Because they are fun, exciting and fresh. They give you videos, animations and quizzes. You get click-to-buy links and brilliant picture quality. You can even link up with Facebook and Twitter.

The online magazine market has taken off in the last three years, especially in the UK. Larger publishing agencies have embraced the digital magazine market, launching titles for high profile clients such as Virgin, Barclays and Mazda. Smaller companies are also beginning to see the light, boosting their online effectiveness with cool, page-turning brochures.

Digital publications offer something new to the market. They offer a new way of communicating with your customers. Interactive content like videos, photo galleries and quizzes engage your readers more fully than a print magazine. It’s an easy way to educate and entertain your customers.

Print magazines are struggling to be seen in a saturated marketplace. The digital market, however, is in its infancy. Everything is new, unchartered territory. It’s not hard to make a mark when you’re breaking new ground.

And don’t forget, online publications are environmentally friendly. No trees will be cut down to put your message across. In an environmentally-conscious society, this is a powerful statement to be making.

Digital magazines can be a cost-effective and quick alternative to print, allowing that you will need to invest some time and money in your new project. The results can be incredibly rewarding for everyone – businesses, advertisers and, most importantly, their readers.

Now is the time to get your foot on the ladder. This is future of publishing.

It's a common conception that a digital magazine is a reproduction of print magazine uploaded to the web. This is not so much a digital magazine as a digital 'edition'. There is very little reader interaction and not much enjoyment to had.

A successful online publication is designed for this specific medium. Ideally it should contain videos and interactive content. The aim is to engage your readers in a way that a print magazine or website cannot. It should offer something new, unique and exciting.

Current research* has revealed that digital magazines encourage reader engagement. On average, readers spend 60% more time reading a digital magazine than a website, and clickable links are found to increase the interaction levels still further. Websites are more likely to lose readers straight away, with an average bounce rate of 50% compared to a digital magazine bounce rate of under 22%.

The format of a digital publication also works in its favour. Readers are kept engaged as they flip through the pages, they are not left to wander freely around the information as they do on a website. This greater control over your audience allows you to control the interaction levels, keeping up a steady stream of engaging content.

In addition, over two-thirds of readers follow a digital magazine through from start to finish, which means that ALL your information has been viewed - a rare thing to achieve on the web.

*Sources: Google Analytics, UKOM/Nielsen

Today's readers are seeking compelling, media-rich experiences. And they want them at their fingertips – on their laptops, their iPads, their smartphones. This is what Page Turn Interactive can offer.

The iPad was a hit from its introduction. Its first weekend saw long lines that eventually led to short-term supply shortages. By March 2011, Apple had sold 19 million iPads. So it almost goes without saying that any digital publication will need to work flawlessly on an iPad. If you can't reach iPad users, you're seriously limiting your audience.

The problem is that most digital publications are built in Flash only, and iPad doesn't support Flash. Other tablets do run Flash but it isn't built for mobile devices – and simply doesn't run well.

Digital publishing companies are rushing to meet this need, launching iPad versions of their software. Page Turn Interactive is already there. Built in both html and Flash it works seamlessly on the iPad, with full interactivity and no loss of animation. The versatility of the system means that it also works across all platforms including other tablets, smartphones and older, less sophisticated products that may struggle with new technology.