This Strategy Got Me to the Top 6% of Medium Writers

A list of 19 legit strategy tips that I learned the hard way — so you don’t have to.

Have you found the list of tricks to hack your way to the top ranks of Medium finally!?!

No. That doesn’t exist. Many have tried, and many have lied. But, I tried a lot of methods — so that you don’t have to. Learn from my trip down the ‘hacking Medium’ rabbit holes that got me exactly…diddly squat.

There just simply isn’t a quick way to hack the system (no matter what the latest new person selling a course tells you). But there are some things you can do to see sustained growth that will build you a following, readership, friends, success, and earnings.

Here is a list of the absolute best tips I can provide you with. I have personally used all of these, and seen them work — and they have gotten me to the top 6% of Medium Writers.

1. Become a Top Writer

Becoming a Top Writer is easier than you think. There are 73 Top Writer categories on medium, and each one has a tag. If you pick 2–3 top-writer tags to start tagging (it’s called “topics” in the story editor menu) your articles with, you’ll eventually become a top writer in those categories.

When you’re a Top Writer you will appear on a list when someone searches that tag. And that’s a really legit way to attract readers. It isn’t a miracle cure, but every bit helps (hence the long list of tips here).

2. Publications Get Reads and Followers — Sort Of

Getting your content into publications is great as it gets your words in front of new eyeballs — and can reach more eyeballs than your profile can on its own.

Pubs aren’t all created equal though. Some are bigger, some have more tight-knit followings, and some keep your content on their main page for days longer. Try putting your content into different pubs to see which ones resonate with their viewers. For example, your article about how your cat likes to drink your merlot (but not your malbec — that furry snob) may flop in Illumination — but it might kill in Catness.

3. Read Time Matters — long vs short

If one of your goals on Medium is to make a little side cash (and I know that for many that isn’t a goal), your read time is the heaviest determinant in the earnings calculation.

The longer an article is, the more read time you get. Caveat however — you have to keep the reader hooked the whole time. Second caveat, more people will click on a 3–5 minute read than a 14-minute read.

So try not to make your articles too short (or at least not all the time), where it only takes them 47 seconds to read it. But also don’t fill it with fluff — you’ll lose readers that way.

4. Featured Images Matter

There’s a reason why Instagram is one of the most popular social platforms. People like cool pictures. Your featured images will be the second most important part of getting article views (second to headlines).

Before submitting an article, go to the pub you’re going to publish in and see if your featured image is strong enough to compete with the others there. This takes a little practice, but you’ll figure out which pics do better for you.

5. Some Articles Flop

Some articles are giant, disappointing, disheartening flops— move on. This is inevitable. Some stories will do better than others. Don’t let it get you down, just move on to the next. Don’t live on the highs either, because the high will eventually turn to a low.

6. Engagement Matters — And It’s Not One-Sided

Replying to comments on your articles is super important because it builds a relationship between you and your readers. But it isn’t enough to succeed.

Spend some time reading the content of your commenters, and make thoughtful comments on it. I cannot express how important this is. Do it. You’ll see your core readership steadily grow.

7. Mention Older Articles in your Newer Ones

Ugh, I need to eat crow — and take my own advice on this. When I have put links to my older articles into my newer ones, I see that the old ones get a little life back in them. It’s not a miracle cure for dead articles, but every bit helps.

*Makes a note to take her own damned advice.

8. Set Realistic Goals

When I started here I expected to be immediately successful…after all, I’ve been a professional writer for over a decade. But even for a professional writer that wasn’t realistic. Don’t pull a dumb dumb like I did and set yourself up for failure.

When I revised my goals I was so much happier. They included things like increasing my earnings by 25%+ every month (which is doable if you’re doing this list)…and now I’m stoked when I get to 75%. I set a goal to increase the number of fans on my articles so I worked harder on making my content more relatable to my readers.

Realistic goals will help make you successful. And it will keep you motivated for the long term (because Medium is a long-term game).

9. Formatting is Important — Readability Keeps Readers Reading

You worked too hard to get followers, readers, and views to lose your readers due to haphazard formatting. Every title needs a heading (title), subtitle, subheadings, and images. Also using bulleted or numbered lists can increase readability.

Try not to let your paragraphs get too long as that makes them harder to read.

