Interested in interactive magazines?

We don’t blame you. They’re higher quality, much easier to read, and more engaging than other formats of digital content.

In this guide, we offer a simple definition of interactive magazines and show you how they differ from other types of online content. We also include 7 examples of popular magazines and give you tips on how to create your own engaging digital content.

What is an interactive magazine?

An interactive magazine is a digital magazine that makes it easy for users to access, read, and engage with the content. Interactive magazines—unlike PDFs—have clickable links and features such as cover hyperlinks and tables of content. Interactive magazines also often include multimedia elements like videos and audio files, enhancing the reader’s experience. They provide a dynamic, engaging format that encourages users to explore content in new and immersive ways.

How are interactive magazines different?

Sometimes, companies and media brands will embed PDF magazines in their website so that users can flip through them online. These PDF embeds are very hard to read, and there’s no interactivity whatsoever.

Interactive magazines can differ from static content in these key ways:

• Premium feel – Compared to PDF magazines, blog posts, and other formats, interactive magazines feel far more luxe. They’re a great fit for your premium content offerings.
• Hyperlinked cover pages – Interactive magazines include a cover page with hyperlinks to the relevant articles in the call outs. This way, readers can click straight through to what interests them.
• Clickable tables of content – At any time, readers can click on the table of contents widget and choose a different article to read. This makes it easy to navigate through the entire magazine.
• Mobile responsive – Unlike static content, interactive magazines are responsive. They automatically adjust to fit the available screen space, which you can see in the Outside magazine example below.
• Distraction-free reading experiences – Interactive magazines only include advertisements from your sponsors. These are typically full-page images. There are no distracting ads other pieces of content vying for your audience’s attention.
• Option to listen to content – Many publishers include the audio version of the article at the top so that readers can choose to listen if they prefer. With 42% of Americans aged 12 and up listening to podcasts regularly, this is a great added feature.
• Engaging mobile app features – Sometimes, interactive magazines are housed within a media brand’s mobile app. This mobile app might also offer news, trends, shopping, games, social engagement, or other interactive features.
• Article videos – Some digital magazines might also include videos along with the articles. For instance, a celebrity profile can get enhanced with a behind-the-scenes look at the photoshoot.
• Stored in users’ library with other editions – Readers can access all their editions in one library. This can include specific editions they’ve paid for as well as your entire back-issue archive (if you offer it to subscribers).

Interactive magazines can also be called online magazines or digital magazines. Whatever you call them, they’re far superior to blogs and PDF files when it comes to the online reading experience.

7 great examples of interactive magazines

Dive in deeper with these examples of interactive magazines. Keep reading for insights into what makes them special.

1. Better Homes & Gardens

In this example from Better Homes & Gardens, we can see the attractive and crisp design. With a white background and single-column content, everything is on brand and easy to read. The interactive magazine also includes an audio version of the article for easy listening.

2. People

People’s signature blue color palette is clear in this interactive magazine, which also features a “Listen” button so that users can opt to listen to the content instead of reading it. As you can see, the branding really comes through with the typography. This example articles features five different font styles including an image caption, title, and logline. When it comes to digital content, colors and fonts are the best way to stylize your content. While columns, complex layouts, and background colors work well for print editions, they don’t translate well online.

3. Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated offers another great example of an interactive magazine. In this case, the magazine is housed within the brand’s mobile app. Users can view news articles as well as their full magazine library, which includes all of the back issues that they have access to.

4. Outside

In this example of Outside magazine, we can see what the content looks like across three different viewing formats: mobile, tablet, and desktop. The content responds to the available space. There’s only one column in mobile, but two in the tablet version, and three on desktop. This way, readability is prioritized no matter the device.

5. Yachting

Here’s an example of what it looks like when interactive magazines are delivered to readers. Most digital magazines do not need to be housed in native mobile apps, but can rather be delivered to subscribers via email. This email from Yachting magazine shows how readers can immediately click on the article they’re most interested in reading first.

6. Inc.

In this example, we can see how Inc. offers a clean online portal where readers can see all of the interactive magazines that they have access to in a single place. As a publisher, you can choose to give readers access to your entire back-issue archive, or only the magazines that have been released since they signed up for a subscription.

7. Esquire

And last but not least, we have Esquire. See that cover image in the left-hand corner? That’s the table of contents widget that readers can click on at any time to navigate to their article of choice. This example is also great because it shows how bold font and imagery can bring a brand to life, even in this simple and clean format.

All of these interactive magazines were created with eMagazines. If you want to release premium digital content, get in touch with us.

How to create your own interactive magazine

Ready to release stellar digital content? Follow these best practices.

Prioritize mobile optimization

Interactivity is all about adhering to the device. You should prioritize mobile optimization in terms of readability and usability. For instance, the number of columns can go up the bigger the screen. Meanwhile, the placement of various buttons and features (such as the table of contents and audio versions) will change depending on the device.

Make sure content is on-brand but easy to read

An interactive magazine should never be overwhelming. You want to make it easy for users to find and click on the interactive features. If you have a lot of loud design elements, it’ll be challenging for users to know what to click on. That’s why the background of the content should always be white. You can make your branding stand out through typography.

Use the right software and services

It’s important to pick the right magazine software. Choose a company that provides both the tech and hands-on services you need to get the job done. Releasing an interactive magazine is a highly specialized skill, which is why it makes sense to enlist the help of a third-party partner. At eMagazines, we take care of every part of the process from content formatting to delivery and beyond.

Convert your print edition into a digital edition

When creating an interactive magazine, you can use the content you already have. Most of our clients turn their monthly print edition into a digital version. However, if you don’t have a print magazine, you go straight to digital and create fresh content that will only be released in this interactive format.

Add AI-generated audio for each article