Blogger’s Guide To Flipboard (A Must-Use Tool to Grow Traffic)

I truly can not believe that more bloggers are not using Flipboard! Established in 2010, Flipboard is a social news app known for its magazine-style format and personalized content curation. I started posting consistently on this platform seven months ago (May 2023), and my traffic has grown exponentially! The platform is so easy to use and can easily be incorporated into your daily workflow! This blogger’s guide to Flipboard gives expert tips for how to drive more traffic to your blog.

The following guide will walk you through everything you (a blogger) need to know to get started using Flipboard, how to create digital Magazines, and insider tips and tricks to make the most out of this social news app.

Thank you to the staff at Flipboard for fact-checking this blog post to make sure it has all the current information.

What is Flipboard?

Remember the days when those physical magazines would stack up under your coffee table? You wanted to save your favorite articles and stay on top of the latest fads but had to save the entire magazine in order to do so.

Flipboard solves this issue by allowing you to save your favorite articles in a completely digital stack! Goodbye, clutter!

In short, Flipboard is a social magazine where creators and readers can curate personal digital collections based on what interests them. It brings together the best content of the web, news stories, and breaking news alerts for quick and easy browsing.

You can use Flipboard on desktop and mobile, but mobile is where the magic happens. I find the “flip” swipe action to be very satisfying…but maybe that’s just a Bella thing!

Before we get too far, this is my account on Flipboard for you to follow along.

Why Should Bloggers Be Using Flipboard?

I know that the thought of another social platform may stress you out. As bloggers, it seems like every time we master one platform, a new one emerges. However, if you are serious about making money and growing your traffic, I promise you Flipboard is worth it!

Here are the top reasons why bloggers should use Flipboard!

1. More website traffic: The best part about Flipboard for bloggers is that when someone clicks on the article, it takes them directly to your website. This, of course, leads to more traffic and, ultimately, more income! The platform currently has over 100+ million active users!
2. Diversifying traffic streams: Every year brings all sorts of changes in the world of Google and SEO. As bloggers, it’s important to diversify our traffic streams (and ultimately income streams) as much as possible.
3. It’s simple to use: There’s almost no learning curve. It takes seconds to flip new content (aka share stories) onto the platform and the search function makes it easy for users to find the content they are looking for.
4. Explore various formats: Flipboard isn’t limited to blog posts and articles. You can also share curated photos, videos, podcasts, links to music, and newsletters.
5. Can build another community: Building engaged communities is becoming more and more important in the world of blogging. Through followers and Group Magazines, Flipboard offers another opportunity to build an audience that’s interested in your content.
6. No additional graphics needed: Unlike Pinterest, a special graphic does not need to be created.

Pro Tip: “Flipboard is a great way to share content outside of my website. Most of my YouTube views are coming from Flipboard. It’s a new channel, but it’s growing and I think that’s mostly due to Flipboard. It’s driving more traffic than my Instagram, email, website, etc.” – Sharon, The Helpful GF

Who Is Using Flipboard?

With over 100 million monthly active users, there is a lot of potential to find people interested in your content. Flipboard’s standout features include:

• Users can flip through and read stories and articles on Flipboard, like they would browse a print magazine.
• Users can skim articles while flipping or opt to save them in a Magazine to read later.
• Flipboard provides personalized content suggestions tailored to a  user’s interests, reading patterns, and social connections.
• Users are not inundated with constant ads and other content marketing like they are on other platforms.
• It’s a positive place to find quality content. There aren’t really the “trolls” you find elsewhere. 
• There is diverse content from the large media companies (such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Vanity Fair) and also smaller creators.
• You don’t have to make everything you do on Flipboard public. You can share in a private magazine. 
• Flipboard is very visual as photos are prominently displayed.

Getting Started on Flipboard

As stated previously, Flipboard is extremely easy to use. You can choose between downloading the Flipboard app (Apple store or Google store), or using it right on your computer. However, I recommend having both ready to go!

Personally, I created my profile and Magazines using the web version, but I like to browse and flip content from others on the app.

