged with your premium content and features, and help you to keep track of your customer base as it continues to abound. No thing the CMS, you're covered.

Editor'due south note: This mail service was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Originally published Nov 23, 2021 7:00:00 AM, updated November 23 2021