Why Do You Need To Password Protect Your Website?
Are you wanting to learn how to create a password protected website? Protecting your website with a password can be useful for a variety of reasons including:
- Showing work in-progress to a client (e.g. web developer, designer)
- Sharing photos or ideas with friends
- Members-only content
Continue reading to find out how to create a password protected website…
Table of Contents
Create a Password Protected Website With a Website Builder
If you’re building your website through a website builder like Wix or Weebly, you can easily password protect your website using the tools available to you.
Password Protecting A Wix Web Page
You can protect specific pages on your Wix website with a password. It’s really easy to do and it will mean visitors who have the password will be able to access the page, but visitors without it won’t be able to.
- Here are the simple steps to protecting your Wix website with a password:
- Click Pages in the Editor located on the left side bar
- Select the relevant page you wish to protect
- Click the Show More icon
- Click Settings
- Click the Permissions tab
- Click Password Holders
- Enter the password you want to protect your page with
If you protect a page with a password it will stop search engines from crawling your web page. They won’t appear in search results, so if you want to rank on them, you shouldn’t protect them. Adding a password to your Wix’s website homepage will protect your entire website unless someone has the direct URL to an inner page.
Weebly Website Password Protection
When you create a Weebly website, the default visibility is set to public. People can search for your website and it can be found on search engines. If you upgrade your website to Pro or a better plan, you can hide individual pages or password protect your whole website by following these simple steps:
- Navigate to the General tab in settings
- Select Site Password
- Enter your password
- Navigate to the Pages tab in the site editor
- Select Visibility
- Choose whether the page is public, site password, or members or groups
If your website builder plan with Weebly is Pro or better, you can use the Memberships feature. This will allow you to restrict access to individual pages. You can also restrict access to your site from search engines by selecting the on/off toggle under SEO in your website’s settings.
Password Protection For Different Groups
If you have different groups of clients with different permission levels, you’ll want to create passwords to gain access to certain pages for your groups. With a website builder like SquareSpace or Jimdo, you can define a password per page.
For example, with SquareSpace, you can hide individual pages behind passwords. This will stop them from being accessed by the public and you can reserve content for specific visitors.
Set A Page Password With SquareSpace
To set a page password if you’re using SquareSpace’s website builder, follow these simple steps, as it’s all included in the price of your SquareSpace subscription:
- Go to the Home Menu and select Pages
- Click a page to password protect it
- Click the cog icon to open the page settings
- Scroll down to the Password section and enter a password
- Click Save
Members Areas
Note: Members areas are good for controlling a set of authorized users. You can add/remove users individually or they can sign up themselves, reset their passwords, etc. However, members areas can cause more administrative work so only set up a members area if your website requires one.
How To Set Up Members Area With Wix
You can add a Members Area to any website you’ve created with Wix. It will allow you to create private pages which can only be accessed by your members who have signed up.
Here are the simple steps to adding a Members Area to your Wix website:
- Click the Plus Sign (+) on the left side of the Editor
- Select the Members tab
- Click Add to Site
Simple Password Protection Pros And Cons
Group Protected Areas Pros And Cons
Members Areas Pros And Cons
How To Create a Password Protected Website: Conclusion
Website builders are simple to use, yet offer powerful features to protect your website with passwords, protected areas, and membership groups.
Before you start with any website builder, you should understand what you want to achieve first and plan for it. Not all website builders offer the same level of detail or options, as we’ve seen.
If you’re planning to build a members area, consider how much administrative work goes into it and whether this is something you’re able to achieve. Wix is my recommended website builder, not just for ease of use, but also value for money, features, and templates.