Browse our new Complete Guide to Embeds Tutorial!

The smartphone turned ten in 2017 and in just a decade it has had an enormous impact on everything from banking to ordering takeout. Digital publishing is no exception. Now more than ever, making sure your content looks great, works perfectly and offers maximum appeal on mobile devices is key.

In this post, we’ll discuss why getting it right on mobile matters in today’s digital publishing landscape.

Mobile majority

First things first: more people than ever are using their smartphones to go online. That means that if your publications aren’t optimized for mobile display, you risk missing out on a big chunk of your audience’s time and attention. Globally, mobile usage overtook desktop in November 2016 and climbed to 54% of total internet usage by July 2017. Users across the world averaged 86 minutes a day on their phones to access the internet in 2016, compared to 36 minutes on their desktops. Those figures are even higher in the United States: Americans spent 52 minutes a day online on their desktops, and 145 minutes online on their phones.

Responsive design

By making your publications easy and attractive to view on mobile screens, you can reach readers who prefer to use their phones to browse online. With Calaméo, you never have to worry about how your document will look beyond the desktop. Our powerful technology automatically optimizes your publications for cross-platform viewing. Links always stay right where you put them and your documents keep impeccable image quality on all mobile and tablet devices.

Social content

Smartphones open up an ideal avenue to bring your digital publications into the social media ecosystem. Mobile users spend a lot of time on apps—fully half the total time that they devote to digital media—and social networking apps play a big part. It has been estimated that the average person is on Facebook for 35 minutes a day and will scroll through 18 entire days on Twitter over the course of his or her lifetime.

It’s essential that sharing your publications is simple for your readers, even on smartphones. The share button on Calaméo’s viewer lets readers post about your publications on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more from their mobile devices in just a few taps.

The next step is to share your own publications on your business’s own social media accounts. Up to 47% of Facebook users access the service exclusively through the mobile app. You can maximize your ability to engage mobile users by adding your publications to your social profiles, so that readers can easily find and view them on their smartphones.

💡 TIP: Looking for social inspiration? Our Guide to Social Strategy is full of smart ideas for digital publishers.

What’s next

Responsive design and smart sharing allow your digital publications to shine on mobile devices. Go further with the biggest trends in smartphone usage: video content and mobile shopping.

Our PLATINUM plan has everything you need to take full advantage of your content’s mobile potential. Start by using the Editor to add Shopping links and embed videos directly inside your publications. Then, consult detailed statistics to find out what engaged your audience most and how they click on mobile. The results just might surprise you!

📲 Calaméo’s publication viewer got a new look in 2021, including an awesome mobile update. Check out all the details and browse the 2021 theme!

For many businesses, showcasing digital publications on their own website is a great business solution. Clients can enjoy the convenient presentation and interactive features of catalogs, magazines and more all while browsing the brand’s site.

To help you take advantage of this powerful tool, we’ve created a complete guide to embedding your publications!

In part two of this series, we will explain how to customize your publication’s appearance in your website.

As you’re collecting the code for embedding your publication, you’ll see a preview of its look. You can use the default appearance or click “Customize options” to make changes. Since there are a lot of possibilities, we’ll break down the results for each category.

MODE

“Mini” and “Publication” offer very different choices for displaying your publication on your site. In “Mini” mode, readers can page through the document but must click to open the Calaméo viewer and access links, personalized elements and more included in your publication.

When “Mini” is selected, you can also define how the publication opens when clicked. “Open viewer directly” launches the publication in a new window, while “Open description page” launches the overview. “Open publication in full screen directly” launches the viewer in full screen, bypassing its Calaméo URL, once the embed is clicked.

In “Publication” mode, the viewer is inserted on your site page so that your audience can read your publication there in full.

VIEW

The View parameters let you choose a Reading mode for your embedded publication: Slide, Scroll or Book. Experiment to find the appearance that works best with the design of your site as well as any custom Skins or UX elements you’ve added to the viewer.

PAGE

Want to highlight a special page of your publication or ensure your audience sees particular content? Use this parameter to embed your publication starting at a certain page in either “Mini” or “Publication” mode.

SIZE

Although several pre-set sizes are available for your embedded publication, “Custom” allows you to define the height and width right down to the pixel. It’s important to allot enough space on your website page to accommodate the size that you select, otherwise your publication may not display correctly.

With our Platinum plan’s white labelled viewer, you can insert a full-sized publication on a dedicated page of your website and share it using your own URL. Include the “shareurl” parameter in the embed code so the share button broadcasts your URL on social media, too.

💡TIP: We love full-screen reading for great user experiences. If you’re planning to enable full-screen for an embedded publication, remember to check that the “allowfullscreen” parameter is present where you place the code.

With these examples in mind, you should now be able to choose the appearance of your embedded publications so that they look just right on your website!

In the final article of this series, learn more about statistics for embedded publications and mobile responsiveness.

Have you embedded a Calaméo publication on your blog or website? We’d love to see your best work! Tag us @calameo on Facebook and Twitter or on Instagram @calameo_publishing.