The survey, conducted by the UK Association of Online Publishers, showed that 63% of their members charge for online magazine content, up 5% from 2004. Online publishers charge in a variety of ways; some charge subcriptions for full-content, others make the majority of their content available free, but charge for premium content such as news updates or special reports. Although advertising remains the major revenue earner for online publishers, earnings from subscriptions are rising and are set to become a key issue for publishers.

The surprising trend in this is that consumers are starting to realise that just because it's on the web, it doesn't mean it's free. They are also learning to discern between well-written sites with useful content, and those which don't meet their expectations, and seem to be happy to pay a subscription to access the better quality sites. This is a positive move for the industry, as online content has often taken second place to its hard-copy cousin, both in terms of readership and revenue. Publishers are now seeing that online and offline publications can work together, rather than one supplanting the other, and that regular readers are prepared to subscribe to both forms of the publication.

Quality online magazines

The key is to ensure that your online publication is of the same high quality as your paper version. Subscribers are paying for good writing, expert opinions, up-to-date news and product reviews and they want to make sure that the online offering mirrors the offline one. Solutions like our bespoke software, WebMags, allow publishers to re-produce their publications for the internet audience, looking exactly the same as the newsstand issue, but with all the benefits of digital technology. This is the type of publication that readers are willing to pay a reasonable subscription to access, and with the costs of production significantly lower than traditional print expenses, it can result in a good profit margin for the publisher.

With a greater number of people having broadband access at home, and a variety of mobile technology that allows you to access online magazines from anywhere, there is a significant opportunity here for publishers to expand readership and increase revenue. Use the WebMags link above to read more about how we can help, or call us on 01423 529300 for a quote.