How Did I Get My First 10.000 Medium Views In Less Than A Month?

And some basic notions so you can get views too

I started writing on Medium almost one month ago. Ever since I posted my first story “Why dark mode is so captivating?” I have published 10 stories, got more than 350 followers, and received more than 10.000 views.

Do you want to know how did I do it? So let’s go!

Since I joined Medium, my page has grown quickly. I’m not too far off half-a-thousand followers, while others can struggle getting one-hundred in a month — even while reading and following the advice of innumerable posts. So, what was different about my approach, and how can you replicate it yourself?

Here are my stats to date:

My first trick? I was lucky at first.

I started writing last later-march due to being under lockdown — Covid19 had hit me at the time and I had to self-confine at home.

I have always enjoyed writing — but I had never posted anything online. This is why, while being confined at home I decided maybe it was the time to give it a shot — and just posted my ever first piece of writing online.

I had always been a little bit — or quite a lot —a fan of the dark mode. I use it everywhere I can. That’s what made me research a bit about the topic — and write my first story: “Why dark mode is so captivating?”.

On the first day it had only a bunch of views — not even 40. However, the very next day something happened. Fabricio Teixeira left me a private message inviting me to publish my first Medium story on UX Collective. I am really grateful for this first chance he gave me and really happy to be an active writer for the UX Collective.

After this very first day, the post got 533 views and over 200 reads in a single day. Ever after my Medium account has had more than 100 daily views.

Does this mean it is only a matter of luck?

Of course… NO!

My first post has given me 3k views — but it is not my most popular post anymore. After this first post, I kept writing. My two following posts were not much of a hit — together got only 120 views and 40 reads to date.

Did this upset me? Of course, but I just kept writing.

Then my second viral post — and the most popular for now — arrived. “The infinite Scroll Effect” hit the 800 views in one single day — and has now more than 4000 views.

I have published one more viral post (over 1500 views) and my later posts are over the 100 views and 30 reads.

So, what do you have to do to be read — and seen?

1. Be Constant

First of all, be constant. Keep writing. The most post you share, the more likely you are to get one of those virals. Do not get upset by low views or not getting enough followers. If you are constant, your numbers will eventually raise.

2. Be Worthy

Quality always beats quantity. Is it necessary to post one story a day? Completely NO. You can do it if you feel like, but always prioritize quality over quantity. This means one really good story a week is better than 1 bad story a day. Users will come back for quality content — not for the number of posts.

3. Be reader-focused

Always keep in mind you are writing for your readers. Keep things smooth. Talk to them, advise them and let them know you are trying to make their life easier, happier or somehow better. Use easy and clear language. Make it easy for them to read you.

4. Be Honest

Try to be honest. Always. Whenever you write a story, make it personal. Talk about your own experiences and your own opinions. Ask your users to share theirs. Engage with them. If someone leaves a message, answer them. Be friendly with your users. Always.

If you follow these four concepts — you might not notice anything at first. But eventually, your followers' count will start increasing and so will do your number of views and reads.

Good writers not only lure more readers, but keep them as usual readers.

It is better to have one single reader that reads all your posts and engage with you — than 10 random readers that ended up on one of your posts and WON’T come back.

How to begin with your profile — and attract your first views?

Start finding writers you like

First of all, I started finding people that I liked — they wrote content of my interest — and began engaging with them. Following writers who produce content you enjoy allows you to learn from people who have been here longer. Additionally, this will usually give you some initial follow backs and reads as well, which is really worthy in the hard beginning of Medium.

Be active and engage with your contacts

Once you achieve some followers, read their posts. Take some time engaging with them and sharing your thoughts with them. This is why it is super important to follow users you will enjoy. The follow-for-follow technique might increase your followers count, but won’t give you any kind of engagement or improvement.

Create a quality audience — your future You will thank you later! :D

Join publications and submit your posts there

Find some good publications and try to join them. Posting your work in some publication will give your story some extra-visibility and attention that wouldn’t have otherwise. This is what happend to both my “Why dark mode is so captivating?” and “The infinite Scroll Effect” in UX Collective.

However, it is important that you check some publication that is aligned with your story topic. Always try to get published in some specialized publication related to your story— if you choose correctly, publication followers might enjoy your reading, discover you and end up following you.

Do not know where to start? Some good publications to start with are:

You can join any of them and start publishing your posts there now!

There are many others — and more topic-specialized — as well. Just go discover the whole world Medium offers you!

As a conclusion, I would say patience and constance are the most important requirements to succeed in Medium. If you check again my stats, you will observe that I have not published much lately — as it’s been the easter holidays — and so my numbers have decreased quite a bit.

Hope you found this story useful and you succeed on your way to become a writer in Medium.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments! ✨

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