How to Make a Website With User Accounts and Profiles [With WordPress, Wix, and More]

I once got a 10% discount from a local skincare store because I created a user account to complete my purchase instead of shopping as a guest. Since then, I’ve returned multiple times to restock my products. The store gets a return customer, and I pay less for products — a win-win.

This experience shows how important user accounts and profiles can be for businesses.

Fortunately, you don’t need a computer science degree to create such a function on your website. Today’s website-building software makes this possible with just a few clicks. In this article, I’ll explain how to create a website with membership and user login. Let’s begin!

Table of Contents

• How to Make a Website With User Accounts and Profiles
• Why create a website with user accounts?
• How to Create a Login Page for My Website
• Test Your New User Accounts
• Things You’ll Need to Make a Website With User Logins
• Alternative Ways to Register Users on Your Website

Why create a website with user accounts?

Businesses today need to know how to register users on a website for many reasons.

It can be a significant avenue for generating growth and repeat customers, even for small business owners and solopreneurs.

From start-up apps to ecommerce businesses or community-based sites, many platforms rely on providing secure accounts for their visitors.

With a user account, a visitor creates a personalized profile on your website to tailor their experience with your business.

These accounts allow users to access exclusive offers, contribute to a community of fellow customers, contact customer support, and receive relevant content recommendations.

For example, my account with the skincare vendor allowed me to track the value and frequency of the products I’ve bought and then qualify for more discounts and incentives.

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These benefits help you gain consumer trust and convert visitors into engaged leads.

I recommend implementing membership or user account features if your current website:

• Offers paid products and/or services for account holders.
• Facilitates social or professional networking.
• Facilitates ecommerce and stores users’ payment information, orders, and/or carts.
• Offers exclusive content for registered users.
• Hosts public user-generated content, like blog posts, videos, or reviews.
• Hosts private user-provided content, like cloud storage, notes, or e-journal entries.
• Aims to build a community around users.
• Allows reactions to content in the form of comments, ratings, and/or reviews.
• Uses visitor-related information to tailor the browsing experience to individuals.

While numerous use cases may exist for websites with user accounts, I think it’s better to first analyze your business and needs.

Remember that a user account should first and foremost enhance the user experience, so ensure the benefits to the customer are worth the time and effort of signing up. No one should feel “forced” to create an account when they don’t need to.

Let me show you how to create a website with user accounts and profiles on six popular content management systems: HubSpot’s Content Hub, WordPress, Joomla, Wix, Drupal, and Shopify.

Note: You typically have two options to answer the question of how to create a login page for your website.

The first option is if you don’t own a website yet. In this case, I recommend a website builder specializing in membership sites. See our list of the best membership website builders and platforms for recommendations for this type of service.

The other option (the one I’ll talk about more) is if you’ve already built a website using a CMS. In most cases, the CMS handles the functionality of a membership site for you, either by itself or with an add-on or plugin. A user account tool should introduce features for registration, login, profile customization, and restricting content to only certain registrants.

Content Hub

Content Hub is HubSpot’s content management system. It fully integrates with HubSpot CRM and its marketing, sales, and service tools.

With an Enterprise account, you can limit access to website pages, landing pages, and blog content by contact list. After restricting a page to selected lists, contacts on these lists will be notified via email to register.

Here’s how I create a login page for my website in Content Hub.

1. First, I navigate to Content, then to Website Pages or Landing Pages.
2. Then, I click the name of the content I want to restrict access to.
3. In the Settings tab, I’ll click Audience Access.
4. In the dialog box, I select Access group membership required.
5. I click the dropdown menu and tick the checkboxes next to the groups I want to give access to the pages.
6. I click the X in the dialog box to continue editing.
7. Finally, I click Publish or Update in the upper right-hand corner.

Source

For a complete guide to managing user access on your HubSpot-powered website and blog, see our knowledge base article on membership registration with Content Hub.

WordPress

WordPress is best known for its compatibility with plugins. Their plugin directory alone has over 59,000 free plugins.

