How to Go Viral on Medium

As of 2020, Medium reportedly generated over 90 million monthly pages views and had over 20,000 new blog posts published every day.

While most of these posts fell flat, many were wildly successful, generating tens of thousands of pageviews, claps, shares and traffic within hours.

In other word, they went viral.

As a blogger or content creator, having your blog post go viral is always a big achievement. It validates your effort, bringing widespread attention for your content and tons of revenue from advertisers and direct sales.

Unfortunately, most who go viral on Medium have little to no clue how they did it much less how to duplicate their success.

That's because their is no secret formula for how to go viral on Medium or any other platform for that matter.

There are many variables that factor into the virality of a piece of written content, including timing of the post, its quality, subject matter, platforms it was shared on—the list goes on and on. Even after doing a deep data analysis, it can be hard to pin down what elements lead to a viral post.

But...

There are still some definite ways to increase the likelihood of your post going viral on Medium. Incorporating these tactics into your content creation process will result in more success. Let's have a look.

Take a Cue From Others

Medium makes it easy to get a blog up and running, but that doesn’t mean you'll come up with winning content each time. There is still work you must carry out to uncover the platform's hidden potential to promote your content.

Whenever you come across pieces that have gone viral, note the qualities that made them stand out. If you don’t take the time to observe and research, you may have to resort to trial and error each time before you discover what sticks. 

There is nothing wrong with asking people for help. Aside from seeing for yourself what kind of stories capture readers’ interest, consider reaching out to successful Medium writers for advice. Questions present opportunities for you to learn something new. Don’t be afraid to seek feedback and suggestions on your draft. Even the most proficient writers will benefit from an outside perspective.  

Go for What Gives Value to Readers

As you go over your blog post, ask yourself what you want to offer your readers.

Is reading your piece time well spent?

Is your content useful, inspiring, or relatable?

Reflecting on these questions is a good starting point when looking for ways to attract your audience. The kinds of blog post that can go viral quickly are those that people feel would be too wonderful not to share with friends.

However, you don’t have to limit yourself to publishing uplifting stories. You can do a bit of searching on Medium and see what’s missing.

You don’t always have to go with the mainstream either. It’s fine to express your views and opinions if you believe people will find them valuable. Sometimes, taking a different stance helps you achieve distinction.

Grab Attention With Your Headline

If writing a great headline isn’t exactly your strongest suit, then think about putting in more time and effort to come up with good ideas.

What often works best are short and captivating titles. Regardless of how well-written your content is, you won't get your message across to your audience if you can’t persuade people to click on your article.  

If using as few words as possible to convey your message's bare essence doesn’t come naturally, you can check out the top Medium stories to observe what they have in common. You might notice that the titles are often to-the-point and how-tos.

It’s worth investing more time into composing your headline if it means improving your article’s clickability.

Pay Attention to Formatting

If you're already familiar with several blogging platforms, you may notice Medium formatting is not something you typically see anywhere else.

While the story editor seems basic enough, you will discover that most high-quality articles maximize images, H2s, and quotes. These are what make Medium content more readable and shareable.  

When you make certain sections of your story pop out, readers who resonate with them are more apt to share those parts on social media. Navigating through your article also becomes less tedious.

The combination of high-quality content, clever headlines, and good formatting is what will make your readers stay on your page and share your article.

Seek the Right Publication

An essential step in viral content marketing is finding Medium publications that are a good fit for your stories. There are many publications with a considerable number of followers who subscribe to their newsletters, and reaching these people can help you trend on the platform. 

Sometimes, publications pick content that they believe is fairly good, while other times, writers themselves have to take the initiative and submit articles. Either way, if a reputable publication picks up your story, you increase your chances of going viral and reaching those interested in your content.

You may have to face the reality that publications do not readily post every submission they receive. Persistence is key if publication owners don’t reply to you. Be sure you reach out to them via email and social media before deciding to give up. Don’t get discouraged from submitting to as many publications as possible if you are confident that your story is worth sharing.

Make the Most of Your First Hour

How your readers respond within the first 60 seconds of publishing your story will usually give you a general idea of how it will fare in the next hours.

If you get about a hundred recommendations in the first hour, it’s almost certain that you’ll go viral. During this time, Medium also determines whether to recommend and promote your story. Keep in mind that the platform checks whether people read your article and not merely recommended it.  

If you already have an existing follower base on Medium, you can leverage this to obtain recommendations in the first hour without much effort. Otherwise, do whatever it takes to share your content, such as asking help from friends, posting on social media, messaging your email list, and other creative ways. 

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Another way to fast track your success on Medium and publish more winning content, is to learn directly from an expert with a proven track record on the platform. 

Here are some of the best online courses for learning how to go viral with Medium.