5 Mistakes to Avoid When Publishing on Medium

5 Mistakes That Could Hinder Your Success on Medium

Mistake #1. Not Adding Value to Readers

Medium doesn’t exactly focus on views or visits. It rewards content for its quality and on whether people have actually read the piece. No matter how many followers you have, your audience won’t stick around if you can’t offer something of value. When people read blog posts on Medium, they expect to learn something, discover an entertaining story, or know about an experience they could identify with. Readers don’t really pay much attention to your background as a writer, your endorsements, nor your fame. 

Becoming successful on Medium requires effort and commitment because you need to think of ways to deliver value constantly. Some of the most practical posts you can share include guides, how-tos, and checklists. Of course, you can publish pretty much anything that you believe is quality content and would benefit your blog post or business. As long as you write your pieces well and make it a point to offer value to your readers each time, then it’s almost impossible to go wrong. 

Mistake #2. Not Posting Often Enough

Although publishing consistently does not guarantee you’ll get the results you want, it certainly helps. There are no hard and fast rules regarding the frequency of posts, but you should base the schedule on your ability to deliver and what your audience wants. 

Ultimately, readers should come first, and it may take a bit of research and assistance from data analysis tools to determine how users respond to the interval of time between posts. While some look forward to daily updates, others may prefer weekly posts. Generally, the kind of content you publish affects how often readers might wish to see your work. Try your best to post a minimum of once every week to ensure your audience won’t give up on you and go to other publications.      

Keep in mind that you will likely need to adjust the schedule later on to accommodate your needs and those of your audience. Observe how changes in the frequency impact your stats. Don’t forget that regular posting may not be worthwhile if you can’t create good content consistently. Quality pieces will keep working for you and continue to drive traffic even if they are already in your archive. At the end of the day, aim to be realistic and find a balance between publishing often and bringing engaging information. 

Mistake #3. Not Attracting Attention to Your Profile

Posting stories is not the be-all and end-all in Medium. You may earn views and followers after you publish, but there is little chance you’ll go far if you are not proactive in making people notice you. Additionally, if you submit to publications, make sure you choose one that caters to your audience. This way, you could gain the exposure your blog or business needs.

An essential part of getting attention and building an audience on Medium is to engage with your readers. A few ways to do this is to leave insightful comments on good stories, respond to readers’ responses, and follow people you like. If readers comment or recommend your story, do the courtesy of following them back to pique their curiosity and perhaps check out your profile. Keeping them engaged while they are still interested in your content is one of the surest ways to connect with your audience.

Mistake #4. Focusing on Followers 

Unlike other social platforms, Medium doesn’t stress on a writer’s follower base. A large following doesn’t necessarily translate to a wide readership. The great thing about Medium is that you can have a few followers and still be compensated adequately. You can reap the benefits if you build loyalty and a strong relationship with followers who read only your work. 

Nevertheless, a huge following can be an advantage if it helps your story become viral. There’s nothing wrong with coming up with ways to gain followers. However, you shouldn’t lose sight of your goal of creating unique, relatable content that makes readers keep coming back for more and encourages them to spread the word about you. Again, everything comes down to delivering value and earning your readers' trust.

Mistake #5. Not Using the Right Tags

Adding tags is a vital part of optimizing your Medium story and improving visibility. If you want to make it easier for readers to discover your work, use tags relevant to your content. Consider going for high-volume tags because readers on Medium tend to follow bigger topics they are interested in, rather than targeted ones. Moreover, popular tags can boost your search engine ranking because a search engine crawl recognizes tags when visiting your post. There’s a whole new audience base waiting for you if you add high-volume tags in your story.

By maximizing the five tags that Medium allows you to use, you can attract different audiences and bring your content in front of more people who might want to respond to your piece. Again, remember not to sacrifice relevance for popularity. Don’t betray your readers’ trust by using a tag that doesn’t describe your story accurately. Take note that you can achieve a top writer status if you post often and have good traffic to your tag story that uses the same tag. 

Publishing your content and building an audience on Medium may not be as simple as you think. Regardless, your hard work can pay off if you share great stories and connect with people you might not reach on other platforms otherwise.