Little wonder, then, that I generally use a plugin to enable user membership on a WordPress site. Here are some of my favorite plugins to use:

• Memberpress is an all-in-one WordPress membership plugin for building and managing membership sites. I like that it includes tools for handling payment information, setting up user forums, and tracking performance. I’ve also found that Memberpress takes security seriously and has excellent customer support.
• MemberSpace contains tools for membership websites and integrates with many website builders and CMS platforms, including WordPress. MemberSpace allows me to grant access to specific website pages based on user actions like logging in or submitting a form.
• ARMember is a plugin for creating a membership site on WordPress. I like that ARMember’s free version still provides most of what you need to create a website with membership and user login. It includes a form builder, content post scheduler, and tools for limiting page access by membership level. You can read our full review of ARMember for more info.
• Memberful is a lightweight solution for integrated checkout and account management on WordPress. I’ve discovered that it is easy to use and allows users to set up their service quickly and securely. Memberful does not offer members-only pages. Instead, it sends exclusive content through emails and Discourse forums.

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These plugins might all have “member” in their names, but consider how each plugin fits your business’s specific membership model.

For more WordPress plugin recommendations and some excellent examples of membership sites built with WordPress, see our guide to creating a WordPress membership site.

Joomla

Here is how I activate user accounts on a Joomla site.

1. I start by navigating to the User Manager by clicking the User icon on the left sidebar. Alternatively, in the top navigation bar, I could click Users > Manage.
2. In the upper-right-hand corner, I click the Options button.
3. Next to Allow User Registration, I choose Yes.
4. After allowing user registration, I’ll add a login form on the site. I can link to the form as a page module and/or as a menu item.

Source

I can also toggle how to confirm a new member through email confirmation or administrator approval. See Joomla’s user documentation for more detailed instructions on enabling user registration with Joomla.

Wix

Wix lets administrators activate user accounts with the Members Area feature, which is available with any Wix plan.

With a Members Area set up on a Wix site, visitors can register and view exclusive content on member pages.

As an administrator, I can easily view and manage my site members.

Source

I like how easy it is to set up the Wix Members Area and how it seamlessly integrates with add-on applications for chat, blogging, events, ecommerce, and more. Learn how to set up a Members Area on Wix’s support site.

If I wanted to restrict access to content without setting up a Members Area, I could set access to specific pages based on member roles or make pages exclusive to paid members only.

Drupal

Drupal lets me create roles for different visitors. These roles grant different permissions for viewing and creating website content. Drupal creates three roles by default:

• Anonymous user, a visitor who has not logged in.
• Authenticated user, a visitor who is logged in.
• Administrator, someone with control over website functionality.

In Drupal Core, I can also add roles specific to visitors to my website and assign permissions to these roles.

For example, when working on a blog site, I might have a “writer” role for visitors who have permission to create and publish content.

Here’s how I configure who can create accounts on my Drupal site and customize the registration and cancellation processes:

1. I open the Manage menu, then select Configuration.
2. Then I select People, then Account Settings.
3. Next, I open the Registration and Cancellation panel to view my options.
4. I select Visitors under “Who can register accounts?”
5. Finally, I click the checkbox that reads, “Require email verification when a visitor creates an account.”

Source

Drupal relies on third-party modules for more complex membership site functions.

I recommend selecting a well-maintained, reputable Drupal module like Membership, Drupal Commerce, and/or Rules for more hands-on control over your membership site. For guidance on installing these modules, see Drupal’s instructions.

Shopify

Shopify doesn’t enable user accounts by default. That means anyone can buy from your store without creating an account.

Here’s how I’d change my Shopify store setting to increase customer retention.

1. I navigate to Settings, then Customer Account.
2. Then, I mark the checkbox that says Show login link in the header of online store and at checkout.
3. When prompted to choose which version of customer accounts to use, I select Classic customer accounts.
4. Then I click Save.

See Shopify's help page for more help editing customer account settings on your Shopify site, including how to change your site settings on a mobile device.

How to Enable Customer Accounts in Shopify in Under a Minute - 2024

How to Create a Login Page for My Website

After setting up user registration with a built-in feature or plugin, I need to create a registration form.

This form will enable visitors to create a user account by filling out basic information, like their name, email address, and a password. The form might look something like this:

Source

Once I’ve created a form, I’ll need to create a login page where users can log in after registering.

I outline my general process below, but the exact steps will depend on the CMS or website builder I’m using.