Step 1: Create a Profile

Once inside, your first step is to make an account. After creating an account (via Google, Apple ID, or your email) and verifying your email, head to your Flipboard profile settings to customize your username, bio, and add a picture.

Make sure to include keywords in your bio so other interested Flippers can find your account!

Pro Tip: Spend the time to set up your account. Adding a profile picture and description can really make a difference when interacting with the Flipboard community. It gives your profile a personal touch and makes it feel more genuine. If you want to change your profile picture on your phone, look for the gear icon in My Flipboard, and then select “Edit Profile.”

Pro Tip: Use your bio to highlight your expertise and authority by including publications you write for, partner with, and have been featured in.

Step 2: Create Your First Flipboard Magazine

After your profile is set up and ready to go, it’s time to make your first Magazine! Flipboard Magazines are how your profile will be organized.

When creating a Magazine, make sure to make the title clever yet searchable. You want it to stand out in the crowd, but still be able to be found via search. Be concise yet creative with metaphors, alliteration, or wordplay to grab the reader’s attention. 

Then, add a keyword-optimized description to the Magazine. Flipboard provides some great tips in this regard.

Repeat this process for as many Flipboard Magazines as you would like. I recommend having your Magazines mirror your website pillars and then adding more based on your personal interests. The Flipboard algorithm LOVES an active account.

Pro Tip: Select the setting for your Magazine by scrolling to the bottom. If you want all the Flipboard users to see your content, make sure it isn’t set to private.

For example, I write about food, travel, and lifestyle and therefore I have over 40 Magazines that cover these specific topics (Desserts, Holiday Recipes, Tropical Travel, Home DIY, etc.). You, of course, do not have to start out with that many though!

I also create Magazines based on topics that interest me or areas where I am needing further research. For example, I have taken up gardening so I curate articles that interest me in that Magazine and I also have a Magazine for finance articles. 

Don’t worry about going outside of your niche. A wide variety of Magazines will help you reach a bigger audience.

Pro Tip: On mobile you can rearrange the order of your Magazines by touching the Magazine thumbnail and holding and dragging it to the desired place. 

You can set a cover for your Magazine once you have some flips in it. To set the cover, click edit in the top right, scroll to the flip you wish to select, click on the three dots, and select “set as cover.”

Pro Tip: Pick photos for your Magazine covers that are eye-catching so that they stand out. You can even use GIFs for your covers! 

Pro Tip: You can pin any Magazine to your top navigation by making it a favorite. Click on the three dots right beside edit on the Magazine and select “Add Favorite.” This makes it easy to get right to your favorite Magazines.

Step 3: Flip Content

After your Flipboard Magazines are created, you can start flipping your own content. This means saving your articles to specific Magazines and sharing stories of others.

Remember to flip your own content AND other creators’ on the platform inside your own Magazines. Sharing your own content is expected, but people also want to know what you’re reading and finding inspiring. 

How do you flip content?

Flipboard makes adding (flipping) content extremely simple. Which is wonderful because as bloggers there’s never enough time in the day.

You can flip content by adding in the link inside the Magazine using the FlipIt browser extension (or bookmarklet) or using the Flipboard share button (on other users’ content).

Pro Tip: It’s HIGHLY recommended that you flip your new content immediately after hitting publish as the Flipboard algorithm favors new content. Make Flipboard sharing a part of your post-publish workflow.

Pro Tip: You will find the FlipIt browser extension (or bookmarklet) makes it easy to curate your Magazines with your content and that of others when you are setting up your magazines.

Pro Tip: Add captions to whatever you’re sharing to provide perspective and spark conversation. Flipboard is a social platform, and the algorithm loves seeing users be social. 

What type of content can you flip?

Users can flip your blog posts, newsletters, videos, photos, podcasts, or tweets. You’ll also be able to scroll on the app and use the search function to flip content that isn’t your own.

Pro Tip: Share your content and also other people’s content (through direct flipping from articles or inside the platform feed). I try to stick close to the 1:1 ratio and I only flip 3 to 7 of my own posts a day into any one Magazine so I don’t seem spammy.

