Is Flipboard Still Practical for Promoting Authors’ Content?

A Thorough Examination of Flipboard's Benefits and Problems

Creators and publishers used Flipboard for self-promotion when it first got started. But ongoing problems are possible reasons why authors lost interest. Nevertheless, it still is a great information resource in a magazine-style format.

Based in Palo Alto, California, Flipboard began in 2010 with an iPad app. In 2012 they released an Android app. They finally created a web platform in February 2015. But they had some erratic developments.

In December 2022, Flipboard reported performance issues on iOS devices, such as slow loading and displays of outdated content.

They had worse problems in the past, which might be why authors have given up on it. For example, a previous bug caused articles to be attributed to the wrong authors. That was a major disaster that affected listings in the SERPs. In addition, they had a security breach in 2019 that caused passwords to be stolen.

I'll review these issues first. Then we'll examine how it works so you can judge for yourself if it's something you would still want to consider using.

A Previous Bug Attributed Articles to the Wrong Authors

Several years ago, I noticed that some of my flips were attributed to another author. When I investigated, I discovered why this was happening. In some cases, other authors' articles were recommended at the end of my content, and Flipboard took the author's name from there to use for the attribution of my articles.

I decided to delete all the incorrect flip listings. And in some cases where the problem was extensive, I removed entire magazines.

If you use Flipboard to list your own content, I suggest you review it and make sure they are correct. Then, remove any that have the wrong information.

A Previous Security Breach

Flipboard discovered a hacker lurking on its servers from June 2018 until April 2019. This major security breach was announced in Forbes Magazine in May. That hacker might have stolen passwords from 150 million users during that time.

Those at risk were anyone who used the same password on other sites that they used on Flipboard. I always use complex meaningless passwords and never use the same one twice. So I probably was okay.

Some Flipboard Bugs Could Be Intentional

As of 2023, They still have a bug that makes promoting content on social media impossible.

When you post the URL of your Flipboard profile or any of your magazines on social media, such as Facebook, the link brings people to Flipboard's home page.

That might be intentional since it promotes their site.

How to Set Up Your Flipboard Account

Create Your Bio

When you create your account, you will see a section in your profile to include a bio. Write something that clearly describes what you do. You'll get more traffic because the bio is included in the search when people are looking for something or someone specific to their interests.

You should also upload an avatar image of yourself; otherwise, only your initials will appear in a circle on your profile, which looks incomplete.

Here is how my profile looked after I completed it with one magazine containing three flips:

Create a Magazine

After you complete your profile, you can start creating magazines to flip your articles. When you click "Flip" in your profile (see above), it opens a window for adding flips. But if you haven't created a magazine for that specific flip, click "Create Magazine" on the left side, as shown in the image below.

Give each magazine a name and a description. The description is optional, but it is helpful since it helps people find your magazine in a search and should help the system tag the articles to the correct topic category (more on this later).

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Flip Articles Into Magazines

The next step is to add articles to your magazines.

1. Click the pencil icon next to your avatar to open the "flip" window.
2. Select the magazine you want to use.
3. Copy and paste the URL of the article you want to flip into the "Flip link" field, as shown in the image above. I recommend not typing in the URL, as you may misspell it. It's best to copy and paste it instead.
4. Add a comment. I suggest you do that even though it says it's optional. It helps people find your topic when they search.
5. Finally, click the "Flip" button to complete it.

How Users See Things

Many people use Flipboard to find news and information.

Users can select categories of interest to follow. Or they can follow other members. They can also create their own magazines to save articles to share or read later.

Their profile lists the magazines they have created, and the topics they follow appear at the top of the page when logged in. The image below is an example showing the topics I'm following.

Users can edit or add to the list by selecting the down arrow next to the list. When they click on a category, the selected stories are presented.

Articles Are Featured by Topic

When an article is added to a magazine, it's automatically tagged to a topic and featured in that category. That helps get views because the article appears in the lists people follow.

How Articles Get Featured

Not all articles are tagged to topics. It may depend on how well-trusted the website is for having quality.

Once a flip is tagged to a topic, it gets featured on a rotating schedule. One of my articles got over 3000 views on the first day of being featured, but then it dropped drastically. Another article suddenly came to life a week later and then dropped off. We never know when flips get featured or if they will ever get featured again.

