Summary

The website content provides guidelines for authors on effectively using tags when submitting articles to the "Middle Pause" publication on Medium, emphasizing the importance of selecting all five available tags to increase the visibility and discoverability of their stories.

Abstract

The article "Self-Editing Tip #6: Be Mindful of Your Tags AKA Topics and Use All Five" stresses the significance of properly tagging written pieces for the "Middle Pause" publication. It instructs authors to utilize the maximum allowed number of tags, which are essentially topic keywords, to enhance the chances of their work being found by readers. The publication has specific tag requirements, including the inclusion of "Women," "Life Lessons," "Menopause," and "Middle Pause" (without a hyphen), to maintain consistency and recognition. Additionally, the article suggests that adhering to these guidelines could potentially lead to stories being "boosted" for wider distribution on Medium, which may result in increased viewership and earnings for the authors. The piece also offers practical advice on how to edit tags if necessary and underscores the value of using tags strategically, akin to SEO keywords, to attract the right audience.

Opinions

The author believes that many writers underutilize the tag feature, which is a missed opportunity for greater exposure.
There is an emphasis on the benefit of using all five tags to maximize the potential for readers to find a story based on its topic.
The guidelines are presented as not only a way to categorize content but also as a tool to build a recognizable brand for "Middle Pause."
The article implies that following the tagging guidelines is crucial for authors who wish to have their stories boosted by Medium's distribution system.
The author encourages writers to use tags wisely, suggesting that they are as important as the quality of the writing itself for attracting readers on the platform.

Self-Editing Tip #6: Be Mindful of Your Tags AKA Topics and Use All Five

Follow our guidelines whenever they apply — thank you!

**Fifi has her tags, make sure you have yours! Photo by Mia Anderson on Unsplash**

Well, duh, right?

Wrong. You’d be surprised how many folks don’t do this.

You know what I mean by tags, right?

Hashtags without the hash.

Just in case, those are the five topic names that appear at the very bottom of a post right above the icons for clapping and commenting.

When your stories are finished, and you’ve read the previous self-editing tips to double-check them, they’re ready to submit to us. Or another wonderful publication. As you do so, you get that box that asks you for your tags.

Or topics if you prefer.

You get up to five.

Use all five.

This works to your advantage. It’s a way people can find your story by its topic. That’s a good thing. You want that.

When you type in a tag, a list pops up with tags based on what you’re typing along with the number of posts in that tag. If you go for the larger, more generic ones, you may be making it easier for more folks to find you.

If you haven’t read our guidelines, here’s what it says about tags:

“You must include one of these three tags: Women, Life Lessons, or Menopause. Also, please include, Middle Pause in your tags so we can build a body of work when people search for Middle Pause. I believe we are achieving some level of name recognition. Yay!”

So help us out. In fact, we may change your tags if you forget to follow this guideline. Please do it so we don’t have to. You can edit your story, click on the three dots, and scroll down the menu that pops up to change topics. Hit that and the tag box shows up for you to edit.

All our posts should have the tag, Middle Pause. Thank you!

Middle-Pause is now a booster!

Specifically, Debbie Walker can recommend five stories a week to Medium for boosting. Boosting gives your story a wider distribution, which means more views and readers. And more money for you. So it’s a blessing.

Medium understands our topics to be: Menopause, women, aging, and diversity.

Does that mean only stories about these topics get boosted?

I don’t think so, but we’re just beginning this process.

So if you’d like to see your story boosted, it may help if it fits with one or more of these topics. But making sure it’s as well written as you can is even more important. As we editors are happy to help with that.

But please, please, please, use one or more of those tags, if they fit. Plus the perennial Middle Pause. (no hyphen on that tag).

Remember, tags are ways people search on Medium for posts on a topic they’re interested in. So please make it easy for folks to find your story by using them wisely! Kind of like SEO keywords, only different, right?

Hope that was clear. And helpful. Happy tagging!

Updated Submission Guidelines for Middle-Pause

We want women to write for us!

medium.com

What are you ‘too old’ or ‘too scared’ to do? Let me show you how!

Marilyn Flower is a sacred fool who writes every day — fiction, poetry, and blogs — inspired by a process called SoulCollage®. She’s the author of Creative Blogging and Bucket Listers, Get Your Brave On. Follow her Sacred Foolishness or SoulCollage® for Writers, and Stay in touch!

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