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I always apply the simple theory: It's easier to retain a current member than it is to find a new one. Many paysites make the mistake of buying a high buck designer tour, then slapping together a crap member's area page that really doesn't do anything.
- have what your tour promises, and have more of it than people expect.
- if your site is niche, more than 50% of the total content should be on niche.
- you should update regularly, and make a big thing out of the updates.
- FEATURES add value. Have a daily gallery, whatever... cycle stuff around. If you average member stays 3 months, recycle some of the older content into being new again every 6 months as needed... or "flash from the past" or "hot past features" or something...
You really should work with a good designer to build the member's area so that the tone and look overall of the member's area is in keeping with what was on the tour. Think of it as branding, and think of it as customer retention. Make the member feel welcome, give them a reason to stay, give them new stuff they haven't seen, guide them to areas that they may not have visited. Show them how deep and how wide your site really is, highlight the edges, the corners, and those seldom visited areas. Keep them entertained enough to want to stay one more month. With member retention at an all time low in the industry, I think more money should be spent here instead of adding multiple tours and whatnot that lead to the same crappy member's areas.
Alex
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