There was a time when investors were shying away from publishing media because "journalism" is "expensive" and user-generated content is "cheap".
But as the world changes tides and begins to preach
Our primary goal at Mequoda is to build the best subscription website marketing systems for publishers. We want publishers to have a system that attracts visitors, captures their email address,
We developed the Email Newsletter Scorecard with our friend and email marketing expert Jeanne Jennings. Let’s look today at #9: the all-important footer. In addition to abiding by CAN SPAM
An effective technique in digital content marketing is “self-liquidating premiums”—having the value of premiums exceed the entire purchase price of your product.
For example, let’s assume you have a product, perhaps
We often hear about predictions for digital magazines; how they will grow, the revenue generation expected throughout the industry and the time frames associated with these numbers.
These predictions are important,
Your email capture rate (ECR) is calculated by dividing the number of new email subscribers your website captures each month, by the number of unique new visitors passing through
Creating the best subscription website business models starts with understanding your minimum information units—both the free minimum information units you'll use to build a loyal audience and the premium minimum information
Social Media Optimization (SMO) is what we call the process of optimizing your content and your business, for social media.
Typically, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes first. This is the process
Membership websites are defined in part by the fact that users access the content on-demand, when they have a question they need to be answered or a learning tool they need
A magazine subscription website model is set up to sell subscriptions for a related print or digital magazine and to provide access to back issues and other premium content.
For the
Only five years after the advent of the tablet, strategies for successful digital magazine publishing are starting to sort themselves out and deliver measurable results. Of course at Mequoda, we're
People don't just like getting gifts for the holidays, they like them all year round. Maybe that's why our "You've Been Gifted" email subject line and template works so well.
The
The scenario plays over and over again: A publisher invests the time and money to build a multiplatform publishing website, only to wonder why they're not generating as much subscription
You may not know it, but there are things you could be doing on Facebook right now that are against their rules, or are strongly suggested against.
You may have been
If you could, you'd hire a professional email subject line writer. You would, because you depend on your email list to sell magazine subscriptions or ads to advertisers, so smashing
Ten years ago, apps and responsive website design weren't even on the radar of a webmaster, and website analytics weren't nearly as dynamic as they are today. Websites back then
A couple of years ago, Don outlined the attributes of a premium content subscription: not a website itself, but the thing that customers buy – the content subscription.
In updating this
At Mequoda, we call any promotional email that features a single product or membership a Spotlight. When you're designing a promotional email, it's best to ask yourself: "how can I
Although we work with many established legacy publishers, we also work with publishing startups. In fact, these startups benefit from our years of work with legacy publishers teaching them how
Aggregating great content is just as valuable as creating great content
Content aggregation is often given a bad name, because it’s often done incorrectly.
The best content aggregators approach the process
These days, when people talk about newsletter best practices, they’re usually referring to free email newsletters, used as a marketing tool to drive inbound traffic to websites. But because some
Magazines are designed to be read from front to back. They have covers and a table of contents. Magazines are arranged in a series of articles. Portals are not meant
PR is so different now than it was even five years ago, nevermind ten or twenty years ago. Because major news outlets still require press releases, we still publish them,
I'll make this quick because I know you're busy. You’re invited to join us on December 8 at 1:00 PM ET for a FREE webinar, 7 Subscription Landing Page Tests
Follow these landing page guidelines for your vanity URLs so that people can both remember you and find you organically
You know the importance of landing pages, but it's completely possible
In recent years, publishers have been testing paywall pricing, and for good reason. Hearst, for example, tested a paywall that changed based on what the reader was consuming. Instead of
If your magazine doesn’t have a consistent social media presence by now, then you’re light years behind the competition. It used to be a struggle to get buy-in from the
When a visitor arrives at your website landing page, you have about five seconds to make a good impression and capture their attention. If you don’t succeed immediately, they're likely
If you've considered starting an online magazine, or are a legacy print magazine considering going digital, you've asked this question: How do online magazines generate revenue? And the answer is
It’s amazing to look back to just a year or so ago, when digital magazines were still something of a novelty. Today, it’s a given that print publishers will soon
The only thing standing between you and more revenue is better landing and order pages.
But how are you supposed to know what to test, beyond copy, images, and the words
Magazines are designed to be read from front to back. They have covers and a table of contents. Magazines are arranged in a series of articles. Compare that with other
As you know, having an online portal for your information is essential for growth. Using the web to publish and distribute content and not just serve as an extension of
Digital magazine publishing software is important; which option are you using?
Publishers have been trying digital magazine publishing software during the last few years in hopes of creating the best digital
The answer many people give to the common question, “What is a web magazine?” is often incorrect by our definition.
Some may say that a magazine’s website is a web magazine,
Isn't most content online an advertorial these days? With so much conversion architecture built into websites, aren't we always trying to convert visitors into subscribers, or get them to click
Since 2006 we have held these fourteen guidelines as the most fundamental principles of the best website design.
Every website is unique to its own audience, so you can't include things
Multiplatform publishers can generate revenue from users, from sponsors, or both. Consumer-focused portals that are sponsorship-based ask users to pay – not with money, but with time and information. They
Successful website homepage design allows visitors to achieve their goals
Is your website properly designed to meet the expectations of your visitors? Often times websites encourage visitors to take an additional
In-person, live events can be a fun and profitable revenue stream for any multiplatform publishing company. When passionate people are committed to a topic, they want to go to the
“Hello, sailor. Can I buy you a drink?”
“Do you come here often?”
Of course these silly pick-up lines are good for a laugh, but do you know how to really introduce
Some people accuse me of being an academic wonk. At Mequoda we're often forced to make up our own lingo because you can't pioneer an industry to the digital shores
Over the years of attending in-person publishing events, we noticed a trend where a solid portion of the speakers invited to present are vendors and consultants, and a decent number
In the words of David Ogilvy, "a good advertisement is one that sells the product without drawing attention to itself." And when selling a web magazine, one of the best
Magazine pricing strategy has certainly evolved over the past decade. Back in 2013 we still believed that universal pricing was the best way to handle print, website, and tablet products.