You can also write original content in the form of short notes. Notes are a great way to engage with followers of your Magazines.

Pro Tip: You can pin a note or any flip to the top of your magazine, so it always stays there.  Click on the three dots and then click pin to top. You will see many add a note saying the board is open for people to join or pose a question to get engagement started. 

Pro Tip: You can flip accounts and Magazines into group collections, too. It is a great way to share accounts that you enjoy to give them a boost.

Step 4: Personalize Your Home Feed

After adding a few of your own links to your new Magazines, be sure to personalize your home feed so you are seeing stories you are interested in.

You can do so by visiting the “For You” page and clicking the two red lines next to the heading. From here, select specific topics to follow as well as specific magazines and creators!

Quick Tips for Bloggers to Use Flipboard

1. Flip your new content immediately after publishing — the quicker the better!
2. Include keywords in descriptions, but still make sure it sounds natural.
3. Choose cover images that are clear and interesting. People tend to click on pictures that appeal to them.
4. Flipboard loves when you add comments to your flips, so be sure to add a comment or ask a question when you flip a link. It can really help with engagement (and ultimately more website traffic)!
5. Flip a variety of great content, but make sure it’s helpful and relevant to your Magazine topics. You want to be promoting quality content.
6. Explore the Flipboard tools page for the social plugins, Magazine and Storyboard widgets and the FlipIt browser extension (or bookmarklet).

How to Use Group Magazines

Now that you are familiar with your own profile and new Magazines, you can start diving into Group Magazines. You are able to invite other creators to add content to your Magazines! This is easily done by using the “Invite Contributors” box on the cover page to send them an invite link.

As the owner of the Magazine, you have full control over what is published. If a contributor posts an irrelevant flip, you will be able to delete it or even remove members.

Group Magazines are a great way to build community, help each other distribute stories, and increase engagement (the algorithm loves engaged and active magazines).

Pro Tip: “Invite other creators to your Magazines, to keep your Magazines active and content coming even when you’re not publishing new content yourself. This way your magazines will continue to grow even if you have to take a break.” – Tamara, Thriving In Parenting

How do you find Group Magazines?

There are a few ways to find Group Magazines.

• Ask friends that are Flipboard users for an invitation.
• Many Group Magazines will have a note pinned to the top with instructions for how to join, so look for that.
• Add a comment to theGroup Magazine itself and ask the owner.

I have the following Flipboard group magazines open for collaboration. To get an invitation, please email me with your preferred Magazine name after following me, and I will reply with an invitation. 

• The World is Your Oyster: Travel!
• Mealtime Magic: Dinner Recipes
• Bella Cucina: Italian Recipes
• C is For Cookie
• Salads and Sides to Savor
• Divine Dessert Delights
• Tasty Holiday Recipes & DIYs

Pro Tip: A Flipboard group magazine invitation is only valid for 7 days so you need to create a new one each week and make sure you join a magazine as soon as you receive the link before it expires.

Below are some group magazines that I collaborate in that you may want to check out. Also, sign up for the Flipboard newsletters where they feature group magazines they like.

• Travel Destinations? Yes, Please!
• Exploring Places
• Wandering Europe
• Europe Travel
• The Best in Travel
• Travel Matters
• The Travel Bug
• The Best Dinner Recipes
• Food Blogger Recipes
• Foodie Finds
• Easy Recipes for Busy Parents
• Food Bloggers Best Recipes
• Easy Dinners
• Best Recipes From The Web
• Ultimate Recipe Collection
• The Culinary Journey: The Best Trending Recipes
• Learn How to Make Authentic Italian
• Lifestyle Topics
• Favorite Bloggers Recipes
• Air Fryer Recipes
• Food Recipe Finds

Flipboard Exchanges

In addition to adding people to your personal Flipboard magazines, you can also check out Flipboard Exchanges and follow them. 

