Are Your Stats Down? 15 Tips & Tricks To Increase Your Reads And Views

How to blog and win

Are your stats awful? Do you struggle to get clicks and views?

We can all agree things have toughened up around here. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

We can’t stop living because living stops being easy. We can’t stop writing because shit got tough. We gotta tighten our belts and grind more.

Winners are grinders.

And to be part of those that are still winning in spite of the challenges, here are 15 brief #Tips to turn your stats around.

1# Title

Catchy titles are supreme.

Write a bad article if you like, but make sure your title is attractive. A good title has an element of curiosity, interest, and illicit a form of emotion. Don’t be afraid to write long titles too.

I know there is much advice that speaks about short titles. The short title has its place. And if you can come up with a solid brief title that does the job, go for it. But as a blogger, titles that read more like a sentence or question grab attention.

2# Image

Image illicit emotions. They’re powerful compellers.

A good image will stop scrollers to pause and give a second look at your title.

I see writers, especially newbies put whatever images they can find. Don't do that. Wonder why ads are full of sexy models in HD graphics? It’s simple. Because images capture attention.

Use images of humans staring right into the camera. Use images with people expressing emotions. Like the one used on this piece. It’s catchy. It’s powerful.

3# Story

Have a good story. Unless you’re writing a ‘How To.”

Stories compel.

And everyone loves a good story. We just can’t help it. Medium sold well in its earlier days because of well-written stories you can find only on the platform.

So if you have an experience, write about it. Learn to be a good storyteller. Don’t write for yourself. Write about yourself — but for the readers.

4# Write daily

NO! It’s not a cliche. It’s a must.

It’s not negotiable. To win, you must write daily. There are millions of writers on the internet, and thousands more join daily, and you think writing only when the mood hits will make you stand out? No way!

You gotta show up every day. Write every day. And if you can manage it, publish every day.

#5 Long-form and Short-form

Writing daily can be daunting.

Especially when you have other things to do. Like a job or a family to run.

That’s where this trick comes in.

Write a long-form when you have the time. And when you’re busy, write short forms. It can be two-three minutes read. On the positive, I noticed that short-form does well on this platform. Thanks to our ever-decreasing attention span.

But the key remains — write often.

6# Edit properly

Editing is where you write your article.

As an editor of Illumination Mirror, Synergy, Know Thyself, Heal Thyself, etc…, I’ve learned that many writers are lazy when it comes to editing.

Yet, it’s the most crucial aspect of writing.

No one enjoys reading a piece with too many grammatical errors. Or an article filled with long sentences and repetitive statements. Readers can tell when writers write carefully. Be one of those writers.

7# Don’t Ramble

Brevity is important. Remember we talked about the declining rate of our attention span? Good. So do not ramble.

Go straight to the point.

If you want to tell us you missed your meeting yesterday, we don't need to know how you went to bed late the day before. It may be a nice story to tell, but readers are not always nice. So stick to your guns.

If you’re creative enough, there are ways you can use interesting details to stall before you hit the punchline. But whatever you do, keep the readers engaged and do not ramble.

8# Attractive niches

People may be interested in many things, but they’re not interested in everything.

It’s why you have to niche down.

Niching down doesn't mean writing on just a particular subject only. You can niche down to three or four areas. Sometimes you can touch on other areas of interest.

But you want to find what the majority of readers find attractive. And in my experience, Relationships, Writing, Mental Health, and Personal Short stories, sell.

9# Spy other writers

There’s no shame. You gotta learn anyway. So why not spy on what’s working for other writings.

We’re all here to learn from each other. It’s why no one’s an island. No one has it all figured out. But there are writers that have figured out a lot more than you.

Visit their profile, read their works, and learn what they do that you don't. You’ll find out what they do better than you. You can also take a look at their most-read articles to see what niche readers find more interesting.

10# Engage

Social media grows because it’s interactive.

That’s what a community is.

And on Medium, especially now, you must learn to engage. Read others' articles, clap (50 claps are possible) and leave a comment. Allow your name to be seen frequently.

Don’t spam. Please don’t.

Read and leave genuine thoughts. It’s what Medium’s driving at right now — a more relational platform.

11# Social media presence

As a writer, you must have a social media presence.

It’ll help promote your work. You need platforms to share your articles beyond this platform. There are millions of readers that are not on Medium. The only way to get them to follow you is to create a social media presence that says you’re a writer.

What that means, is you gotta start thinking as a writer and see yourself as one.

12# Your 3 top-performing piece

It’s all about winning. And let the end justify the means.

Within your stats, there’s a goldmine. Go through your stats, pick three of your top-performing article, and rewrite something similar. This time make it better.

If an article did well, it means people love what you wrote and also the topic you wrote on. Why not milk it?

13# Promote on social media

Promote. Promote. And promote some more.

Create awareness around your articles on social media. It’s why creating a writer profile matters.

Use a good line from the article as a caption while posting the link to the article itself. Then share on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms you have.

You never know who might find your work and contact you for a gig.

14# Learn

A year from now, you’ll be a better writer.

Why?

Because you’ll get better.

You’ll make a couple of mistakes. You’ll see what others are doing better. You’d have written may be over a hundred articles. You’ll know what works and what doesn't.

But for all these to happen, you must be an active learner.

15# Read

The first question aspiring writers ask me is, how do I find what to write about?

Who knows where ideas and inspiration come from?

But to write, you must have something to write about. And there’s no better way in which we inspire our mids than to feed it new ideas by reading. Great writers are good readers.

If you don't read — which means you don't take in fresh ideas, you’ll recycle the same thing over and over again. And eventually, your readers will get bored and tune you out.

Conclusion…

You can still write and win. You just need to work a lot harder.

You have to show up — every day. Write — every day.

If you follow these suggestions, there’s no doubt in my heart that you’ll begin to increase your views, reads, and eventually, your earnings too.