You want to have a business blog on Medium but don’t know how.
There are a lot of blogging platforms out there, and it can be hard to find the right one for your business.
We’ll show you how!
Medium is an intuitive, easy-to-use blogging platform that lets you build up followers who are eager to read your next post. It’s also one of the top places to publish content and grow your online visibility.
In this ultimate guide, we’ll teach you everything from what Medium is and how it works, publishing content on the platform, and tips for using Medium to help market your business (or your own blog) – even if you’re not a writer!
Let’s get started!
What is Medium?
One way to think about Medium is blogging, but with the key characteristics of social media channels.
For instance: It’s open for everyone; you can grow an audience, and content gets liked (on Medium, people clap your favorite pieces). The algorithm ensures that the most exciting things appear at the top– this was created by two original founders from Twitter, Ev Williams and Jason Goldman.
How does it work?
When you go to the webpage, Medium is all about simplicity. Your articles are laid out like an infinite list of posts that continuously feed as the reader scrolls down the page.
(Posts on Medium are called “stories.” In this post, we will use the terms interchangeably)
There’s a sleek interface for finding new content, with recommendations based on your interests. You can follow people and publications, so you get updates whenever they produce fresh content.
The platform is all about quality, not quantity. Unlike other social media sites that are often plagued with low-grade content and sewage posts, the staff at Medium aims to provide high-standard articles for readers who value substance over-speed or celebrity kisses on Twitter.
Publication on Medium is free, and so is reading content. However, you can pay to promote your work if you want it to reach a wider audience.
Why use it?
There are loads of blog platforms out there; how is Medium any different?
To start, according to Cheddar.com, “A Medium spokesperson noted that the company is approaching 100 million monthly readers”.
Above are the stats on Medium from Ahrefs. Look at the 27.3 M organic traffic!
Company blogs can be a great way to communicate with customers and partners. They also offer a way for businesses to control their messaging, rather than having it controlled by journalists or the blogosphere.
Unlike a personal blog, a blog for a business can be used to post articles, white papers, datasheets, and more. Essentially, anything that you would want to share with customers or partners.
When used correctly, blog content can help position your business as an industry expert and thought-leader.
But blog platforms come and go; how do you know Medium will be around for your business blog?
Medium has been around since 2012, so it’s definitely not a fly-by-night blog site. It’s been around for a while, and based on what we’ve read from other business-oriented blog sites, it looks like Medium is here to stay.
So if you haven’t joined Medium, and your business is looking to blog, you’re behind the curve.
Medium is a fresh alternative to blog sites. More and more small business owners are turning to blogging to connect with their audience and promote their products or services. However, not everyone has the time or talent necessary for keeping up a blog.
For this reason, Medium makes posting your story easy. It boasts a simple interface with valuable features that are made for building an audience.
When you post on Medium, your story is given a chance to be seen by new people who may not otherwise know about it. If you’re looking to gain new followers and improve your business’s online visibility, this is the site for you.
How to use it?
Now that we know a bit more about what Medium is and why it’s one of the best blog sites out there, let’s touch on how to use Medium.
Medium makes posting easy, even if you are not a writer.
The platform is designed for anyone with something to say. That being said, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you make the most of Medium’s community.
Start by creating an account.
The first thing you’ll need to do is create an account on Medium. This involves choosing a username and password and providing your email address.
Choose a topic for your post.
Next, you’ll need to decide on a topic for your story. This could be anything from marketing your business to writing about your favorite travel destinations.
Write a catchy headline.
Once you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to come up with a catchy headline. This is the first thing people see when they land on your story, so make it count!
Be sure to read our post on creating engaging content. You’ll learn how to craft the perfect headlines (and more!).
Create your post
Now it’s time to start writing your post. You can do this in a variety of ways, but we recommend using the following format:
- Start by introducing your topic
- Next, provide some background information on the topic
- Then, talk about how your post relates to this information
- Finally, conclude with your thoughts on this topic
Before publishing your post, double-check that it is properly formatted and error-free.
Add images
The best posts contain images, so be sure to add at least one picture to your post. This helps break up text and makes blog-reading easier.