10. Focus on Building Fans, Not Views

If you’re trying to get views — you’ll be hustling hard to do that forever. Views are fleeting and largely dependent on your headline and chosen publication.

Creating content centered around getting fans (people engaging through claps, comments, and highlights) is how you build your readership. It’s a harder metric to work towards, but focusing on quality (and understanding your audience) works nicely.

11. Have Fun! Or You’ll Never Make It

When you can tell a writer had a fun time writing a story — that fun is infectious. Unless it’s a rant and they’re pissed off, but that can be infectious too.

Having fun on here attracts more readers. After all, you can attract more bees with honey than kimchi…or however that adage goes. It will also make your time here more enjoyable. It’s a win-win!

12. You NEED friends and allies.

Medium is a popularity contest. Yes, great writing can make you popular, but it will only get you halfway there. You need friends, allies, mentors, etc. You can’t succeed on Medium alone. Also, you’re not an island.

13. Certain Things Will Always Get More Reads

There’s a reason top-writer categories exist — they are the most popular topics on Medium. Certain topics will always get more reads than others. This includes anything about cats (cat people are unique), controversial political opinions, and basically controversial opinions in general.

Other heavy favorites include: trending news, crypto, AI/ChatGPT, meta posts (posts about writing/succeeding on Medium), Covid (this is trending now but won’t for long), new and classic movies, crime, technology, etc.

14. Your Audience Wants More of YOU In Your Content

‘But I’m a nobody, who wants to hear about me?’. Medium does! I promise. Don’t believe me? Fair enough, I’m a nobody too. But write an ‘about me’ story. Watch how many reads it gets.

Find ways to get more details about you into your articles. I swear the Medium readers are savants and remember details for each person. It’s incredible. And it is what we want to read.

15. Good Writing Is Not Enough to Succeed

I’ve been a professional writer for over a decade, and even that wasn’t enough to succeed here. You need all the other elements on this list too.

16. Headlines Matter More Than You Could Ever Imagine

Your headline will make or break the success of an article. You could write the Medium equivalent of The Great Gatsby, but without a great headline, nobody will read it. You might as well have written Jim’s Fish Emporium Newsletter #327 (I don’t know about you — but sorry Jim, I’m not clicking on that).

Creating great headlines takes time. It’s a skill you need to sharpen. You can start by using a headline analyzer tool (there are free ones that you can google), then over time, you will just get the hang of it. Read a few articles about it, and learn things like listicles with odd numbers seem to do better, and buzzwords that make an impact, like ‘killer’, ‘brutal’, and ‘sabotage’.

17. The ‘Gurus’ Lie

If you’re following people who are telling you things that sound too good to be true (it sounds so easy right!)…guess what. No, you won’t make $1K your first month on Medium. No, you won’t get over 50% read ratio (25–30% is decent, and the standard),

The problem with reading too much content like that is that it sets you up for failure. It creates unrealistic goals for yourself (that honestly — they themselves probably aren’t reaching either).

Set realistic goals and celebrate your successes and milestones (no matter how small)! You reached 50 views in a day? Woot woot — go you! Then celebrate at 75, then 100. You got 20 fans on an article for the first time — you’re killing it! Make your next goal 25.

18. Volume Matters — But So Does Quality

I don’t know exactly why, but producing in higher volumes seems to trip the mysterious Medium algorithm (which only naive people, and liars, have ‘figured out’) into overdrive.

So, volume matters. Having said that however if you’re pushing crappy content out quickly, it won’t build you a readership. If you’re copy and pasting AI content, you’re lazy or a cheater (granted — you can be both). It truly is a balance of quality and quantity.

How much quantity and quality you ask? Great question. The best quality you can do! Then continually improve over time, like fine wine — or frou-frou cheese.

As for quantity, just do however much you can do without approaching burnout or sacrificing your quality of life. Even sacrificing your quality of life won’t appease the Medium gods anyways. I tried. No dice.

19. Branding is Important

Branding can not only attract people to your profile (people are attracted to nice designs, consistent looks…and shiny things) — but it can keep your readers coming back.

If you have a brand, tone, and style that they instantly recognize they are more likely to click on your future stories.

That’s It

I know, that’s a lot. But work on one item at a time — or tackle them all like a batshit-crazy person like I did. Unless you like sunlight, or have a life. In that case, bookmark this post and come back to it as you go. Or copy and paste it into a checklist.