Most membership sites start with a wish list: a forum, a course library, tiered access, drip content. Big dreams that push the launch date back until the site finally goes live with half-finished features and a confusing experience.

The sites that actually retain members aren’t the most feature-rich. They’re the ones where every step feels like it was made for the person paying. The signup is clean, the login goes where it should, the menu only shows what is relevant, and the account page actually helps members do what they came to do. You don’t need all the features. You need the ones that make the membership matter.

If you are running on Paid Memberships Pro, you already have most of the building blocks in place. The real work is in the polish: small, deliberate changes that add up to a site that feels designed for the people paying you.

Below are ten ways to enhance the member experience on a PMPro-powered site. Each one points to a recipe or guide you can follow. You do not need to do all ten. Pick the two or three that match where your site needs the most help.

Tailor the Navigation Menu by Membership Level

A free trial member and a premium tier member should not see the same main menu. The free member does not need a “Members-Only Downloads” link they cannot use. The premium member should not have to scroll past “Upgrade” calls to action.

PMPro’s Nav Menu Add On lets you build a conditional main menu so the items that show up depend on whether someone is logged in and which membership level they hold. You can do this directly in your theme, or visually inside a page builder like Elementor.

Use Membership Logic for Popups and Promos

Popups can be great for promoting a free download to visitors or an event reminder to existing members. They can also be a nightmare if your paying members see the same “Subscribe now!” popup every time they log in.

You can use content restrictions so the popup plugin you already use (Popup Maker, OptinMonster, and others) only shows the popup to the right group of people. Visitors see the upgrade pitch. Members see the announcement about the next live Q&A.

Design a Custom Membership Levels Pricing Page

The default Membership Levels page is functional, but it is rarely the strongest version of your pricing story. A custom pricing page lets you compare plans side by side, highlight the level you actually want people to pick, and add the social proof or feature breakdown that helps a buyer decide.

You can build this yourself in the block editor, use a dedicated pricing table plugin, or design the whole thing inside a page builder like Elementor, Beaver Builder, or Divi. The goal is the same: a page where the value of each level is obvious in a glance.

Offer More Than One Payment Method

Some people will only check out with a credit card. Some will only check out with PayPal. A growing number expect to see Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a buy-now-pay-later option. If your site only offers one of those, you are quietly losing the visitors who prefer the others.

PMPro supports multiple payment gateways and can be configured to give members a choice at checkout. Even if you start with one primary gateway, layering in a second option is usually worth the conversion bump.

Polish the Checkout Page Design

Checkout is the moment where a casual visitor turns into a paying member. It is also the moment where any visual rough edge starts to feel like a red flag.

The quickest way to polish the checkout page is to hide the header and footer of your site on the page. This is usually done within your theme.

Other more advanced options are:

• Custom CSS by level: Style the checkout page differently for each membership level so the design matches the offer.
• Reassuring copy near the button: Add a short line of text above the “Submit and Check Out” button explaining what happens next, your refund policy, or a quick trust signal.
• A branded off-site flow: If you use PayPal’s hosted checkout page, you can apply your logo and brand colors so the handoff does not feel jarring.

Each of these is a small lift on its own. Together, they make the whole flow feel intentional.

Turn the Account Page Into a Real Member Dashboard

The Membership Account page is the first thing most members see after logging in. By default, it shows their level, their billing, and a few links. That is fine. It is also a missed opportunity.

With a little work, the account page can act as a true member dashboard:

• Surface the resources, downloads, or courses that matter most for that member’s level.
• Add a “Quick Links” section that changes based on which level the user is on.
• Pull in shortcodes from other plugins (a forum widget, a course progress bar, a recent posts list).

Members should never have to dig through your main navigation to find the thing they paid for. Put it on the account page.

Send Members Somewhere Useful After Login

By default, WordPress sends a logged-in user to the dashboard or back to wherever they were. Neither of those is usually the right answer for a member.

A better default is a level-specific landing page. A new member sees a welcome page with the “start here” steps. A returning member lands on the latest premium content. An expired member is gently nudged toward renewal.

You can configure this with a few lines of code, or with the Member Homepages Add On for a no-code path that supports custom post types as member home pages.

Personalize Profiles With Custom Avatars

The little circular icon next to a member’s name is small, but it does a lot of work. It turns a list of usernames into something that feels more like a real community.

You can let members upload their own avatar directly from the Member Profile edit page. It is a small change that makes the community side of your site feel more like a community.

Add Member-Facing Features Like Directories and Membership Cards

Some of the most appreciated member features are the ones that members can show off or use somewhere outside your site.

Member directories are a great fit for professional associations, alumni networks, or any community where members benefit from finding one another. With the Member Directory and Profile Pages Add On, you can build a public or members-only directory and even sort it by a custom user field (think company size, region, or specialty).

Membership cards are a small, surprisingly fun touch. Our Membership Card Add On allows you to add a printable or digital card with your branding, the member’s name, level, and join date gives people something tangible. It is also a real value-add for associations and nonprofits that send physical or PDF cards each year.

Add Single Sign-On Between Your Sites

If you run more than one website, single sign-on (SSO) is one of the most impactful changes you can make. With SSO, a member logs in once and gets full access to every site they have rights to. No second password to remember. No “wait, do I have an account on this one?” moment.

This is especially helpful if you offer a main membership site alongside a community, a course platform, or a separate resource library. SSO turns those into one experience instead of a scavenger hunt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

You do not have to overhaul everything at once. Pick a section of your site that has been bothering you (the checkout, the account page, the menu that shows the same items to everyone) and apply one or two of the ideas above. Members notice when something feels considered. They quietly trust the site more, stay longer, and tell other people about it.

PMPro was built to give you the room to do this kind of work without locking you into a templated experience. Everything in this post is something you can do on a site you fully own and control.