The Importance of Captions and Comments

Adding a caption description to each flip is essential, so Flipboard correctly tags the flip to the correct topic category. It tries to choose keywords from the content but also uses caption data.

Any change you make to an existing caption will not be reflected immediately since their server does not re-crawl very often to detect updates. That is why it's essential to plan ahead of time and have a good title on your article and a good caption on the flip before adding it to a magazine.

It's also crucial to include a comment with each flip because they effectively attract search traffic. When sharing articles, describe why you liked them and recommend them. When flipping your own content, provide a brief explanation of what the reader can expect from it.

Delays With Updates to Flipped Articles

As an author of your own content, if you make changes such as a new title or remove content that had caused it to be listed in the wrong topic category, you need to wait for Flipboard to re-crawl to detect the updates.

If you delete the flip and add it back to the magazine, it will reappear with the old data because they use a cached copy, and the old content is reused.

I asked the support staff about that, and they confirmed their server saves a cached copy of all flips. The server will occasionally check the original content and automatically use any changes made.

Two Concepts About Flipboard Traffic

1. Articles That Answer Questions

We know we get traffic from Google when people search for something we discussed in an article. However, we can get decent traffic from Flipboard if the title and primary image grab attention, as is the case with one of my articles shown below in my Google Real-Time report, showing 18 active readers at the moment.

2. Traffic Comes in Spurts

Flipboard traffic comes in spurts, which seems to be the routine for most listings. It appears that Flipboard rotates things around, so you never know when you will get a spurt of traffic.

I started getting a lot of Flipboard traffic for a poem I published. Organic traffic for poetry is one of the most challenging things to achieve.

How to Manage Your Magazines

Things are different depending on how you access the site:

• If you use the mobile app, click the gear icon to edit a magazine.
• If you access the site on your desktop browser, all your magazines are listed on your profile. Click the pencil icon on the magazine you want to edit.

How to Rearrange Your Flips

1. Edit the magazine you want to work with.
2. Drag individual flips up or down to change the order.

Changes are automatically saved as you make them.

How to Delete an Individual Flip

Edit the magazine and click the "X" next to the story you want to remove.

If you set up a magazine of articles you didn't write, you must keep an eye on it. Every once in a while, an author will delete their content. So you'll need to clean up now and then.

How to Edit an Existing Flip

1. Edit the magazine you want to work with.
2. Click the "Edit" link next to the individual story in that magazine.
3. Change any field. You can also select a different image as the cover image.
4. After making your changes, click "Save."

How to Delete an Entire Magazine

To delete an entire magazine, follow these steps:

1. Edit the magazine.
2. Click the three vertical dots at the bottom right corner (see image below).
3. Click "Delete Magazine."

Magazine Analytics

Analytics data shows the following info for each magazine:

• How often people open it.
• How many people follow it.
• Time spent viewing a magazine.
• How many times stories are clicked.
• The number of story impressions.
• Open Rate: Ratio of URL opens to impressions.
• Social Engagements: Likes, flips, and shares.

How to View the Analytics Data of Any Magazine

1. Edit the magazine.
2. Click the three vertical dots at the bottom right corner.
3. Click "Analytics," as shown in the previous image above of the Magazine Maintenance Menu.

What Are Flipboard's Rules?

You Can Post Your Own Content

Flipboard does not explicitly say anything about self-promotion, but the Terms of Service (TOS) clearly state, "you can post your own content on Flipboard, including articles, photos, comments, and other content."

Those who may be familiar with Reddit will know that they have strict guidelines against self-promotion. If you submit your own links on Reddit, they may be removed as spam.

Pinterest also has such guidelines, so it's a good rule to begin by flipping other people's articles when you open a new account. Then gradually add flips of your own content.

Stay abreast of the Flipboard community guidelines in case they decide to make some rules entirely against self-promotion in the future.

What Does Non-Commercial Use Refer to in the TOS?

Another section in the TOS states, "Flipboard gives you a license to use the software for your own personal, non-commercial use."

