No New Writer on Medium Can Escape These Doubts — Solved
Why Do I Need to Be on Medium? Can Medium Ban me? Does Medium Pay Writers? Medium vs Linkedin Pulse/WordPress/Blogger vs Business Blog — All Questions Answered
Lakshman: Two-three questions regarding writing on Medium. Are you free?
Me: Sure, tell me!
One fine day, a friend asked me about Medium. He said that he has been thinking about using Medium as a writing portfolio, but a few doubts are holding him back.
And then, I ticked off his queries one by one.
And this was his response.
Me: Why not!
So, let’s start with why you need to be on Medium in the first place. And if you’re confused among Medium, WordPress, Linkedin Pulse, etc., then read it till the end.
Is It Worth Writing on Medium?
According to Similarweb, India is the second-highest traffic source of Medium while the USA ranks at the top. The numbers state Medium’s popularity among countries and writers. And if you’re a writer who is just starting, here’s how Medium can become a help.
No Plans of Buying a Domain
Buying a domain is like buying land on the web. You have to get yourself registered to build your house there, which is your website.
However, you can get a room for rent until you choose to build your own house. And Medium is your landowner here!
Medium allows you to create your presence on the web quickly.
Moreover, you get an elegant user interface. Medium has come too far since its launch in 2012. It has provided several features to its users, from inserting images & videos to customizing your profile.
Your Writings Meet the First Page of Google
But how does Medium different from Google blogger or a self-hosted WordPress blog?
Or
Do you even need to switch if you are already using one of these options?
Here’s the answer!
One of the prominent reasons I chose Medium over other alternatives is its authority. Medium DA (Domain Authority) helps your writings to get ranked on search engines.
We will discuss Medium SEO later in this post, don’t give up yet.
Let Medium Handle Your Content Distribution
Now, it’s a bonus!
Indeed, Google won’t be kind enough to rank your story in a few attempts. Till then, Medium has got your back.
Medium helps its writers by promoting their stories to other users. It matches your story’s category with the reader’s interest & behavior and notifies them via emails.
I have read many stories from Medium’s email alerts itself, and the algorithm works quite well.
Medium Tells You About Your Audience
Having a blog without statistics is like a house without a roof. You can own it but can’t live with it. And Medium did justice here.
You get a statistics dashboard, where you can see the data such as reading time, traffic source, and views of your specific published stories.
The statistics will help you identify;
- The traffic source of your audience.
- What’s the read-time on your stories?
- What stories performed well among others?
With the help of these stats, you can deduce;
- What does your audience like to consume?
- Where your audience is not liking your content? or
- Why is your audience dropping without a complete read?
A few other metrics like fans and claps help you identify whether your readers are enjoying your content.
Saves Your Time for Writing More
Can you differ the effort between making a pizza and ordering one?
Of course, you can.
The same effort gap lies in designing a website and creating an account on Medium, which is as simple as creating an email ID.
Medium allows you to kickstart your blogging journey without investing time in setting theme colors, choosing templates, writing code, and brainstorming domain names. And you can utilize those hours in writing blogs.
In a nutshell, Medium is a complete blogging package for a writer who is yet to begin. Now, let’s see what key things you need to know before you start writing.
Key Things to Know Before Starting on Medium
Medium isn’t a hard nut to crack, but it may become one when you don’t know where and how to start.
Here’s what you need to know to get started.
What Should I Write on Medium — Niche or No Niche?
No new blogger can ever start without getting stuck between choosing a niche and not choosing one.
Before we talk more about niches, let’s see what’s working for others on Medium.
If you observe some good writers on Medium, you’ll find a pattern in their writings that reflects the followings;
- Unique or exceptional content
- Writing personal learnings and experiences
- Sharing content that answers readers’ problems
Being a huge believer of ‘a blog for everyone is a blog for none,’ it’s hard to admit for me that there is no such thing at Medium. You can talk about dogs, space, and unicorns together and still do well.
However, if you have a strong desire to stick to one niche, it can never be a bad move.
So, What Exactly Should You Do?
- If you know a niche that interests you, pick it up.
- If you don’t know what niche to pick, stick to anything you can’t stop talking about — try not to choose more than three.
How Often Should I Post on Medium?
Consistency yields exponential returns.
However, consistency doesn’t mean that you publish a blog every day. Even if you have time, I won’t suggest every day posting for two reasons;
(i) It will hamper the quality of your blogs
(ii) Your readers won’t like to be notified every day
The best frequency you can pick is to post once or twice a week and deliver the utmost value. The value is the reason your readers like you.
Can Medium Ban You?
Yes — Permanently!
If you have the slightest idea about traditional ways of link building, you may have heard of social bookmarking. Unfortunately, I am also guilty of spamming the web in my early times and received a penalty from Medium back then.
Yes, Medium banned my account permanently.
It can happen to you too, if;
(i) You post plagiarised content.
(ii) You post spam and short content (less than 100 words).
(iii) And if you treated Medium the same way as I did — as a social bookmarking site.
“However, repurposing content doesn’t invite any penalty. Just make sure that you refer to the original piece.
Also, the Medium’s rules don’t end with these three points. You can check more of them here.
Medium Pays Writers — Are You on the List?
