Issuu Review
If you are looking around for a website to publish your digital content online, you may have come across Issuu. As one of the world's most popular digital publishing platforms, Issuu has a lot to offer as far as creating an online publication is concerned. But like most other content publishing websites, it does have some limitations and its own…well…issues.
To help you make a decision as to whether you should try Issuu, this overview will cover the good, bad, and in between. Before that, let's talk about what Issuu is.
What is Issuu?
Issuu is a digital publishing platform that allows anyone to upload their publications and share them online. Often described as an internet-based magazine stand, the platform does not assist users with any publication building tools. This means you have to create your publications elsewhere before considering to host them on Issuu. However, the site does provide a number of features such as a simple publishing process and minimal customization options.
In addition, Issuu is not just for magazines. The site allows you to publish a wide variety of content, including brochures, portfolios, product catalogs, menus, tutorials, newspapers, and even DIY guides. As such, Issuu is used by many different types of publishers, from full-fledged media companies to school teachers wanting to share educational content with their students in an easy-to-read format. The bottom line is once you can create a publication and save it as a PDF, there is a high chance that you can publish it on Issuu.
Launched in 2006, Issuu was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Martin Ferro-Thomsen, Ruben Bjerg Hansen, Mikkel Jensen, and Michael Hansen. At the moment, the website hosts more than 50 million active publications, records over 1 billion page views monthly, and reportedly gets upwards of 20,000 uploads daily.
How to use Issuu
To get started on Issuu, you will need to create an account and sign up for free or paid membership. The free option allows you to do the most important thing — upload your publications — but there are some restrictions. The paid versions offer more features (obviously) that can help you get more out of the platform and more marketing mileage out of your publications. We will talk more about the free and paid plans later.
Publishing content on Issuu is rather straightforward and simple. All you need to do is create a print-ready-PDF version of your document and upload it onto the Issuu platform. The website automatically arranges the content into a readable, page flipping format that can be viewed on both desktop and mobile devices. You also have the option of customizing the cover of your publication, and you can input audio as well.
Having published your document on Issuu, you have the option of sharing it elsewhere. For instance, you can embed the Issuu publication on your website. Issuu also optimizes your content for social media, allowing you to use your publication for Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and even Pinterest-ready animated media.
Now that you have an idea of what Issuu is and how to use it, it's time to talk about the pros and cons of using the platform.
Issuu Pros
- Easy PDF document upload process
- Free plan allows you to have your documents converted into eye-catching, page-flipping publications
- You can customize your document cover and add audio
- Pinch to zoom option is available on touch screen devices
- Ability to embed your Issuu publication on your website (not free)
- Publications are optimized for social sharing
- Free version allows unlimited publishing
- Ability to set up a paywall on your publications
- No technical skills required to upload content
- Content can be made searchable
- Impressive knowledge base to answer most questions from users
Issuu Cons
- Imprecise search function for readers (you may have to wade through plenty of unwanted stuff to find what you want)
- Reading experience can be less than stellar depending on device being used to view the content
- Free version does not offer much else beyond uploading and sharing your publications
- Some users consider paid versions to be expensive when compared with some Issuu alternatives
- Customer support is limited to email — priority phone support only available to users on most expensive plan
Pricing
As noted, Issuu is free to anyone who wants to publish their content online. However, the basic free plan is quite limited. There are three additional tiers that offer features that may be beneficial to you, depending on your publishing goals.
- The Starter plan, available at $19 monthly, has all the features of the basic plan, along with the option to embed your Issuu publications on your website.
- The Premium plan is available for $40 per month and has all the features of the Starter plan along with the ability to further customize the reading and branding experience, remove ads, embed videos, access to analytics, and monetize your publications. In addition, this plan allows one account to have three users.
- The Optimum plan costs $269 monthly and allows one account to have 25 users. In addition to all the perks that come with the Premium plan, the Optimum option also offers priority phone support, unlimited API access, the ability to collaborate with others on designing and publishing documents, and unlimited private sharing.
- In addition to the above plans, Issuu also offers customized enterprise packages for companies looking for a more tailored plan to suit their needs.
Conclusion
You may still be wondering if Issuu is right for you, even after getting a detailed breakdown. The answer comes down to what you are looking for. If you are okay with the ease of uploading your publications and sharing them online, and don't mind paying for all the other customizable features, then Issuu may be a great home for your digital content. Moreover, Issuu's brand presence and market reputation makes it more appealing as far as stability is concerned.
If, however, you are seeking to have more control over the visual experience for your readers, as well as more customizable features that you can get for free or at a cheaper cost, you may want to try one of the many Issuu alternatives on the market.
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Casey Botticello is an internet entrepreneur and the founder of Blogging Guide, an online community of writers with an award-winning newsletter. He is also the creator of the popular Medium Writing Course and the Substack Newsletter Course.
Casey previously worked at several tech startups, a lobbying & strategic communications firm, and has created several businesses of his own. He is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. in Urban Studies.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, follow his Medium publications, Digital Marketing Lab and Medium Blogging Guide, or reach out to him directly on his personal website.