• It helps them earn more money, get better deals, comply with regulations, boost performance, get healthy, feed a passion, or ease the pain.
• They can’t get the same content anywhere else without spending a lot of time to find, organize, and analyze it.
• They trust you with their credit card info.

There are three kinds of vendors that sell software and/or services for building and operating websites with which you can sell access to digital content:

• Hosted e-commerce
• Hosted content management system (CMS)
• CMS software

All of these systems except Zuora offer your customers both one-off access (micro-payment for a single download) and recurring access (subscriptions or memberships) to your digital content.

Hosted e-commerce
This is primarily a transaction service. You maintain your own website, either on your own server or on an outside host server. On your website, you describe the features and benefits of your digital content and offer it for sale. When customers decide to purchase content, they click on a link that refers them to the vendor, a third-party e-commerce site. The vendor (a) processes the transaction, (b) refers paid customers to a page where they can download the digital content, (c) maintains sales records and statistics for you, and (d) deposits the sales proceeds in your account, in some cases taking a small percentage of the sale price.

In some cases, the third-party e-commerce site can be customized or “themed” to look like your own website. Some of these services also provide disk space where you can upload and store your digital content, where it can be downloaded by customers after a completed transaction. Vendors in this category including the following (see chart below):

Hosted CMS
With this option, you operate your website (typically called a membership site) on the vendor’s server. The vendor company provides user-friendly content management system (CMS) software that lets you build and maintain your site. The hosted site processes transactions, stores digital files for downloading by customers, and maintains sales records. The vendor deposits proceeds into your account; typically charging you a monthly fee that varies according to the amount of disk storage that your content occupies and the volume of transactions and/or downloads. Vendors in this category include the following (see chart below):

CMS Software
You purchase a license to use content management system (CMS) software designed specifically for membership sites and subscriptions to digital content. You install the software on your own server or outside host server. All transactions, downloads, record-keeping, and transfer of funds are handled at your end, not by the software vendor. You pay a licensing fee (in most cases a one-time payment up front). The fee may vary depending on how many sites you operate, or the number of domains. The vendor typically provides technical support, free for a limited period and then for a fee. Vendors in this category include the following (see chart below):

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David M. Freedman has worked as a financial, legal, and technology journalist since 1978. He has also been a website content developer since 1999. (more)