I'm not an attorney, but to my understanding, that wording refers to the usage of their software. That means Flipboard should only be used for your own purpose, not for a business flipping other people's content for financial gain.

The wording of that TOS statement does not exclude flipping commercial content, such as articles that pay revenue for ads.

Permission to Use Your Content

The terms also permit Flipboard to use your content in a way they believe is necessary to provide service. That includes storing, displaying, reproducing, and distributing your content.

The wording of this section of the TOS means that the listings and other content can be displayed to provide the service they intended and reproduced for backup purposes to maintain the system's integrity.

There is no need to worry about duplicate content. Flipboard does not display copies of your flipped content. They only post comments and descriptions you add to flips.

The Takeaway

The power built into the site makes it a versatile tool. Flipboard is handy for organizing everything you're interested in reviewing later on the web. And it also serves a purpose for authors to share their own creations, despite the mishaps they often have with the platform.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2016 Glenn Stok

Comments

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on January 17, 2018:

Simone - I’ve had similar results where I would get huge traffic from Flipboard at one time, and then it would drop to almost nothing. It seems to come and go.

As for older listings, once it’s been there for a while it is not considered new anymore.

Once thing that does help is to flip other people’s articles. I noticed that some of those people who I had shared, had also followed up and shared the experience of one of my articles. Of course that’s hit or miss because many people don’t pay attention to see who’s flipping their content.

Simone on January 17, 2018:

Dear Glenn,

I have been a Flipboard user for a while now and this was a great read to see if I am still doing everything correctly.

I am hoping you can help me with a Flipboard issue. I used to get over 2000 people a day from Flipboard and for a few weeks now I am not even getting 80 people a day. My articles seem to not be showing up as "new" for Flipboard anymore. Do you know any other factors that could influence traffic this much? Or why articles don't show up as new? I haven't changed anything on my website, so my guess is the issue is with Flipboard, but they can't seem to help me.

Thank you!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 24, 2017:

Ram Ramakrishnan - Thank you Ram. I appreciate the recognition. After I spent so much time deciphering the best methods to make Flipboard work for us, I felt I just needed to share that information. It works for authors on any platform.

Ram Ramakrishnan on December 24, 2017:

I haven't come across a more detailed and wonderfully explained tutorial than this one, Glenn. You more than deserve the "Most Helpful Hubber" award.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on November 28, 2017:

Jennifer, Try posting your query on the Wordpress Group on Facebook. Maybe someone there might know how to make Wordpress flip properly.

As I mentioned, I'm not a Wordpress user so I have no idea. I can only help your with the Flipboard side of it.

By the way, did you ever try flipping one of your Wordpress pages manually? It's easy to do. Just copy the URL, click the pen icon on Flipboard, paste the URL and select or create a magazine.

Jennifer on November 28, 2017:

Thanks Glenn. Yes, Wordpress has a setting to auto-post links to a Flipboard magazine. It is using the social media plug in called SNAP.

For some reason, in the past 15 or so months, Flipboard has never once categorized any of my links. This is happening to both my blog posts and another blogger under the same blog network (20+ other bloggers are having their links categorized by Flipboard with no problem). So I believe it is a wordpress setting. I've probably had 1,000+ posts over this time and there is no possible way that not one of them was put into a category. Know of anyone who is a Flipboard Guru and Wordpress Guru who I can hire? Thank you!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on November 26, 2017:

Jennifer, Flipping means to post a link in a Flipboard magazine that points to your article. If none of your posts are given categories it might be because Flipboard can’t tell what category they belong to.

Jennifer on November 26, 2017:

Hi Glenn, thanks again! Wordpress has a feature to auto post to Flipboard, I am not sure if that means they are being flipped, I am just getting to understand Flipboard so not really sure what being flipped means.

I do not have individual magazines set up, just one where all posts go into. I will look into setting up individual magazines.

I am positive other bloggers are getting extremely high page views, and many of them are, not just one or two. I've tried looking into Wordpress settings but there isn't much, I'll take another look.

The biggest difference I see is that not one of my posts have ever been given a category by Flipboard which I find odd.

Thanks for the help!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on November 25, 2017:

Jennifer - Getting flips categorized has always been hit or miss with Flipboard.

