Thinking about adding a Resources Page to your website? You’re in the right spot! Before you go whipping up tons of freebies and gathering links, let’s talk about the first decision you need to make: What kind of Resources Page is right for you! In this post, we’re going to break down the 2 types of Resource Pages and which one is right for your website.

The 2 Types of Resource Pages

While there are a million ideas for what to include in your Resources Page, the very first thing you need to figure out is what type of Resource Page is the best fit for your business.

There are 2 main types of Resource Pages:

The Open Resources Page

and

The Gated Resources Page

The Open Resource Page

An open Resource Page is pretty straightforward. It means that someone can view your entire lineup of Resources without having to opt-in to your mailing list or enter a password.

My Showit website template customer, Kristen Neiditch, a photo editor and educator, has a great example of an Open Resource Page on her website.

When you click on “Free Resources” in the main navigation, you are immediately brought to a Resources Page you can scroll through to get insight into what Kristen has to offer you.

First up, she features a bold opt-in canvas calling your attention to a great freebie incentive for you: The Free Foundational Start Up Kit. She highlights how the kit includes a free photo editing mini-course, access to her exclusive vault of photo editing downloads, and access to her Facebook Community for Photo Editors just for signing up with your email. Talk about an opt-in!

Keep scrolling and you’ll see that isn’t the only thing she’s offering up on her open Resources Page. Next, she shares her go-to tools for running a photo editing business and then a few of her favorite books you may want to check out.

My template customer, Kat Schmoyer of Creative at Heart has a similar spin on an Open Resources Page with a little difference.

She shares their fave tools, books, and educators and the change comes in the opt-in call to action.

Instead of offering up one main opt-in incentive like Kristen, Kat gives you a selection of 3 free downloads you can opt-in to receive in your inbox. This allows Kat to get insight into what you as an individual need the most help with so she can be sure to deliver more content that perfectly caters to your unique preferences.

Each of the 3 freebie call to action buttons bring up an individual pop-up with unique opt-in forms to make sure you get the free download you’re looking for. Want all three? They are there for you now and always!

So why go open?

An Open Resources Page just might be the right fit for you for 2 reasons:

1. You are actively trying to grow your brand and establish yourself in the market: Having an Open Resources Page is a great idea if you are working on growing your brand awareness and presence in the market. When you are just starting out or pivoting and introducing a new facet or brand of your business (i.e. education), an open Resources Page can be a great way to build a bridge with potential customers and brand followers as you work to establish yourself in the industry.

With your resources open for everyone to see, it helps connect the dots that you actually do know what you are doing and are capable of offering your potential customers a real value in your products or services.

2. You are trying to grow affiliate income streams: An Open Resources Page is a great way to drum up affiliate income by sharing your favorite tools, books, products, and beyond. Keeping your Resources Page open for everyone to see increases your likelihood of affiliate click-throughs and commissions with a higher potential traffic source.

Sound like you? Then an Open Resources Page is probably your best option!

The Gated Resources Page

The Gated Resources Page is the open’s opposite. Put simply, you can’t see anything on the page unless you opt-in, have a password, or a unique link.

It keeps your best content under lock and key and can only be accessed by your website visitors if they give you something in return.

Their email.

We created a custom Gated Resources Page for my client Andrea Layne.

In order to get access to her library of 13 guides, checklists, tracking tools, and DIY systems advice to help you take your business to the next level, you have to opt-in to her email list. And believe me, it is worth it. I’ve seen her downloads and resources and they are GOOD.

Once you sign up for her email list, you are sent a welcome email with the direct link to her gated resource library. We opted to keep it simple and not password protect the library so that her subscribers didn’t have to jump through any other hoops.

I know I know. What!? No password!? How dare!

Here’s the thing: If someone is going to share your freebies with someone else, a password really isn’t going to be THAT protective. They can just share the password. You can’t stop behavior like that.

So you can choose to make it difficult or go with, “What if this could be simple?”

There are WordPress plugins and workarounds to make a Resources Page password protected if you really want that level of protection, but I prefer the unique link method as it allows me to design these gated resources pages however I want with the magic of Showit!

So why go gated?

Pretty simple: You want to grow your email list. If you are looking to skyrocket your email list growth, a gated resources library is a fantastic way to do it. The FOMO factor is real when a potential subscriber is presented with an entire arsenal of exclusive resources at their fingertips for a simple email exchange.

It makes them feel apart of something special. And they are!

You can still employ affiliate income streams and other connection building resources into your gated page like tools, products, and book suggestions if you’re looking to try diversifying your income that way, but the real reason you would gate your Resources Page is to generate a list of engaged and excited readers!

No matter which type of Resources Page you choose, just make sure that you work to make it extremely valuable for your website visitors. The main goal of a Resource Page is to provide a big value add to their exploring experience. This helps to further establish the like, know, trust factor that is critical to getting your potential customer to yes.

Need a website Resource Page template to help you make it happen? I’ve got a Showit Add On Template here to get your Resources Page up and running in no time!