What if someone tries to get around the paywall?

**Note we have released IP Blocker which eliminates the ability for a visitor to switch or use incognito browsers.

The success of a leaky/metered paywall is tied to the ability to offer a few free articles per browsing session so that your content is fully indexed by Google and can be shared in social media. 

Generally publishers are enjoying paid digital subscriptions by metering the content and accepting the fact that a minority will download/share (good thing)/and get around the paywall any way they can. These readers will typically not pay to subscribe.

Things that are practical to help block getting around the paywall

1. Use our IP Blocker which eliminates the ability for a visitor to switch or use incognito browsers.
2. Locking down 'subscriber only' content: Once you get digital subscriptions under your belt you may want to consider locking down content only for paid subscribers (special issue content, article categories, etc) or selling a Premium+ level that requires a higher level of payment for access to unique content. Here is a good example: https://zeen101.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-special-content-with-leaky-paywalls-flexibility/
3. Offer flipbooks (via a WordPress plugin) instead of PDFs (see our IssueM/Real3D flipbook integration). Flipbooks can be set to not be downloadable. You can restrict both PDFs and FlipBooks with each IssueM issue to paid subscribers. Of course the PDF is convenient to print out which is its biggest benefit. Flipbooks offer a difficult mobile reading experience but do help print sales (and shows off the advertising) since readers can see what a print version looks like. 
4. You can also set the meter to 0 (creating a hard paywall) but then your articles won’t show up in search or be shareable. Publishers are moving to this leaky/metered system and away from the hard paywall for the major benefit of new traffic generation.
5. Password sharing can be restricted but creates some admin effort: https://zeen101.com/problem-password-sharing/
6. One final thought: mobile apps are now preferred by 89% of readers for access to publications. If you offered apps to your readers it would increase the value of your publication (as well as increase in-app subscription purchases) and make it much more difficult to get around the paywall. Our UniPress app platform offers iOS and Android apps for your publication and integrates with WordPress, Leaky Paywall, and IssueM.
7. Try not to worry about it. People that are bypassing paywalls generally won’t pay to subscribe. Your best subscribers don't have the time to be bother in 'getting around your paywall'