Post-Pandemic Medium Traffic Is Scary On a Mind-blowing Level

Medium’s shocking daily and monthly traffic averages

Let’s go over some stats, estimated by different sources I found. If numbers bore you, feel free to skip this article.

Otherwise, let’s dig in.

It’s shocking.

Current numbers

Around 1.7 million people visit Medium daily right now, in August 2022.

Yes, that’s your possible audience to reach each day. Many of these are not Medium members, of course, but rather free views coming in from search results and social media sharing.

Overall page views, not unique viewers, cross 3.6 million daily.

Furthermore, Medium has more than 33 million monthly views, estimated in August 2022.

Both daily & monthly averages are estimates from free sources. Take these with a grain of salt. They’re merely estimates. Medium folks do not publish their official stats on traffic.

Most views in current times originate from India, followed by the US. India doesn’t have access to the Stripe-based partner program (in most cases). This remains a big problem.

What about the bigger picture?

Joe Moody analyzed Medium traffic over time and came to this shocking conclusion:

“Medium hit a peak of 90 million visitors per month during the early pandemic, all the way until March 2021 when vaccines started rolling out.”

In his estimate (via SEM Rush), Medium currently (Aug 2022) records about 23 million monthly views, even lower than what I’ve found. Regardless, from over 90 to mid-30s or mid-20s in 17 months, that is a huge decline.

What does this mean?

First, it means people spend less time reading stuff on the internet since the pandemic-induced couch potato time has ended.

More importantly, it might mean Medium’s reach is dwindling. Back to averages from 4 years ago. And it keeps falling.

Medium also faces strong competition. Platforms like Substack with its growing newsletter & blogging empire, WordPress, Ghost as a blogging and subscription platform, and sites like Vocal, NewsBreak, Simily, Tealfeed, or Feeding Trends gain ground.

Additionally, the number of personal blogs is ever-increasing. During Q1 of 2022, WordPress alone hosted 2.3 million new blogs every day.

That’s a lot of writers and a ton of words.

The bottom line

Indeed, views are decreasing significantly on Medium.

We can feel that, the writers who’ve been there before or at the peak of the pandemic know this. Stories that usually got thousands of views only get hundreds now. Monthly 4-figure incomes shrunk to the low hundreds or worse.

But there’s hope too. New writers break the $100 barrier every day. Dedicated members cross 4 figures for the first time. It’s still possible.

It’s also not a Medium-only issue. Many WordPress bloggers have seen their reach and growth halted since the pandemic ended (although it didn’t really end at all).

Is it worth it to write to keep writing on Medium? I say yes.

Medium is easy to get started, the built-in audience is still huge, and earning without ads just feels right.

Is it wise to expand your reach to other platforms and outlets? Very much so.

Don’t overcomplicate it. Repurpose your content for different places. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. It works just fine.

P.S.: Are you a Medium writer? No, then sign up here*. Also, check out Write OS, my comprehensive writing system for online writers. And while you’re at it, sign up for my newsletter. It’s free. And priceless 😉 *This is my referral link. I earn a small commission, you don’t pay more. You also have the chance to earn money on Medium. I made $3000 in my first 6 months.