How to Start an Online Magazine

By: HowStuffWorks.com Contributors  | 

If you want to start an online magazine get a domain name, fill it with content, monetize and advertise. Here's how to start your own online magazine:

  • Pick a topic for your magazine. This should be something you know a lot about and something you love.
  • Do research to find out if there's a market for your idea.
  • Think of a title for your magazine that includes search-engine optimized keywords. You can test your ideas by typing them into Google Keywords to see what gets the most hits. You can also use a title that the keyword tool recommends.
  • Get an Internet domain name.
  • Decide if you're going to hire someone to design your website or if you're going to do it yourself. You can always design a simple, free website and then spend more on a professional one once your magazine gets off the ground.
  • Write content for your magazine. Write it yourself, hire freelance writers, solicit free articles from people who want to market products related to your magazine topic or mine articles from websites with free Ezine articles such as Ezine Articles, Articlesbase or Ezine Article Exchange. Don't publish your magazine until you have at least 10 to 20 pages of material.
  • Monetize your website with pay-per-click ads such as Google Adsense and/or by becoming a marketing affiliate for companies that sell products related to your magazine topic.
  • Advertise your magazine via e-mail, social networking sites, discussion forums related to your topic, print media and word-of-mouth.
  • [source WOW!]
  • Entice readers to subscribe by offering frequent, relevant and entertaining information, and by interacting with them. This means allowing readers to comment and having the authors of the articles reply to the comments.
  • Create a community among your readers by adding a discussion forum.
  • [source: MySmallBiz]

Good luck!

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Online Magazine FAQs

How do I start my own online magazine?
First, you will need to pick a topic for your online magazine. Then, you will have to choose a title for the magazine and get an internet domain name. Once that’s done, you will need a web designer to design the layout of your online magazine. After all this has been completed, you will need to start filling in the content for your magazine and advertising it so people will read it.
Where can I read magazines online?
There are many online destinations where you can read online magazines. The top five are: FlipHTML5.com, allyoucanread.com, magatopia.com, magzter.com and us.readly.com.
Are online magazines profitable?
Since online magazines are able to generate revenue via banner ads, well-advertised online magazines are able to generate a significant amount of money. You can also charge subscription fees to see content.
Does Word have a magazine template?
Yes. Word does offer a magazine template which has a masthead, table of contents and multiple slides for articles and photos.
How can I make a magazine online for free?
You can use an online magazine creator to make an online magazine for free. However, while you can design, curate and edit an online magazine all by yourself, you will still need to pay the domain fee, which is monthly or annually, to host the magazine.

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