Newsletters, writing and media
Which features and issues bring subscribers who renew.
An independent magazine sells subscriptions, single issues and, at the end of the year, a lot of gifts, all on the strength of long features people read in full. Tally ties each subscription and issue sale to the visit behind it, so you can see which features earn subscribers and whether gift buyers renew.
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01How they sell
- SubscriptionDigital or print-and-digital subscriptions, yearly more often than monthly, so a strong issue's effect shows up again at renewal a year later.
- One-offSingle issues, back issues and gift subscriptions paid once, which pile up in the weeks before the holidays.
02Payments it reads
- StripeSubscriptions and gift purchases through Stripe Checkout on the magazine's site, often from Ghost or a WordPress plugin connected to the publisher's own account.
- Lemon SqueezyDigital issues sold as PDF or EPUB downloads through Lemon Squeezy, linked by the checkout's custom data.
What Tally can't read
- Copies sold on newsstands, in shops or through distributors aren't read.
- Subscriptions sold through a newsstand app or a digital-magazine platform that takes the payment aren't read.
- Print subscriptions handled by a fulfilment house's own checkout aren't read unless the payment lands in your connected account.
- Advertising and sponsored-content income isn't read.
03Where buyers come from
- Long-form featuresA feature shared widely brings readers who read to the end and see the subscription offer there; the page breakdown puts revenue beside each feature.
- Gift seasonBuyers in November and December arrive to buy for someone else, often by search for the magazine's name, and pay once.
- NewsletterThe magazine's free newsletter brings back readers between issues; tagged links show which sends sold subscriptions.
- InstagramCovers and spreads posted to Instagram send visitors through its in-app browser, named in Readable Direct.
04What Tally answers
Do subscribers read our features to the end?
What they read compares engaged time and scroll depth per page for buyers and everyone else. A feature that subscribers finish and casual readers leave early is a good place for the offer at its foot.
What they readDo gift subscriptions turn into renewals?
Lifetime value counts each customer under the source of their first visit, with renewals and repeat rate, so gift buyers who come back to buy again, or whose gift is renewed, stand apart from those who don't.
Lifetime valueWhen during gift season do people buy?
Peak hours shows sales or revenue by weekday and hour over the period you choose, so you can set it to the last weeks of the year and see when gift orders came in.
Peak hoursWhich issue's features sold the most subscriptions?
The page breakdown carries revenue beside each feature, and the campaign breakdown beside each tagged newsletter link, so an issue's best sellers can be found among many pages.
Sources with revenueWas that print subscription linked to a feature?
Its receipt shows the first visit, every visit after, the credited one and how the payment was tied to the browser, with the confidence of that link.
Receipts
05Numbers worth watching
- Renewals
- Yearly renewals by first source, the figure that says whether a feature or a gift season brought subscribers who stay.
- Engaged time
- Active time with the tab in view per feature, which separates long reads people finish from ones they open and abandon.
- Scroll depth
- How far down a feature readers get, buyers against others, which decides where the subscription offer belongs.
- Conversion
- Paying visitors over all visitors, compared between an issue month and a quiet one.
06An example
Lifetime value by first source
All time: every payment since 1 Nov 2025. The period above doesn't apply.
| First source | Customers | Lifetime revenue | Average value | Renewals | Repeat rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoogleOrganic Search | 325 | $40,560 | $125 | 845 | 52% |
| ChatGPTAI Assistants | 126 | $21,071 | $167 | 391 | 61% |
| Direct | 178 | $18,216 | $102 | 374 | 44% |
| NewsletterEmail | 94 | $17,362 | $185 | 357 | 69% |
| Hacker NewsOrganic Social | 84 | $11,741 | $140 | 227 | 55% |
| x.comOrganic Social | 115 | $10,190 | $89 | 161 | 33% |
| RedditOrganic Social | 84 | $9,016 | $107 | 160 | 40% |
| PerplexityAI Assistants | 42 | $6,342 | $151 | 101 | 57% |
| Every source | 1,048 | $134,498 | $128 | 2,616 | 51% |
A customer is a visitor linked to a sale, counted under the source of their first visit. Lifetime revenue is net of refunds and chargebacks; repeat rate is the share who paid more than once (a renewal, an upgrade or another purchase). $13,167 from 426 payments not linked to a visitor is in no row.
07Setting up
- WebflowOn Webflow, add the tag to the site-wide head code so features, issue pages and the subscribe page carry it.
- StripeConnect the Stripe account the subscriptions run on; the past 365 days are imported, so last year's gift season shows from the start.
- Give the gift-subscription button its own data-fast-goal, so gift buying can be compared with subscribing for yourself.
08Questions
How are gift subscriptions counted?
As a payment by the buyer, credited to the buyer's visit. If the gift later renews as a subscription in your Stripe account, the renewal keeps the first payment's link.
Can Tally count readers of our print edition?
No. It counts visits to your website and the payments behind subscriptions. A print reader who types a URL from the page shows up as typed in Readable Direct.
Does a long feature with many images slow down with the tag?
No. The tag is one deferred script of about 3 KB, loaded after the page itself.