Welcome to 2023! A new year brings new resolutions.
If starting a digital publication is one of yours, you’ve come to the right place and should 100% check out our detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to start an online magazine if you haven’t already.
In the last few years, online magazines have developed so fast and are being used as a reliable marketing strategy by many forward-thinking startups and big companies out there – so if you’re not already harnessing this opportunity, what are you waiting for?
Before creating an online magazine, you have to develop the right strategy. The right strategy should mean spending as little as possible for the maximum return.
Read on to learn the steps involved in this guide on how to start an online magazine. We’ll also touch on how much it costs, the right tools for creating and publishing an online magazine, and how you can monetize your content.
A Step by Step Guide on How To Start an Online Magazine
Baby steps! Just like every business, the first step you need to do is to find the most suitable niche and the right audience.
There’s no good or bad niche as long as it aligns with your passion, hobby, or business goals. It’s important to note that the more competitors you have in your niche, the harder it’ll be. Except if you have the right partner to build your online magazine 😉
So, here is a step-by-step guide on how to start your own online magazine:
1. Provide Epic Online Magazine Content for Your Readers
Content is King.
Your online magazine has to provide epic content that captures your audience. In general, there are three types of content based on their purpose: entertaining, inspiring, and providing useful information. You can choose to focus on one, but why not combine all three? Aim to provide insightful and entertaining content to your audience.
If you don’t have time to write your own content, you can hire a professional writer with suitable qualifications. You will also need to ensure that your online magazine’s content has a consistent writing style and format. This way, it won’t confuse your audience.
2. Create a Phenomenal Design for Your Online Magazine
The magazine cover is the first thing that people will see and determines if it is worth reading or not.
For the cover, design it in a way that stands out from other magazines and has a big impact on the audience. Take your target audience’s preferences into consideration.
3. Choose an Ideal Digital Publishing Platform to Create and Publish Your Online Magazine
Before choosing the right digital publishing platform to start your online magazine, you must consider three things. The cost, accessibility for your readers, and the outcome of the benefits that the platform has.
One of the best platforms that you can use for creating and publishing an online magazine is MagLoft. MagLoft’s Universal App helps you to digitize and monetize your content without the hassle and tech overwhelm.
MagLoft built Universal App using PWA Technology. It’s the newest technology that enables your readers to open and install your magazine via any device. It also gives you an SEO advantage that will generate more exposure and traffic to your online magazine through search engines like Google & Bing. In 2023, one of the trends is the growing impact of Core Web Vitals.
MagLoft also offers custom development and solutions for companies that are looking for very specific designs, functionality and use cases. We’ve worked with large enterprises like Yahoo Singapore, Prudential Hong Kong and Amway Inc. to come up with custom solutions.
4. Monetize Your Online Magazine
The last yet most important step on how to start an online magazine is the monetization of your publication. This is one of the main goals for many publishers. There are multiple monetization options available to digital publishers:
A. Single Paid Issues
This is common in digital publishing, selling single paid issues. You can sell a single article or publication to your readers. Sometimes publishers also generate leads by offering content for free in exchange for readers’ contact details.
B. Banner Advertising
One of the most popular ways to monetize online magazines is by selling space for other businesses to put their advertising banner. You can sell spaces on several locations in your online magazine such as sidebar, in-article ads, and even home page as well.
C. Advertorial
Do you want to monetize in a softer way? Then, offer your content for free, but include advertorials. Basically, an advertorial is an article that is designed to look like objective journalistic content. Still, it’s a paid advertisement. It’s a combination between “Advertising” and “Editorial”. Do it in the right way, and your readers won’t even notice – that’s what we call a win/win.
D. Links
Some publishers who have a lot of readers and good SEO on their website sometimes sell links in their online magazine. This means you can sell a hyperlink inside your high performing content and refer other businesses to your readers. Your readers will be able to click on the link & your client will benefit from SEO as well.
E. Subscription
Subscriptions are one of the favorite ways to monetize content. Selling a subscription means you sell access to some or all of your content for a defined period of time. Usually, publishers will sell monthly, quarterly or yearly subscriptions. This type of monetization makes them generate money regularly, which gives publishers a good cash flow.
How Much Does It Cost to Start an Online Magazine in 2023?
Actually, there are no fixed costs in creating and publishing an online magazine.
Set up a call with MagLoft to discuss your pricing plan, and we’ll work together to create a solution that benefits everyone in your digital publishing business.
That’s it! A simple step-by-step guide for you to start an online magazine in 2023. It won’t be hard as long as you have the dedication and the right partner (us, maybe?). Good luck!
