This evening I was going through Google results looking for a particular subject when I came across a forum that required user registration to browse it. Do you know what I did immediately after seeing this message asking me to register? I left. Do not interpret this as a rant because it is not one. I just thought I would provide a little advice to community owners. When a Guest browses your website, they do not want to be asked to register. They should register under their own free will after seeing the content quality of your website. Your content should drive registration, not a message blocking everything.

Furthermore, it is not only the user that is turned away from the time required to find content, but it is also the difficulty of search engines to index your website and create relevant results for people who seek answers. I find that many websites implement the idea of forcing user registration, but believe me, if you want long lasting membership, do not force it.