Use Flipboard Magazine Formats to Boost Traffic

By collecting information in a Flipboard magazine, your media takes on another dimension. Readers explore and enjoy content in a beautiful and engaging format.

Your publication begins with a Flipboard magazine.

In this article, I will share the three magazine formats that will take your publication to the next level. I will also share best practices for creating and sharing each one.

The RSS Feed Magazine:

By adding an RSS feed to a Flipboard you aggregate content directly from your blog(s) into a magazine. If you have this function in your Flipboard account, add your RSS feed to drive traffic to your blog. I have attached a screenshot to see how it’s done. This function is only available on desktops.

Benefits

1. Automated aggregation makes it easy to add sizable amounts of content to Flipboard magazines. There is no need to micromanage the account. Large publishers benefit from this function.
2. You can also add many RSS feeds and categorize them by topic. The curation process is simplified even further.
3. Flipboard adds content the minute it is published keeping the magazines always fresh. New content gets seen, and it helps get traffic to your publication.

Negatives

1. It’s not available for smaller publishers. You will have to curate your content by hand.
2. Content from RSS feeds may feel automated and impersonal. A human touch is always needed to make a magazine personal and engaging. Like journalism, you want to feel that there’s an author behind the article.
3. More hands-on work for curators and curators that don’t have the RSS feature. You can hire a VA to assist with the process. Many users work with assistants from all over the world. You can find out more here in this blogger group.

Best Practices:

1. Plan your magazines according to your topics and add the RSS feeds accordingly.
2. Make sure your RSS feed runs smoothly. Keep it updated and active. Be mindful to check and fix your feed if it does not work. Don’t let automation take over.
3. Make sure your content is reliable and factual. You want to build trust among your readers.
4. Simplify your articles, don’t have too many ads or distractors. Some readers prefer to read the whole blog to get the full experience rather than switch to it. “Reader View”.
5. Don’t saturate your magazines with too many feeds. Keep things simple and easy for your readers. You want them to return.
6. Check your RSS feed to exclude irrelevant content that may not be valuable to your readers. Try to keep the magazine focus.
7. Introduce new RSS feeds to keep the magazine fresh and relevant.
8. Adjust your feeds based on what performs well with your audience. You may want to replace underperforming feeds or focus more on popular sources.

Rinse and repeat. Automated is practical, but be mindful to monitor. Flipboard is all about quality and readership. Once you gain followers keep them interested with your amazing curation.

Single Curator Magazine

This is the magazine that you curate with a blend of mixed media. Make this one all yours. Besides articles and blog posts, add photos, and notes. Take advantage of Flipboard’s curation tools for a more interactive experience.

Benefits

1. You have full creative control of your magazine. Incorporate various media like YouTube videos, podcasts, and Fediverse posts.
2. Magazines are portable and easy to share on your blog, your newsletters, in the Fediverse, or social media posts.
3. You can also add other people’s articles for a more varied experience.

As you curate magazines, you get a deep understanding of your audience’s wants and needs. Armed with this knowledge, you can provide followers with what they want to read.

Negatives

1. Flipboard requires a commitment and it can be very time-consuming. But once you get stuck in you become addicted and enjoy the process.
2. Links may become disabled after some time and it can be a lengthy process to “clean” them out. I tend to put these links in the back of my magazines or eliminate them while sitting in front of my favorite TV show.
3. Images may not appear on some flips. Be mindful of the amount of UTM links you are using in your articles.

Best Practices

1. Do share your magazines outside of Flipboard, especially if you don’t have a following. Put them on your blog, and emails, and add a FlipIt icon to your publication.
2. Do you add niched content to keep your audience engaged? Your readers may not want to read your whole blog. They might only be interested in a specific part of it. So curate with this in mind. If you have a travel blog segmented into countries. I might follow that one that has information on Argentina, for example.
3. Build your Flipboard Brand Identity. Position yourself as a thought leader. Curate high-quality content to enhance your brand’s reputation. Control your narrative to align with your brand’s values.
4. When you curate your content you can be selective as to what goes into a magazine. Filtering out irrelevant content. Always think of your audience’s experience.

The best part of curating magazines is that you can share your interests, and passions and make it all yours. Each one of your magazines is a personal journey. Like eating Keto? Enjoy cycling? Like-minded people will find you and want to connect.

Community Magazines

Flipboard has a robust community that helps reach a wider undiscovered audience. One of the best ways to grow your profile is to leverage the Flipboard community. Do this by joining group magazines or starting your own. These topical magazines are run by users wanting to build their community. Generally, they are willing to include you.

Benefits

1. Community magazines help grow your profile. Your content is likely to be shown and shared by others in the community.
2. It’s a great networking opportunity. The Flipboard community is warm and inviting and usually eager to share. You can build partnerships and friendships. Over the years I have enjoyed meeting many people all over the world.
3. Everyone knows how hard it is to grow your Flipboard following. You have a chance to do this by collaborating.

Negatives

1. Some community magazines are saturated with content. Monitoring relevant information is hard for busy curators. Extra-large magazines can be overwhelming. That’s why the selection process is critical.
2. Some collaborators may not understand magazine etiquette. You do have to be very specific when inviting contributors to your magazines.

Best Practices

1. Join a magazine run by a high-profile Flipboard user and you will gain lots of visibility. Your content will be seen. This magazine is likely to trigger the Flipboard algorithm.
2. Establish your authority by sharing your content. I always learn from your flips and enjoy reflipping.
3. Set rules for your magazines to avoid flips that are irrelevant. Encourage everyone to stay on topic—post guidelines in the “Notes” option for imagery, content, and magazine etiquette.
4. Reach out to the Flipboard User Group to find collaborators for your magazines.

By sharing to a Flipboard community magazine, you share your knowledge and build valuable connections.

All this and, don’t forget to…

Monitor Analytics: Use Flipboard’s analytics tools or Google Analytics to monitor performance.

Keep those Magazines Fresh: Regularly update your magazines with new content to keep them active and relevant.

Happy Flipping!

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