1. Create a login form using a form builder.

Some website builders and content management systems have built-in form builders, while others require a plugin. For example, I use the WPForms Builder plugin to create my forms on WordPress.

Whatever tool I’m using, my primary goal when building a form is to provide a good user experience.

Some best practices to consider are accepting login alternatives like an email address or phone number, adding a clear “Forgot password?” link, and warning users when Caps Lock is on.

2. Create a login page.

Next, I need to create the page where I’ll place the form. This will become my login page, which should be simple and consistent with branding guidelines.

3. Embed the login form on the login page.

Once I’ve created my login page, I embed the login form. This process is relatively simple on any CMS or website builder. For example, here’s what the process looks like in Content Hub:

• In my HubSpot account, I navigate to my landing pages or website pages.
• I hover over the login page I just created and click Edit.
• In the page editor, I click the form module.
• On the Options tab in the left panel, I select Login Form from the Choose a form dropdown menu.

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I can customize the form’s settings and the login page until I’m happy with its design and functionality.

The result should be as simple and sleek as Facebook’s login page and form.

Test Your New User Accounts

Testing is the most important part of my process when setting up user registration on any site.

You never know what could go wrong, so it’s crucial to check that everything is working as it should.

To be as thorough as possible, I always create a test account and have friends do the same. I modify these test account profiles and their permissions and confirm that exclusive content remains exclusive.

If my website is already online, I generally set it to maintenance mode while testing these changes. Temporarily hiding your site prevents “real” users from creating new accounts.

Another option is to create a staging site where you can freely experiment with test user accounts while your live site stays untouched. During this testing phase, you’ll want to check on the following.

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Sign-Up Confirmation Email

Did you receive a confirmation email upon signing up? If not, you’ll want to ensure you’ve set that up. Your CMS platform may provide an option to send a confirmation email. You can install a plugin or extension that gives you the option.

Password Change Workflow

Test the workflow a user would take when changing their password. If you don’t receive a password change link promptly, something may have gone amiss during activation.

I always double-check the password change email to ensure it aligns with branding in both verbiage and design.

Member Area Design

Depending on the nature of your website, a member area may be simple or more elaborate. Double-check that it looks right and offers all the options a user needs.

If I’m working with an ecommerce brand, I always make sure there are options to view previous orders, change card information, and establish their shipping address.

Test for mobile responsiveness as well. If buttons are cut off or users can’t access certain sections, you’ll want to tinker with the design of the membership area.

Exclusive Offers

I’ve touched upon this briefly, but make sure all exclusive content is truly exclusive to your users.

Say you plan to distribute exclusive PDFs and documents, mark them with robots.txt files or noindex, nofollow meta tags so that search engines don’t crawl them and unregistered users can’t find them via a site search.

Privacy Policies and Terms of Use

As an owner of a website where people give you access to their contact and card information, you’ll want to ensure you have a privacy policy that protects these users from abuse.

Even if you already have a privacy policy, you must update it to reflect your new user section. To get started, use a privacy policy generator such as Termsfeed, Termly.io, or Shopify.

Pro tip: You will likely need a privacy policy page at some point in the user registration process, especially if you choose one of the alternative methods I cover later.

Many integrations and plugins require you to provide a URL to this page on your site, so I highly recommend creating one at this point.

SSL Certificate

If you don’t already have one, invest in an SSL certificate to ensure your website is as secure as possible. If you’re unsure if you have one, use an SSL checker. This certificate changes your internet protocol from HTTP to HTTPS.

In some browsers, a padlock will be next to your URL, signifying that all the information users share with you will be kept private.

Things You’ll Need to Make a Website With User Logins

Now that I’ve covered how to set up user accounts and profiles, how to create a login page, and how to test user accounts, let’s recap what you’ll need to make a website with user accounts and profiles:

• A CMS or website builder.
• A budget for user accounts and/or form plugins if required.
• A theme that comes bundled or is compatible with a membership plugin if needed.
• A registration form and page.
• A login form and page.
• An edit profile form and page.
• Exclusive content offers.
• A privacy policy.
• An SSL certificate.

Alternative Ways to Register Users on Your Website

1. Code your registration form.

You can code your site’s registration form yourself if you have some coding knowledge.