You can improve the success of your flips by creating individual magazines for each of your travel sub-topics. One for airlines, another for hotels, and so on. Then flip your blogs to the specific magazines. That’s how I break up my articles on Flipboard since I cover a wide range of topics.

Jennifer on November 25, 2017:

This article was extremely helpful, thank you! Wondering if you are able to help me with a few questions. I have a travel deals web page that is part of a larger blogger network. The blog network automatically posts all blog posts to Flipboard and I've noticed that every other blogger has a category tied to their Flipboard post, except mine. I also created my own Flipboard account and still none of my posts on Flipboard are getting categorized. I talk about travel, airlines, hotels, deals, etc., but yet nothing is getting into any of those categories, any ideas?

Any tricks to get things categorized? Thank you so much!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on February 01, 2017:

MsDora, when you set up your Flipboard magazines, make sure to focus on the hubs that are in niche sites since they are indexed better.

Dora Weithers from The Caribbean on February 01, 2017:

I realize now that there are things I need to do. Thank you for this very comprehensive tutorial on Flipboard. Very helpful!

SA on January 01, 2017:

Great article Glenn! Thank You So Much for writing it. I dislike social network sites. After reading your article, I have learned that Flipboard is an entirely different animal. I'm convinced that it would be beneficial for me to take the time and effort to use it.

Thanks Again :)

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 23, 2016:

Sam Montana - Be careful what you read and who is saying it. Some people post inaccurate information without checking the source. Google is not ruining anything. They are in business to make money and so is HubPages. In return, we authors make money when we follow the rules and do a complete job. HubPages has constantly been adding many features that help us rank well with Google. I see you are not taking advantage of them. For example, you have no author bio on your hubs, you have not modified your hubs to be mobile friendly, and you have no hubs in niche sites. All of this has been described in the HubPages blogs and weekly newsletters. Don't try to use Flipboard until you do these things. You'll get better results once you've competed all the prerequisites.

Sam Montana from Colorado on December 23, 2016:

Glenn, I read here that someone said Blogger was blacklisted. It just seems that we started with Twitter, Pinterest and now Flipboard, and we are always trying to promote our articles while Google seems to ruin everything in time.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 23, 2016:

Sam Montana - First of all, people are only guessing that HubPages is blacklisted, due to the way they don't index hub that are on the home site. But many of our hubs are now on the niche sites, and they are indexed very well on Flipboard. That's why we are all saying in the forums to only flip hubs that have been moved to niche sites.

You also mentioned that you think Blogger is blacklisted. Where did you hear that?

Sam Montana from Colorado on December 23, 2016:

Great article, but what good is this Flipboard is HP and Blogger are black listed on their website.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 18, 2016:

Marisa Wright - Those are good questions, and I realize these points need clarification.

If you look closer at that field, it says "write a comment or add a website to your magazine." That's why I said not to write a comment. If you do, then you are just adding that text to your magazine. That's is fine if that's all you want to do. But if you want to flip an article, then you need to paste the URL into that field instead of writing anything else.

Later in the article I was talking about adding a caption, which goes in the caption field. Captions can be added after you flip, or at the same time if you are using the app. The web based Flipboard does not let you add a caption at the same time as doing the flip. They never made both work the same (as of yet).

As for the images, Flipboard bots decide when and if to use an image. Based on my own experience this seems to be random. I never could find any reasoning behind the decision to include an image or not. It's just something we have to accept for now and we have no control over the selection. Note, however, that you DO have the ability to select which image to use as the main image for the magazine after you've added two or more flips.

They are constantly making changes tweaking things, so we never know what they will do going forward. They are quite active behind the scene and have been very responsive to my emails when I had asked questions when I was writing this hub. They even retweeted my tweet.

Kate Swanson from Sydney on December 18, 2016:

Glenn, thanks so much for this article. I signed up for Flipboard ages ago but couldn't fathom how to use it!

A couple of questions. Your instructions say, just paste the URL, don't write anything - and then later you say you must create a caption before flipping? I was able to add a caption AFTER I had flipped but I'm not sure if that's sufficient.

Also, I've flipped articles from a couple of websites but although there is a great image in both articles, Flipboard can't find either of them. Any idea why that might be?

