How Do You Get More Reads on Medium? I’ll Show You.

I submitted two peices of writing last week, both of which got a fair amount of views.

Yay! How exciting.

When I look slightly to my right and see that the reads aren’t as high, I am deflated.

The article below got 236 views but only 128 reads. Ouch. That’s less than half with a 48% read ratio.

The article below got 158 views but only 76 reads. Again, less than half with a 47% read ratio.

Why has the reader chosen not to continue reading? I could just be a bad writer and can’t make my work engaging enough? It’s a sad thing to say about myself but it is possible.

Two other pieces that I have published last week have around 30% ratio. It’s a painful sight to see and I know other writers are having the same problem.

There are things that I have noticed during my time on Medium which can alter how many views and reads we get. Let’s take a look at what they could be.

1. A good title.

A captivating title is what you need. Without it, no one is going to click on your work and then you won’t be receiving a read nor a view.

Could you just use clickbait titles? These are very popular and I have been dragged into a fair few. The title looks promising, I begin to read and realise that actually this isn’t what I was prepared to read but I continue anyway.

Clickbait titles are also very risky, as there have also been times when I have clicked on an article and then clicked straight off when I have read the sub-title.

I have seen advise from social media groups to use a headline generator. Personally, I have not done this yet but I was meant to, I just lost the site that was recommended.

2. The myth of publishing on a weekend.

I have seen a few conspiracies flying around stating that publishing on a weekend is not really a good idea.

This is true. I noticed this after writing for Medium for about 3 weeks.

A vast amount of people use the weekend to do things over than writing, which is fine because weekends are meant to break up the working week. I also find that there is a lot less engagement within social media groups as well which means that if you promote your work over the weekend you are bound to get less views and reads.

Try and publish in the week if you can. I still publish on the weekend as I work full-time and just cannot get everything out in the week. Maybe I should plan a schedule…

3. Longer reads vs shorter reads.

A lot of my pieces are within the 3–5 minute range. I did experiment and publish a 7-minute long piece but it only has a 31% engagement rate, how embarrassing.

Personally, I do not like to read anything that is over 6 minutes and that’s pushing it. The second I click on an article and see anything above 6, unless it’s something that I want to read about, then I won’t read an article entirely.

I simply just don’t have all day and I’m more likely to be engaged if I know I’m not reading a mini-essay.

The main reason why a lot of writers publish longer reads is because they’re either writing fiction/non-fiction or they want the higher reading time which in turns generates more dollar signs. My best pieces are shorter reads and have generated me over $6 each which isn’t that much, but it’s something.

4. An interesting introduction.

The key points that I read around building an introduction is that you want to make the reader be able to relate to something. If they can relate to it, they’ll be emotionally engaged and be inclined to continue to read.

I don’t actually have too much advise to give surrounding this area as it looks like I can barely write a good one myself!

5. Adding images to your article.

Should you add images mid article? I have noticed that not many writers do this. I don’t do this.

Does adding photos mid article break the article up for the reader and make them more likely to continue to read? Let’s trial it.

Did it work? Will you read till the end now?

The articles I do come across that include photos are usually screenshots or they are using a photo to help explain what they are describing. It is rare that writers will just add images mid article for image sake.

Although, I do find that it does make it slightly easier to read an article. It gives a nice distraction to the continuous stream of words and also adds colour and jazz to a piece of writing, that’s just my opinion.

6. Breaking up paragraphs.

I cannot stand lengthy paragraphs. It’s a mega turn-off and it makes articles hard to read.

PLEASE break up your paragraphs or I will break up with your writing. It makes it so much easier to continue to read.

7. The bigger, the better.

The bigger the publication the more reads you are going to have, this is obvious.

I have just seen a tweet from a writer who has had four articles accepted by The Start Up (one of the biggest publishers on this entire platform). They claim their “worst” performing piece has done 100,000 reads and their best performing has done 250,000 reads.

Many writers do self-publicate. Personally, I do not do this. Many also find that publishers will reach out to them and ask if they can feature their article in their publication. This is a major win!

The bigger your social media platforms full of Medium Partner Programme folk the more reads you are going to have, regardless of how captivating your title is. They’re all there to support you as your fan base and the chances are you know the amount of reads minimum you are going to receive.

8. Curation/Further Distribution.

Due to the recent and consistent ongoing changes from Medium, it seems as if curation has died an annoying death. They’ve even changed the name.

Whilst this used to work wonders for your work and reads, does it really anymore?

Many social media groups state that since the new changes, further distribution no longer makes a major change to their views nor followers. It might do something, but not nearly as much as it used to.

Still, it’s a good ego boost that you’re on the right track!

Have I just cracked the “How to Get More Reads” code?

The answer is no. At the end of the day, if your article is good then people will read it. There is no algorithm to this and many people still can’t figure out what Medium class as a view or a read. The policies are changing all the time.

It might be worth taking more time to practice your writing and work on making it more engaging, it seems as if that’s what I need to do.

It’s also worth looking back at your articles with higher ratios. What subject did you right about? What was the format and layout like? It’s worth replicating this in your next pieces. For me, all my work surrounding the topic of ‘writing’ do the best because I’m giving something to the reader and they can most likely relate to what I am discussing.

Brainwashing people to keep reading your work is hard but it is something that many can do. If you want to get there you just have to keep working on how to produce better writing, practice trail and error with your work and just have faith you’ll get there.