• The Photography Exchange is for photographers, both pro and amateur. 
• The Recipe Exchange is for people who love to cook.
• The Travel Exchange is for people to share trip ideas, city guides, and itineraries.
• The Climate Exchange is for scientists, journalists and others who take the climate crisis seriously. 
• COMING SOON: The Style Exchange

If you would like to be a contributor to these group magazines that are vetted by Flipboard, the information for joining each niche Exchange can be found here! Spoiler! It’s as easy as sending a quick email or applying through this Google Form.

Pro Tip: Contributing in a Flipboard Exchange is a great way to boost the reach of your flips. Before applying, make sure you have your account set up and are a regular and active user. Also, be patient as it can take a while to get accepted as they vet each request to join.

How to Get Your Blog Readers to Flip Your Content

Now, the million dollar question…How do you get your audience to find and flip your content?!

1. Add a Flipboard share option to your website: On most social share plugins, there’s an option to add a “Flip It” option which makes it extremely easy for the everyday readers to save your content. 
2. Flipboard Tools: Educate your blog reader about the Flipboard tools page for the FlipIt browser extension (or bookmarklet).
3. Share your Flipboard link: You can easily find your sharable link on your profile. Then, share this link with your already established communities, add it to your email signature, or right on your website.
4. Join Flipboard Group Magazines: As mentioned above, Group Magazines are a great way to get your content in front of a larger audience.
5. Social engagement: As with all social media platforms, engagement is important and can help others find your content. Be sure to leave comments, likes, and start conversations on other posts. Active participation in the Flipboard community is important.

Pro Tip: “I have seen that flipping from large Group Magazines gives more views whereas flipping from my own magazines helps gain more followers.” – Shilpa, Easy Indian Cookbook

Flipboard Storyboards

In addition to Magazines, Flipboard has recently released a new form of curation. Storyboards are packages of content curated for Flipboard users. They contain a fixed number of items (unlike the ultimate additions to magazines) all about one topic. Think of it like a roundup blog post. Flipboard has a magazine of Storyboards that they love that you can follow for inspiration. There are also Storyboard guidelines that you should be familiar with. The Flipboard team uses these guidelines as they look for Storyboards to feature in Today’s Picks, the Explore tab, and email campaigns so it is a great way to expand your reach.

As few highlights from the guidelines are:

• Use a minimum of five items in a Storyboard that connect around a theme.
• Use sections to organize your content and make it easier to browse. Each section can hold up to 10 items.
• Consider selecting all five topic tags (max) recommended by Flipboard to increase distribution.
• Use the title and description to tell the reader what is in the collection.
• The title should be article-like and any numbers in the title should reflect the number of stories in the Storyboard.

Storyboards are still in private beta so not every Flipboard user has access to them. If you think your brand would benefit from this type of curated content, you can email Flipboard to ask. 

You can see this example of mine for how you can curate Storyboards with sections and different sized items to add visual interest. 

Pro Tip: Storyboards are a great way to give older content new reach as Storyboards are often featured elements in feeds. I create a couple of new Storyboards each week. 

Pro Tip: “I like to look at what is trending in Google trends for making Storyboards. The traffic with Storyboards can be short lived, so it’s a good idea to pick a topic that is current and hot.” – Karen, Seasonal Cravings

Flipboard Analytics

You’ll be able to monitor Flipboard traffic from your Google Analytics dashboard (it’ll appear as a referral source the same way you will see Facebook, Pinterest, etc.), but Flipboard also has its own complete analytics dashboard.

By clicking on your profile icon in the upper right hand corner, you’ll find the “Analytics” option. Once inside, you’ll find the overall analytics for your profile, plus the option to dive deeper into each magazine.

Pro Tip: Readers may read in the “Reader” view and may never come to your website. Encourage visitors and clicks by adding internal links to other relevant articles to your articles.

Fediverse: The Next Wave in Social Media

Flipboard launched a Mastodon instance called Flipboard.Social earlier this year. What is Mastodon? It’s an open-source social media platform that allows you to share content in a decentralized network.

Stay tuned for more on this, as it is big news for Flipboard users (or listen to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue’s podcast called Dot Social to learn more about this burgeoning space). Flipboard is beginning to switch its user accounts to ActivityPub, which means that everyone curating on Flipboard is now doing so in a way that apps like Mastodon can see and interact with.

