Summary

The author, a self-proclaimed nerd, analyzed the headlines of their nearly 200 Medium articles and found that headlines about writing, those with numbers, and those about solopreneurship consistently received the most views and earnings.

Abstract

The author conducted an analysis of their Medium article headlines to determine which topics garnered the most attention. After sorting the articles by the number of views on the Medium stats page, the author identified three recurring themes in the most successful headlines: writing, numerical lists, and solopreneurship. These topics not only attracted more views but also correlated with higher earnings. The author plans to leverage these insights to craft future headlines, hoping to replicate the success. Additionally, the author notes that articles about Medium itself and those with intriguing headlines also performed well. The article encourages readers to reflect on their own successful headlines and invites them to subscribe to the author's newsletters for more insights on writing and solopreneurship.

Opinions

The author believes that certain headline commonalities, such as topics on writing, the inclusion of numbers, and a focus on solopreneurship, are key to increasing viewership and earnings on Medium.
They express a personal satisfaction in dissecting systems and trends to understand their mechanics, which is evident in their approach to analyzing Medium headlines.
The author suggests that while using successful commonalities in headlines does not guarantee success, it is a strategy worth experimenting with based on their findings.
They also imply that Medium articles about the platform itself tend to perform well, possibly due to the interest of the Medium community in meta-content.
The use of intrigue in headlines is noted as another factor that can lead to higher viewership, indicating the author's recognition of the importance of capturing reader interest from the outset.
The author is open about their nerdiness and uses it to frame their analytical approach to writing and content strategy on Medium.

I Analysed All Of My Medium Headlines — These 3 Topics Consistently Got The Most Views

Bet you can guess at least one of them.

I’m a nerd.

There, I said it. Judge me if you will.

As a nerd, I love figuring out how things work. Trends. Systems. Processes. I get a big kick out of taking things apart and finding out why they run the way they do.

I’m no different when it comes to Medium.

Today, I spent some time going through the headlines of all my previous articles. I’ve written just under 200 at this point, so it took a minute.

By the time I was done, a clear pattern had begun to emerge.

The process

In order to work out which of my articles on Medium generated the most interest over the last eight-or-so months, I simply hopped across to my stats page and sorted them by Most Viewed.

I chose Viewed over Read in this instance because I’m considering headlines rather than content. I wanted to see which headlines produced the most click-throughs.

Once the articles were sorted, I went through each headline with a fine tooth comb, keeping an eye out for common denominators.

Each time I spotted one, I scribbled it down on a page and then kept a running tally for how often they emerged in my headlines.

I skimmed over the lowest-read article headlines as these were least likely to feature the most common denominators. They tended to be my earliest pieces, back when I was very much a Medium newbie (maybe I still am).

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The results

Out of all my article headlines on Medium, three commonalities in particular produced the highest number of views (and usually by extension, the most earnings). I wasn’t especially surprised at the results, either.

The Big Three were: headlines about writing, headlines with numbers, and headlines about solopreneurship/solo-driven business.

Time and again, headlines featuring one or more of these common denominators produced high numbers of views, and usually, higher-than-average earnings.

I also noticed that headlines about Medium (like this one) and headlines dripping with intrigue (which were also often shorter and snappier than usual) tended to rake in good viewing and reading figures, too. I wasn’t surprised that Medium-centric articles performed well either.

What next?

Based on that little bit of research into my own work, I’ll try experimenting with headlines featuring the top three common denominators over the next few months.

Obviously, using them doesn’t guarantee success in any capacity. But if including them in more of my headlines results in increased views and better earnings, then why not give them a go?

Hopefully you found this helpful.

Which commonalities have you spotted in the headlines of your most successful articles?

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