Publish and share your post
Once you’re happy with your post, it’s time to publish it! After it’s been published, be sure to share it on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. You can even promote it on Medium itself for a small fee.
By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to blogging success!
Republish your other content on Medium.
It goes without saying that this is the easiest way. Just copy and paste content from posts, articles, or other web pages you’ve written (with appropriate attribution) and publish it on Medium.
But, before you do this, it’s best to:
- Wait until Google has indexed the material on your website. (This could take quite some time.)
- Link the Medium article back to the material on your website.
By doing so, you’ll not only be getting the benefits of Medium (such as increased audience, SEO benefits, and more), but you’ll also be directing organic traffic back to your website.
Curate content.
Another great way to blog on Medium is by curating content. This involves finding exciting articles or blog posts.
As easy as this approach might sound, some disadvantages can be significant:
- There’s a chance that Google will consider the Medium post to be the “original” and list it in its index rather than your own content. This lowers your website’s authority and can lower conversions (you’ll get better conversions on your website), which reduces its overall authority and rankings.
- Rather than having two separate listings in Google search for different content items, you get just one. It doesn’t appear to make much difference at first glance. However, the impact increases as you continue to post material.
- Longer blog entries (2,000+ words) can be successful on your website, but shorter pieces (1,000 to 1,500 words) tend to perform better on Medium.
“We spend a lot of time at Medium thinking about keeping readers engaged. So we wondered what post length captures the most attention on average. We dug into the data and found the answer: 7 minutes.”
Mike Sall, Medium
(A 7-min reading time on Medium equates to around 1,600 words).
Or, Rewrite the Content for Medium
If you don’t want to republish your posts, you can also write original content specifically for Medium. This has a few advantages:
You can target a larger audience.
As mentioned earlier, there are over 60 million Medium users. This is a large potential audience that your post can reach.
Medium’s algorithms help your content be seen.
Medium’s post algorithm will help your post to be exposed to more readers. And more readers equals more potential buyers of your products or services.
However, like republishing posts on Medium, there are also disadvantages:
Generally, you won’t get much traffic back to your blog or website if you publish directly onto Medium.
You’ll need to spend more time creating original content specifically for Medium.
There are various ways you can go about it when it comes to blogging. You can republish posts on Medium, curate content, or write original content specifically for the platform. And, while there are disadvantages to each approach, post curation is by far the most effective.
How to Start Publishing on Medium
Before blogging on Medium, you first need to sign up for an account. The process is simple enough:
Create an account by clicking the button on their home page. Simply provide your email address, Google, Facebook, or sign up on the website.
Click “Sign up with email.”
Enter your email address.
Click “Continue”
Click “OK”
Click on the email link sent to your mailbox.
Click the “Your full name” field.
Enter your full name
Click create account
(Optional) Connect to Twitter
Click “See Suggestions”
Follow people you’re interested in (to see their future posts).
Click “Follow”
Click on your Medium profile and edit as you see fit.
How Do You Grow Your Medium Audience?
As with other social media and content platforms:
- The size of your audience has a significant impact on how much attention your material receives on the platform.
- It takes time, hard work, and continual effort to grow your audience.
The people who follow you make up your audience. They may be following you as an individual or a Medium publication you create.
It used to be the case that connecting your Facebook or Twitter account to Medium would add those networks to your audience (if they had a Medium account).
That doesn’t work anymore, and the primary thing that will expand your following over time is regularly publishing material on the site.
By promoting your content, you’ll be more visible, and there will be a higher possibility that others will discover it and connect with you.
Other tips include the following:
- The user data for your Medium content should be studied to see what’s working. To reach more people, do more of it.
- Follow people who share an interest in content similar to yours on Medium. Some will follow you back.
- Engage content from people who have similar interests to yours.
- Share your Medium content regularly through your other social networks.
As your audience expands, so will the metrics for your content, making the platform more effective over time (as with many such platforms).
Creating and Publishing Content
Using Medium for business blogging is a great way to reach a new audience. When you use the Medium writing platform, you’re able to share your thoughts with a vast audience of potential customers and connections. You can post anything from your own writings, curated content, and more!
