Medium is huge – the site gets well over 35m visitors a month through Google searches alone and is only growing. In fact, the platform is such a success, many companies utilise it as their main blog – says a lot doesn’t it. I’m not suggesting you do that; however, I am suggesting you take an interest and establish a credible place on the platform.
Like any similar, free to post platform, Medium is going to be filled with lacklustre content. So, by understanding how the site works, creating good content and promoting it well – your business can gain huge traction and create PR, gain traffic and make sales. So, here’s how to do it:
Study Successful Viral Stories
It is not easy to go viral on Medium, and you need to keep this in mind. Going viral on Medium is not about a shot in the dark. You cannot just throw everything against the wall then wait to see what will stick. You will need to do a lot of observation.
You should know what it is that makes things go viral. Knowing the kind of stories that are doing well is important. Try knowing why people are choosing a story over others. Why are people sharing the story? What is it that makes the content stand out from the rest? Before creating winning content, you first need to know what it is going to take.
Showing Readers that you can Provide Value
People usually read blog posts because they are looking to learn something. Give them the chance by teaching them. Guides, how-to posts, and checklist are practical. If you write them well, then you can expect their performance to be good.
When you write articles like these, you should pay a little more attention to formatting. You should ensure the content has been written clearly and use numbers, bullet points, and headings that will be able to distinguish the different steps.
Great Headlines Win Eyes
Your ability to write a great headline will be the deciding factor whether you go viral or if it ends just like another average piece. How can you write a headline that is going to attract the right audience?
Headline Formatting
You should have the headlines clear and descriptive. This is important when you are interested in attracting a wide audience. When your headlines are not clear, it could end up detracting readers and resulting in higher bounce rates.
Knowing your Audience – evaluate them and make sure they’ll be interested
- SEO Optimization – include keywords
- Solving a problem – people will like it when you provide them with solutions
- Using numbers – they have been shown to create comfort
- Be intriguing – you should make the audience want to read more.
Correctly Formatting the Post
When writing, you will have a list of elements that you can choose to use in spicing up the design of your post.
Some of the formatting options are:
- Highlight texts when you write and edit to access the formatting options (italics, bold, alignment, headings, links, blockquote, etc)
- Click on an image so you can get image formatting options (placement and alignment in the post)
- Click on the (+) hovering in the margin so you can insert images, horizontal rules, and embeds.
Using Pictures
People today put a lot of focus on visuals and aesthetics. You should keep this in mind when writing. Images will help in completing your content and helping the users envision the story better. Sites such as Pexels, Freelmages, and Unsplash provide free images that you can use. The use of images is important when writing a guide. There are times when you find an image that will end up backing up your claims.
Adding Alt-Text to Images
Using images in your medium content is a must because articles that have them have 94% percent more views when compared to content that has only text. When adding the images, make sure you add alt-text because it is going to help sight-impaired users have access to the content, which increases your audience.
Being Credible
You should try your best to establish credibility in the first paragraphs. You should let your audience know if you are an expert in that specific field. You should not make the mistake of thinking people are going to take the time to google you.
Is the topic about health and you are not a physician? Or about personal finance and you are not a millionaire? If you are in such a position, you will need to overcome the skepticism about your credibility.
I was able to establish my credibility as a writer by using my Medium stats. Look for an achievement in your life then trumpet it. You should leave the reader thinking “this person knows what they are talking about”
Reinforcing your credibility every chance you get. You should use data to support your arguments.
Publishing Regularly
You cannot expect to grow your audience if you are not consistently publishing content. There will be times when you have a hard time finding inspiration to create quality content, but you should always give it a try. When you consistently post content regularly, you will have a better chance of growing your followers.
Republishing
Republishing will give you the chance of reaching a new and broader audience, increasing your brand awareness, increasing website traffic, and conversions. If you’ve your own blog, then this is a very credible option.
It is easy to publish articles on Medium. The two options are; going to your profile and clicking on ‘Write story’ then do it from scratch or clicking on ‘import a story’ then inserting a URL where an existing story is published. The second options will involve copying the entire article including links, but you will have the chance of making changes before you publish it. You will be limited when it comes to formatting options.
Images are not going to get copied, you will have to do it manually; go to a new line then hit the ‘+’ then choose the camera icon. You should also ensure you have included your feature image because a new featured image isn’t supported.
Your article will be immediately published, but it can be flagged if it doesn’t meet the guidelines by Medium. They do this to make sure that the content appearing on their site quality.
Love Medium
You should find love for this platform. This is an important tool that writers should be using to publish their work. I usually try posting content weekly. If you want to grow using this platform, try writing at least one article every week.
There is one that that was able to help me when I was getting started, I went through other people articles and gave them feedback.
Finding the best time for you and setting aside time to use to interact with the community is a good idea. This is an effective way to grab some attention when you are getting started.
Using Social Media to Promote Stories
Once you publish your articles, it will start decaying in the recommendation engine of Medium. With time, it shows up in feeds less and less. One way of combating the decay is by getting more views and recommends.
The first few hours are some of the most important. You should try getting a few recommends immediately you post. When this happens, it becomes proof of concept.
You will notice people are more likely to recommend your content if others have done it too. This is the power of peer pressure.
Share the story on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Medium allows you to check the stats of your story in real-time. Ask your followers and friends to provide you with feedback.
Once the story has been recommended by a couple of people, share it on relevant Facebook groups and Reddit subreddits.
You can send it out to your subscribers if you have a mailing list.
Tracking Visits
You have the option of tracking visits to your content. Place tracking links using UTM tool by Google. This will enable you to analyze how effective the content is, just the same way you do your social media pages and blogs.
Medium has tools for tracking. You will know the visits the content has, and how long people are spending on your content.
Patience Pays
While this might not seem like the best of tips, patience will be important because it will determine whether you succeed or not.
Maybe the first article you post won’t be seen. On the first 10 might be getting less than 5 claps. Everything in life takes time and a lot of patience.
Frequently publishing will help you in building your audience. You should also be interacting with the other writers on the platform, tagging them, and commenting on popular pieces. You should give it your best.
Many people don’t put in the work. If you can do it, then you will be able to get great results.
Medium can be little more than another content platform, or it can be a fantastic way to drive great, quality visitors to your site, rank for some competitive keywords and to gain some big wins. Put the above advice into place and you’ll succeed on the site.