Medium started with a mission to provide an ad-free reading experience to its audience. And its Partner Program motivates writers to keep posting extreme value in the exchange.
I have heard many subreddits, Facebook posts, and Quora answers about satisfying compensation through Medium Partner Program.
However, I cannot assure you as I’ve never experienced it. The invalidation occurred because the Medium Program is eligible only at specific locations, and India isn’t on the list.
Sounds disappointing?
I know!
Here’s the list of countries where you need to relocate to earn via Partner Program.
“Here’s Some Good News:
I’ve recently found a piece that can help writers (from non-eligible countries, including India) earn via Medium. You can give it a read here.
How To Grow Your Medium Profile
Before you call me a self-proclaimed guru, let me tell you that I have just started taking my Medium account seriously. So, you won’t see many followers/posts on my account. And while I’m working on it, here’s what I’ve understood so far.
Show Up Consistently — But Not Everyday
Growth on Medium is purely subjective, neither easy nor hard to achieve. But one has to be consistent and dedicated enough to make it happen.
Decide on a publishing frequency. It could be once a week or twice a month, whatever fits your schedule. Sticking to a frequency will yield you higher audience reach and visits comparatively.
And it is a must-do for me!
Target the Relevant Publications
The role of Medium publications becomes essential if you want higher awareness and profile growth.
Medium publications want valuable content for their audiences, and when a publication approves your submission, it becomes a win-win for both.
Publications weren’t much popular earlier, and they allowed writers to pitch stories. But as soon as the concept went overboard, some publications stopped accepting pitches while some still use the same route.
Here’s how you can target the publications;
(i) Read their guidelines first. Do they accept pitches from writers? If yes, then pitch them.
(ii) If not, it’s time that you work for their attention.
Here’s how you can do it?
- Follow the publication and add value in the comment section of their stories.
- It will improve the chances of getting your profile noticed, and such frequent participation can lead you to a successful submission.
But how to find Medium publications?
- Go to the Search bar
- And type your story’s keyword. For example; Content Marketing
And…. Voila!
Share Your Best Ideas
Medium likes the best ideas, and so its readers. Share the strategies and suggestions that have been useful but never/less talked about on the planet.
Try the different angles in your stories. Share about that extra ingredient that makes your donuts soft or the strategy that helped you get more leads without being consumed by social media.
Create Medium SEO Optimized Stories
Here’s what else you can do other than impressing publications — shoot for the search engine.
Create SEO-optimized stories and see if you can make it to Google’s first page. Before you complain about admin access for slug update, let me tell you that you don’t need it.
Here’s how you can update the slug and meta description of your story.
- Paste your story on Medium editor once it’s complete.
- Click on three dots at the top right corner of the page … > More settings >> SEO Settings.
Make sure that you do this before hitting the publish button.
Here, you can set SEO title & description for your story, which will help you with search engine rankings.
To customize your default story link into an SEO-friendly one, you need to scroll down to Advanced Settings. You can also set the canonical link for your story in the same option.
For those who don’t know about Medium SEO, a complete guide by Casey will guide you.
Share Your Medium Stories on Social Media Channels
A blog can never complete without its distribution. As soon as you hit the publish button, be ready to promote your medium stories on different social media channels.
Now, I understand that you might not have an incredible social media following. Here’s what you can do instead;
- Share your writings on similar Subreddits on Reddit
- Promote your stories on Linkedin and Twitter anyway
- Answers questions (similar to your blog article) on Quora
- You can also share your stories on Facebook Groups — of course, if it’s allowed.
Make sure that you don’t spam the Facebook groups or subreddits or Quora. Be genuine and keep the motive of helping others at the front.
And here’s the bonus you can get, more audience from different social media platforms.
A Few Common Questions About Medium
Now, let’s come to a few common questions about Medium.
How to Use Medium?
Here’s a blog post on HubSpot that did justice to this question. Erik has covered almost every fundamental about Medium — from creating a Medium account to publishing a story.
How Long Your Medium Post Must Be?
Instead of worrying about your article’s length, you must think about how you can make your story valuable.
Even if you want to hear data, here’s the entire study.
A profound study by Mike showed that 7-minute posts capture the most reading time on average.
Is Linkedin Pulse Better than Medium?
Before making a firm choice, revise your goal behind choosing the channel.
If your goal is to generate leads, choose Linkedin Pulse because you can become selective with your audience on Linkedin.
And if your goal is to get more eyeballs, then Medium is your pick.
Medium Versus Business Blog
The choice again comes to deciding a goal first.
Business blogs found to be a fair choice if;
- You want to establish a brand image among your audience.
- You want more freedom in customizing your blog.
- You are planning to earn via Google AdSense.
- You want to learn SEO on your own.
If none of these sounds to be your priority, start with Medium and understand the game first.
Conclusion
After advocating Medium close to 100 times in the entire article, the guide has come to an end. I wish this post has been a sponsored one. :P
However, it doesn’t mean that Medium has no rough edges. Some people hate Medium content because some stories use clickbait headings.
I don’t have any reason to say not to try Medium, irrespective of your writing journey and experience. Even some big brands and influencers like Buffer and Larry Kim are leveraging Medium. So, why don’t you?
