How to make money on Medium with Parasite SEO?

This is a new term I recently learned: parasite SEO. But, little did I know, I’ve been doing this for years!
It sounds bad. I mean, the word “parasite” is in it, but it’s a smart marketing tactic to make money online.
If you want to build a new Medium income stream, then you’ll want to keep reading as I break this down:
- What is parasite SEO, and how does it work?
- Where to implement parasite SEO?
- How much money can you make from parasite SEO?
- Does parasite SEO really work?
Let’s get into it!
What is Parasite SEO?
I asked ChatGPT what parasite SEO was, and this is what it said…
Parasite SEO is a strategy where individuals or businesses create content on third-party websites with the goal of ranking highly on search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords.
The term “parasite” refers to the use of an established platform’s authority and trust to gain visibility, rather than relying solely on one’s own website.
This technique involves creating and optimizing content on various high-authority platforms, such as popular social media sites, video sharing platforms, or other content-sharing websites.
By leveraging the domain authority and credibility of these third-party websites, individuals can potentially achieve higher search engine rankings for specific keywords or phrases.
What the heck does this all mean?
Well, you use a high-ranking site to your benefit to rank keywords. With your keywords ranked, you get eyeballs on your content and make money.
For example, you write a review on Quora and rank for a keyword that gets you 1,000 visits monthly to that Quora review post.
You monetized that review with affiliate links and got a 2% conversion rate (or 20 monthly conversions).
Pretty smart, right?
This makes a lot of sense, especially with the Google updates that have been hitting the web like crazy.
User-generated sites like Quora and Reddit have risen up the ranks, while smaller independent content sites and blogs have been hit big time!
My personal blog suffered the biggest hit yet!
So, parasite SEO is a way to take advantage of other sites to your benefit.
Make sense?
How does parasite SEO work?
First, find high-ranking authority sites. Once you identify the sites, your goal is to get your content on the site.
That can be done by:
- Contributing to the site as a user
- Writing a guest post
- Paying for a sponsored post
Does parasite SEO work?
Yes, it does.
Here’s an example:
Google best tasting decaf coffee
Quora and Reddit are both on the first page of the search results…

How can you use parasite SEO here?
There are plenty of ways.
For affiliate marketing, join a decaf coffee affiliate program. Then, write a contributor post on Reddit or Quora and link your affiliate link.
When you get traffic to the post, it may result in a conversion.
How can you make money on Medium with parasite SEO?
Make money on Medium with parasite SEO with:
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling products and,
- Selling services
Medium is a high-authority site. Like Reddit and Quora, it gets tons of traffic every month. It’s ranked at DA 95 out of 100!
- Join Medium as a writer
- Write content ranking for keywords
- Get Google traffic and make money from your posts!
Affiliate marketing is one way to monetize Medium posts. You can also sell products and services.
So, from the best-tasting decaf coffee example, instead of referring to a decaf coffee affiliate, if you were a coffee retailer, you could talk about your brand and link it in your post.
Is it worth it to try parasite SEO?
The ball is in your court.
This isn’t for everyone. It’s all a short-term marketing strategy. So, one day, you could wake up, and it’ll just stop working for one or some of your keywords.
I find this super interesting and I hope you do too!
Have you tried parasite SEO?
If not, is this an SEO practice you’d consider?
Learn high-ticket affiliate marketing! I teach the strategy to earn up to a full-time income on part-time hours. Free ebook access to get an intro to affiliat marketing or buy the pre-sale for my paid course launching in a week (incl. student community).