Milad Mohammadi
A magazine website should disappear while people read. For The Saltmarsh Review, an independent science magazine from the British coast, we chose a classic serif masthead, wide margins and one essay per page. Two years on, its Sunday newsletter has 24,300 subscribers.
The client and the problem
The Saltmarsh Review publishes about 40 long essays a year on tides, estuaries and the people who measure them. It had been running on a free blogging platform where articles were hard to find, the typography was cramped and there was no newsletter.
The editor, Imogen Pryce, wanted a home that felt like a printed magazine: a masthead, a lead story, an issue list. She also needed readers to subscribe without being nagged.
What we built and why?
The design borrows from print and keeps the web parts simple:
Masthead and lead: one featured essay with a large photograph, a headline and a caption
In this issue: a short list with writer and reading time, so readers can choose
Categories: Coasts, Estuaries, Wildlife, Climate and Field notes, each with its own page
Newsletter: a single email every Sunday, with signup placed below every essay and on the homepage
SEO score: each essay is checked for title, description and structure before it is published
Essays can be scheduled ahead, so the Sunday issue is ready by Thursday.
What was the result?
Measure | Before | Two years after |
|---|---|---|
Newsletter subscribers | 0 | 24,300 |
Monthly readers | 3,900 | 61,000 |
Average time on an essay | 1 min 50 s | 6 min 20 s |
Essays found through search | 12% | 47% |
How do you design a magazine website for reading?
Start with line length, type size and the space around the text. The Saltmarsh Review keeps lines near 70 characters and body text at 17 pixels, with the headline in a serif so the essays feel considered. Everything else, including the navigation, stays out of the way.
Can a magazine website have more than one writer?
Yes. Writers get their own accounts with their own role, and the editor reviews and publishes. Each essay shows its author.
Can a magazine website earn money?
Yes, through paid memberships, sponsored issues or a shop for print editions. The Saltmarsh Review currently runs on reader donations through its newsletter.
See the options on the pricing page. For a good example of how to write for reading online, the Gov.uk content design guide is worth a look.
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