Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Curated and It Has Nothing to Do with the Quality of Your Content
Change this one thing, and see your curation rate skyrocket.
First of all, let me say this tip doesn’t apply to people who have never been curated. If you’ve written more than seven or eight pieces for Medium and have never been curated, you are likely in Curation Jail, so this article isn’t going to help you much.
However, if you’ve been curated in the past and can’t seem to get curated now to save your life this one issue may be the problem:
Your titles.
Yeah, that may not sound groundbreaking, but I don’t think you realize how much Medium curators like their titles. They make such a difference that I’m starting to think they only read the titles and not the rest of your article before they decide whether they’re going to curate an article or not.
And here’s how I know, I’ve had several articles where I’ve done nothing but change the title and have had them curated when they weren’t before.
And let’s be clear: I literally did not change a single solitary word of the articles in question other than the title. Same article different title.
Let’s look at the three most recent articles I republished with different titles and why the titles may have done them in.
1. “Don’t Let Other People’s Values Determine Your Sex Life” vs. “Pussy Isn’t the Greatest Gift You Can Give a Man.”
Now before you say:
“Well, of course, Medium wasn’t going to approve an article with pussy in the title”
I’m going to point out that the same day I published this article Medium had an article on the front page that was published in on their in-house publications that originally was titled I had a Noni Massage and if Changed My Life and they later switched it to I Had a Pussy Massage and It Changed My Life.
So see Medium doesn’t have a problem with pussy; they just had a problem with my pussy.
(I’ll see myself out)
Seriously, I do beleive that the word pussy in the title is what did me in. This was an article originally posted on my defunct Sex and Relationship blog, and the title worked really well on social media.
This was actually a really popular post. With that said, I definitely beleive Medium plays by different rules with us indies then it does with their publications.
Rules that apply to the rest of us (no profanity in the title) doesn’t apply to them.
2. “The Ultimate Safe Oral Sex Guide: What You Need to Know to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections” vs. “Are You Using Condoms With Your Blow Jobs?”
Another article from my old blog, this title has the same problem as the pussy article, I believe. Medium’s curators were clutching their pearls over the words Blow Job.
The new title doesn’t really do it for me, but it is very descriptive of what the article is about and has an educational quality to it, so I’m guessing that’s why they like it.
3. “Business Advice From 5 Of the World’s Most Successful Entrepreneurs” vs. “5 Motivational Quotes from Successful Entrepreneurs.”
Now, this was just a simple case of me writing one title and then writing a completely different article.
I remember reading, saying to myself, you know, I don’t think this is the right title for this article. I didn’t change it and published it anyway.
When it wasn’t curated, I wasn’t surprised, but the title still bothered me. So I deleted the article, thought it about some more, and changed it to the new title.
Voila, it was curated.
As I said, this was an easy one because the title was promising one thing, and I delivered another.
So how do you ensure your article’s titles are Medium friendly?
The following four tips should help you write better titles and impress Medium’s curators.
1. Write 10 Titles Then Choose One
Writing multiple titles at once will give you a chance to really think about what you’re trying to say.
It’s easy to just choose the first title that comes to mind, but as you can see, Medium is a picky mistress, so it’s best to work on your titles in a similar manner that you work on your articles.
It doesn’t take too long to come up with multiple titles. A little thought and editing will go a long way to ensuring you create a title Medium’s curators will love.
2. Use the Headline Analyzer
Co-Schedule has a great Headline Analyzer that will let you know whether you should keep your title or chuck it. Run all of your title ideas through the analyzer and choose the one that scores the best.
3. Make Sure the Article Delivers What the Title Promises
Like I said above, this is the easiest mistake to avoid.
This is why people rail against clickbait titles because they rarely deliver on the sensationalism they promise.
Make sure your title is aligned with what you’re writing.
As much as I hate the oral sex article title, it is a perfect description of what the article is about, so everyone knows what to expect when reading it.
4. Study Medium Headlines
At the end of the day, it’s about giving Medium what they want.
Study the headlines of the type of articles you’re writing.
Look to see what’s being approved to get an idea of what you need to write, so the Curation Masters will approve your article.
Final Thoughts
I fully beleive Medium cares entirely too much about titles.
However it is what it is and if you want to get curated you need to play by their rules, no matter how insane they might be.
So the take the time to really work on those titles.
Curation may not provide the juice it used to but it still serves a purpose and many writers view getting curated as validation of their work.
Getting the title right is one way to see those curation rates skyrocket.
Just remember, however, only Medium pussy is good pussy.
All other pussy will be rejected. 😛
This is How I Made $135 Dollars in My First 30 Days On Medium
Only seven to nine percent of writers make at least $100 each month on Medium. I did it in my first month. Here is what I did each week to achieve my goal, hopefully, you can use my journey to $100 a month to achieve yours.
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