But before you create your first story, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating content for Medium:
Image source: Medium.com
Length:
Posts on Medium should be anywhere from 500 to 1,000 words. Anything shorter than that, and you run the risk of not providing enough information or value to your readers. Anything longer, and you might lose your audience’s attention.
Formatting:
When creating your post, be sure to use proper formatting. This includes using subheadings, bullet points, and paragraphs to help you create easy-to-read content that will keep your audience engaged.
Images:
It goes without saying that pictures are worth more than a thousand words! Be sure to include high-quality images in your stories on Medium. If needed, you can use free tools like Canva to help you create professional-looking photos.
Sidebar: Please, no matter what you do, don’t create your business logo in Canva! Learn why you shouldn’t in our recent blog post.
Curation:
Another great way to produce content for your Medium blog is by curating content from other sources. This can be in articles, videos, infographics, and more. When curating content, always give credit to the original author and include a link back to the source. This is not only the right thing to do, but it will help you build your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness with Google.
Publishing Frequency:
To keep your audience engaged, it’s best to produce content regularly (think once or twice a week). When you’re consistent with your publishing, your followers will know when to expect new content from you and be more likely to check in regularly.
Analytics:
Medium offers some great analytics data for your content. This data can help you see which posts are performing the best, what topics resonate with your audience, and more. Be sure to study this data to help you create better content in the future.
Don’t get hung up on vanity metrics! Learn what vanity metrics are on our recent blog post.
Promotion:
Once you’ve created your content, it’s essential to promote it to gain as many views as possible. You can share your content on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. But, don’t stop there! Be sure to reach out to influencers within your industry and ask them to share your post too. But, do your research first – not all influencers are good influencers.
Using The Medium Editor
When creating blog content for Medium, you can use their built-in editor to help you format your text. The following are the formatting options available in Medium’s editor:
- Headings
- Lists (Unordered and Ordered)
- Code Block (for embedding other items to your post)
- Quote (to add quotes from other sources)
- Link (to add links to your own post)
- Video (to embed videos from YouTube and other video platforms)
- Audio (to embed audio files from SoundCloud and other audio platforms)
- Images (to add images to your post)
Adding images is easy. Once you click on the add image icon, you are taken to a search box. Simply type in a keyword, and Medium will search through Unsplash and offer you suggestions of stock photos.
Select one, and it will be automatically added to your post.
You can also add images from your computer by clicking on the choose file button.
If you have an image on your computer that you’d like to use, simply select it, and it will be uploaded to Medium.
Once you’re finished with your post (and have proofed it for spelling and grammar mistakes), it’s time to hit publish!
Now that you know how to post on Medium let’s discuss how blogging on Medium can help your business.
15 Top Tips to Using Medium to Market Your Business
There are several ways you can use Medium for business blogging:
Publish Regularly and Consistently.
When you’re consistent with your publishing, your followers will know when to expect new content from you and be more likely to check in regularly.
Publish Quality Content.
Medium’s audience is highly engaged, so you want to ensure that your posts are of high quality.
Some of the content that you can produce for your business blog include:
Industry advice:
If your business offers advice to other companies, you can use Medium as a platform for sharing this information with your audience.
This could be in the form of weekly or monthly posts that offer tips and recommendations based on what’s happening in your industry.
Roundups are also an excellent way to provide value to your readers by summarizing recent posts on a particular topic.
Product/service info:
If you offer a product or service, Medium can be a great way to share information about it with your audience.
You can write posts that provide an overview of your product or service, how it works, and its benefits. You can also write posts that showcase customer stories or case studies.
Company culture:
If you want to give your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your company, you can use Medium to do this. You can write posts about what it’s like to work at your company, the company culture, and more.
Blogging on Medium can definitely be beneficial to your business. It’s a platform where you can blog about almost anything, allowing you to provide vast opportunities for new connections and reach different audiences.
Create Your Publication.
Medium Publications help businesses develop their online presence by providing unique spaces to publish material and build a following on the platform.
Publications can be branded with a distinctive appearance and feel due to being part of the Medium ecosystem.
You can also submit content to other publications for editors to review and, if appropriate, publish.
Here are some big publishers that accept guest posts.
- The Startup. 640k followers
- Towards Data Science. 407k followers.