I like coding my form when:

• The code and styling needs are relatively simple.
• I’m not expecting a large volume of submissions.
• I want more flexibility than an out-of-the-box form creation tool can offer.

That being said, creating the form is one thing. Another is managing the process of sending the form data somewhere in a useful format.

You might need the hand of an experienced developer to connect the custom form to a server and send the data to a database.

If you’d like to code your registration form, here’s how I code mine.

1. First, I’ll set up the HTML elements needed.
2. Next, I need to use CSS to put the design elements in place, like colors and spacing. You can add extra elements to customize the look of errors, hover effects on your “submit” button, and more.
3. Finally, I’ll add some Javascript to validate form fields and data submission.

Here’s what all this looks like together in one form:

See the Pen register users HTML by HubSpot (@hubspot) on CodePen.

This method gives me a ton of flexibility but is a little time-consuming.

If you’re concerned about using your code on a website and want to ensure everything works as it should, check out this free website grader tool.

2. Use a Google Connector for Single Sign-On (SSO).

Lots of websites let users sign in with Google. If a user already has a Google account, it saves them from creating a whole user profile just for your website.

Instead, they simply sign up and then sign in using an existing Gmail login. This is done through Google’s OAuth API.

You’ll need a Google Cloud Console account and use the Google+ API. Again, this method can be a little time-consuming and tricky to configure, but once the initial setup is done, I find it really easy to manage.

2. Next, I’ll set up OAuth 2.0 credentials and integrate OAuth with my website using those credentials. This is how users will be redirected to their Google login screen and asked to authenticate my app when signing up.

It’s important to note here that Google will ask me to configure the consent screen and define the scope of my OAuth.

This is all about keeping user data safe and secure and ensuring that both Google and the user understand the scope of access you’ll need to a user’s account. You can learn more about the different consent configurations and scopes in Google’s OAuth 2.0 documentation.

3. Next, I’ll get the Client ID and Client Secret (found on the credentials page when setting up OAuth). I’ll typically use a plugin on my website to configure everything there to simplify the process, usually the Nextend Social Login and Register plugin if I’m using a WordPress site.

You’ll need the Client ID and Client Secret from Cloud Console to configure the plugin. The benefit is that the plugin then handles all the backend processes of callbacks and authorization code exchange between my website and Google, allowing my site access to user data.

Regardless of which plugin you use, thoroughly test the sign-up and login process once set-up is complete.

Pro tip: If you’re having issues, make sure the redirect URL matches exactly between your OAuth plugin and your Cloud Console project. You’ll find this in the Credentials section.

3. Integrate with social media logins.

Similar to Google OAuth is the ability to use single Sign-On (SSO) for website user registration through social media platforms. This means users can register on your website and sign in using their existing social media logins.

Facebook is the social media platform that I’ve most commonly used for this method because it has such a wide user base. Depending on your audience, you might like to offer both Google and social media authenticator options.

The process is quite similar to setting up a Google API for registrations.

Within the platform's developer account, I’ll usually have to follow some sort of process for adding my app/website.

On Facebook, this is pretty straightforward, and the set-up wizard takes me through it step by step. I have to add some information similar to setting up Google OAuth (the type of app, its purpose, redirect URLs, etc.).

4. Use a third-party account registration tool.

The previous methods are my go-to for registering on a single website. But if you’re building multiple apps and products, managing a separate authentication process for each one becomes super time-consuming and complicated.

In those instances, a third-party tool with more robust user registration and authentication functionality might be more suitable.

Some good examples are:

• Auth0. An identity management solution that helps you centralize your registration process.
• Firebase. A similar solution to Google that is free for up to 10 registrations a day and up to 50K monthly active users.

An example of when you need something like this is when you have a large volume of user registrations or registrations set up across multiple platforms and/or domains.

Grow your website with user profiles.

I’ve had to convince clients about user registration features when working with them to improve or build their websites. But it doesn’t need to be as complicated to set up and maintain as you might think. And it’s always worthwhile to see how much it can improve the user experience and business results.

Whether you’re running an online store, building loyalty through a membership site, or providing a home for user content with a hosting service, user accounts empower your visitors to stay engaged with your premium content and features and help you keep track of your customer base as it continues to grow. No matter the CMS, you’re covered.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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