Sign up and give me a follow on Flipboard Social.

Pro Tip: While hashtags were not needed on Flipboard itself, they are helpful in the Fediverse. It is now recommended to add some hashtags to your flips to reach viewers if your account is Federated.

Creator Programs

Everyone can create and share content on Flipboard, but if you are serious about growing your traffic, I recommend applying to the Creator Collective.

Before you apply, be sure your profile is set up, you’re an active user, and you have at least 1,000 followers on another platform.

Here are some of the benefits to being a part of the Creator Program:

1. Community Newsletter Curation: Each month, a creator is invited to curate the platform’s newsletter. The chosen creator can add 50 percent of their own links which would lead to a huge traffic bump! I curated a newsletter with easy recipes. 
2. Potential to be an in-house resident: Creators who are a part of the Creative Collective and have expertise in verticals like food, travel and photography, have the opportunity to become an in-house resident which involves 3-6 months of paid contributions! I was invited to be the Flipboard Resident Food Writer in Q4 2023. 
3. Promoted Story Referral Program: You can recruit your favorite brands to advertise on Flipboard and you can keep 50% of the revenue share of brand spend up to $20K. After a creator earns $10K with a single advertiser, they can earn an additional 15% revenue share of advertiser spend. Creators can earn more than $10K by successfully referring multiple advertisers.  Who doesn’t like diversified income streams?!
4. Red Check Verification: People in the Flipboard Creator Collective are eligible for verification at no charge. The red check helps to confirm someone’s authentic presence on Flipboard and signifies that the person is a trusted creator within its network. 

Creator vs. Publisher (RSS) Program

According to Flipboard’s definition, creators are smaller, independent personalities who work with one or two others. The Creator Program was launched to support these types of accounts.

The publisher program was designed for large media brands, including The New York Times, Vox, TechCrunch and more. Because they publish so frequently, publishers were invited to hook up their RSS feed to Flipboard as a way to automatically syndicate their content to Flipboard. 

For instructions on RSS and tips, look here. As a Publisher, you can also set up an RSS feed for each category to specific magazines. (Note, currently the Publisher Program is on hold, but you can still manually add your content, so you don’t need to worry)

Pro Tip: Apply to be a publisher from the same email that is listed as the contact on the publication or blog.

Pro Tip: It can take 60 days or more to hear back on an application so be patient. In the meantime, keep using Flipboard and being social and see the views to your blog come in!

Flipboard vs. Pinterest

If you made it this far (and set up your Flipboard profile), you may be finding some similarities between Flipboard and Pinterest.

Bloggers use both apps as tools to promote their content. You can create folders (Storyboards and Magazines) in each to organize your content. Both platforms allow you to save content from others and build communities.

However, Pinterest requires you to create a separate and specific image for the pin. Flipboard allows you to share the content with a simple click (no extra work or creation needed) in a visually pleasing Magazine format.

Flipboard opens up your content to a whole new audience!

Flipboard Newsletters

Through your account profile you can set up your email subscriptions for newsletters from Flipboard where you will receive digests of content you may be interested in. 

There are regular newsletters and special ones like this Tastemakers that I participated in. It is a way they regularly feature active users and Magazines. 

Flipboard FAQs for Bloggers

Think of this as your one-stop shop to every single Flipboard question you could possibly have. I truly want every new or seasoned blogger to reap the benefits of this platform! I promise it’s worth it to invest the time into learning and exploring throughout both the app and web version of Flipboard.

To save you a bit of time, I’ve compiled every single Flipboard question I’ve had or been asked into this post!

Looking for More Information on Flipboard? 

Flipboard has a blog with a lot of helpful content, and many of those posts are linked in this article. You can also follow Flipboard on Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, and of course, Flipboard itself. 

Check out Jeanette Speyer, who is a Flipboard super user with a handy series of YouTube videos and Medium posts that are a guide to Flipboard. You might want to check out her Group Magazine, The Flipboard User Group, and Facebook group, too.