- Better Humans. 373k followers.
- UX Collective. 355k followers.
- UX Planet. 254k followers.
- P. S. I Love You. 206k followers.
- The Writing Cooperative. 201k followers.
- Muzli. 182k followers.
As you can see, having a Medium page can be an excellent way to get your brand name and new ideas in front of many people. And, if you’re interested in starting a Publication, the process is relatively simple.
Or, you can create your own publication and invite others to contribute.
(You can also, of course, do both!)
Creating your own publication gives you more significant marketing opportunities, such as including links on the publication’s home page.
It also means you may attract other writers to contribute material to your publication, thus increasing the number of people who read it.
To create a Publication, click Publications from the top-right menu under your profile picture, then click New publication.
Grow Your Audience.
Medium is an excellent platform for growing your audience because it’s so engaged.
When you publish posts, make sure to include links to other relevant content on your website (or even other websites). You can also share your personal blog posts on social media to help spread the word.
Use the Medium App.
The Medium app is a great way to stay connected with your followers and keep up with the latest posts from the publications you follow.
You can use the app to read articles offline, save articles for later, and more.
The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Use Tags
Tags are a great way to help people find your posts.
When you’re writing your post, make sure to include a couple of relevant tags that people can use to find your post.
Tagging your posts with the right keywords will help you reach a larger audience on Medium.
If you need help with keyword research, we can help. Contact us today to learn more.
Generate Leads.
Medium can also be a lead generation tool for your business.
You can include CTAs (calls to action) in your posts to encourage people to sign up for your email list, download a white paper or e-book, or attend an event.
Make sure the CTAs you include are relevant to the post and match your business goals.
Embed Content from Other Channels.
You can embed videos, pics, and tweets in your posts.
This is a great way to add variety to your posts and keep your readers engaged.
It’s also a great way to share content from other channels with your readers.
To embed a video, tweet, or pic in your post, click the “<>”
Add Backlinks to Content on Your Website—and Your Other Channels.
When you write a post on Medium, make sure to include links to other posts or articles on your website (or even other websites).
For example:
You can also link to blog posts, e-books, white papers, SlideShare presentations, YouTube videos—anything you’ve published elsewhere.
You can also share your posts on social media to help spread the word.
Adding backlinks to content on your website helps you generate traffic from people interested in reading more about what you have to say.
It also helps your SEO efforts by increasing your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness with Google.
Cross-Link Between Your Medium Stories.
Be sure to link to other posts you’ve written on Medium.
When blog readers click the link, they’ll be taken to the post to read more about the topic and leave their comments.
Acknowledging your blog readers’ comments by linking to posts where they’re taking part in the discussion is a great way to build loyalty with them over time.
Link Back to Your Website From Your Posts
When writing a post, be sure to include a link to your website. This will allow readers to click through to your website to learn more about your business.
If you don’t have a website, we can help you with that. Learn more about our pay-per-month websites, and see why they’re an affordable alternative to the traditional pricing model.
Ask People to Share, Recommend and Follow.
When you blog on Medium, make sure to ask your blog readers to share your post with their followers, recommend it and follow you on Medium.
Don’t forget about SEO!
Search engines index posts on Medium just like pages and posts on other websites.
Use post titles, post images, post descriptions, and post tags to make sure search engines understand the topic of your posts.
When people search Google for relevant keywords, posts about those topics will show up in their search results.
Your posts on Medium can help you to reach a larger audience online.
Related Reading: Three SEO Mistakes That Can Impact Your Search Rankings
Start Writing (and Have Fun!)
When you blog on Medium, it can be hard to remember that blogging should be fun.
After all, the whole point of writing posts is to share your ideas and opinions with other people in an informative, engaging, and thought-provoking way.
Remember this when you blog on Medium to create posts that are enjoyable to read.
Medium posts are an easy way to get your business in front of new audiences. We hope this post has helped you understand how blogging on Medium can help you reach more people, generate leads, and drive sales for your company. More money, more money, more money!
If you have any questions or want our team’s expertise to create a plan that drives success for your marketing strategy, just let us know by commenting below, or visit our services page to learn how we can help!