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 13, 2016:

letstalkabouteduc - These are good questions. and time will tell. The Flipboard share button on HubPages is new, so I am sure we will discover new experiences, good or bad, over time. I think it's too soon to notice any negative effects (if any). Personally, I like the ease of flipping now by using the share button.

McKenna Meyers on December 13, 2016:

Hey Glenn -- I've had good success with Flipboard thanks to your helpful article. However, when using the new Flipboard button with two recent Hubs, I only got an uptick. Are we ruining a good thing by over using it? Are other Hubbers having the same experience? Thanks!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 13, 2016:

wilderness - If you include a useful caption with your flip, there is a good chance that it will recycle and give spurts of extra traffic in the future as well.

wilderness on December 13, 2016:

Thanks, Glenn - some good information here that I can use. I tried flipping a couple of hubs and got an extra 4,000 views out of one in the first 12 hours. Even if it goes away (and I assume it will), it's well worth the effort. This gives me some good tips on how to continue. Thanks.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 11, 2016:

gerimcclym - That's great Geri. You did a great job. I see you included good captions and that you have a similar bio as you used on HubPages. You could also add your picture, same as you have on your HubPages profile. It's a nice image of you and will help others find you.

Let me know how it works out. After a few days, check your traffic stats and referrers to see what's coming from Flipboard.

Geri McClymont on December 11, 2016:

Thanks for this very helpful article, Glenn. I just flipped several of my articles into a magazine.

Catherine Giordano from Orlando Florida on December 10, 2016:

Your hub was great and very helpful. I just had a problem figuring out captions because tech stuff overwhelms me. I must have missed your explanation.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 10, 2016:

Catherine, I mention how to edit captions using the web at the end of my hub. But it's different with the app. Since there are so many differences, in order to keep things simple this hub is related to using the web, as I mentioned at the start in the section "How to Set Up Your Flipboard."

Changing captions on the web I already explain in this hub: Click the Analytics icon on your profile and then select the magazine, then click "edit magazine" and you will be able to add or change captions on individual flips.

With the app, go to the magazine and click the gear icon at the top left. Then select the article you want to update.

Catherine Giordano from Orlando Florida on December 10, 2016:

I was referring to the caption that works differently on the web. Sometimes needing to update is a drag I do some blogs on politics and I have to constantly update those.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on December 10, 2016:

CatherineGiordano - You are right that Flipboard added the web version for PC access later. They started with the mobile app. It's unusual that a company goes in that direction, but they felt it was necessary to add web access too. I did make reference to both the web and the app versions, although the web version keeps changing since they are always playing with modifications. Please tell me where I missed it, and I'll be glad to add the information.

Catherine Giordano from Orlando Florida on December 10, 2016:

This is such a great help if you are new to flipboard. Thank you for putting all this information together in one place and for you complete and easy-to-understand explanations.

I am using a PC for Flipboard which I understand is a newer feature for Flipboard. (I almost gave up on Flipboard because came upon what must have been some old information on the internet that said that PC was only for mobile devices.) May I suggest that you update some of the sections to include info for PC users.

After reading this hub, I put some of my hubs up on Flipboard and within hours I had 3000 views. I gather this really high traffic won't last, but even a small number of extra views helps get me to payout.

Jean Bakula from New Jersey on December 07, 2016:

Thanks for the step by step info Glenn. I tried Flipboard when somebody "discovered" it and shared that on the forums, but computer skills are not my forte. Maybe I can do it now! I've had a lot of hubs moved to niches and am happy with additional money and traffic.

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on September 28, 2016:

Cynthia Hoover - That's great news Cynthia. Flipboard sure works well bringing traffic to our hubs when all its features are used properly.

Cynthia Hoover from Newton, West Virginia on September 28, 2016:

Glenn Thank You! After reading this for the first time I went and reworked some of my magazines. Overnight my views skyrocketed as one of my hubs on a niche site was flipped and featured! Very sound advice you have given and I cannot thank you enough. Admittedly I really did not know what I was doing/supposed to do with flipboard! Again thanks so much for the wonderful advice for those of us who needed some direction and explanation for using flipboard!

Glenn Stok (author) from Long Island, NY on September 09, 2016: