To Make More Money on Medium Keep Your Readers Engaged
15 tips to help you increase your member reading time and grow your earnings
Let’s get right to the point. The key to earning money on Medium is to keep your readers engaged with your Medium story so you can increase Medium member reading time. The more member reading time, the more you earn each month.
To maximize all the hard work and time you put into your Medium stories, you need to get people to really engage with your stories and get them coming back for more and more.
Research shows that most readers decide in 10 seconds whether they should keep reading your story. You must clearly communicate your value proposition within 10 seconds, or your treasured Medium readers will go next door to other Medium writers.
The bottom line is member reading time determines your earnings.
To get your readers to stay, you should follow these 15 tips.
1. Write better headlines
Your headlines or titles create that important first impression. If you write compelling headlines, your readers will want to find out more. Titles draw in disinterested and skeptical readers, making them feel “welcome” to your home.
People often decide to read or ignore your story by reading only the headline. 100 people will read a headline but only 20 people will actually read your story, according to David Ogilvy, the “Father of Advertising.” The right headline can make or break your story. Spend a lot of time on it.
2. Make your first image count
Medium readers judge a Medium story based on images and headlines. It’s very important to invest time in finding the right photo. Your photo and headline are critical. It’s important to read a lot of Medium stories so you can see what photos are used most often.
Medium provides an easy way to upload images from Unsplash. If you can’t find the right still image, you could use a GIF. Medium recommends using Imgur, Gfycat, and Giphy.
Also, make sure you add alternative text to your images. Medium describes alt text as “write a brief description of this image for readers with visual impairments.” What I do is copy my headline and paste it into alt text.
You could add in other images but that’ll add read time. Medium takes the total word count and translates it into minutes. According to Casey Botticello in his How is Medium Article Read Time Calculated? story, images add 12 seconds for the first image, 11 seconds for the second image, 10 seconds for third image … all the way through to the 10th image.
3. Write powerful introductions
Right behind your title, subtitle and featured image, your introduction is the next most important thing. Your introduction must capture the reader right away with a compelling story.
Stir your reader’s curiosity. Curiosity is like a magnet that pulls your reader into your story. Your introductions need to be powerful, so they want to read on.
4. Express the story’s key benefits
Make sure you keep in mind the “why” for your story. It’s important for you to keep reminding yourself why your readers should read this story.
- Is it to entertain them with a personal story?
- Are you teaching them something?
- Are you providing tips and tricks?
- Did you tell them what you did right or wrong?
Keep going back to the key takeaways or benefits of reading your story. If you were the reader of your own story, why would you invest your precious time? Be honest with yourself. Time is money.
5. Include research and cite your sources
It’s important to never state a fact or research article without citing the source. Make sure you trust the source so it’s reliable. The internet has a lot of false information. Use sources such as scholarly articles or research reports from respected companies. Ask yourself:
- How long has the source been around?
- On what does the source base its facts — original research?
- Is there other evidence to back up their facts?
Cite and link to reliable sources in your stories. It gives your story credibility and helps you build a relationship with your readers that’s based on trust.
6. Write with fewer words
Less is more. Take the approach that each word costs you money. Is there a word you could cut to save money? Use active voice over passive voice.
Remove words like “very” and “extremely.” Use words that have specific meaning. Get to the point. Keep it simple. Be concise. When you say more with fewer words, you are a great writer.
7. Create lists
People prefer numbered lists. Women tend to prefer lists more than men. Numbered list capture the attention of your readers. They keep your readers on track, focused, and engaged.
The brain loves lists posts because our brains like to act in a specific way. We prefer ordered lists and have a strong desire for order and organization.
8. Use subheads
Your subheads can create curiosity and surprise. They also show your personality. The reader will check your subheadings to decide if its “worth their time” to read your story. Subheads should help you summarize your story and give a quick, easy way to show the reader what your story is all about.
9. Add the Medium page separator (aka 3 dots)
The page separator is the three-dot icon as shown below. It’s also known as the mid-line horizontal ellipsis.
The separator can separate your Medium story into different sections. It renders well on mobile and is a great way to increase white space in your stories. White space makes your stories more readable, especially for scanners.
10. Link to your other Medium stories
To show your readers your perspectives on many topics, you should link to your other Medium stories. It will help you drive traffic to your other stories and support your ideas. You could also link to other Medium writers stories and @ them so they will be notified.
You can also insert a URL to your Medium story. Once you paste it into the story:
https://readmedium.com/does-medium-realize-its-iceberg-is-melting-f4ce4a6e1ab0
Then, hit
11. Follow Medium and publication guidelines
It’s important to follow Medium member content guidelines and various publication guidelines. Each publication has its own guidelines.
12. Bold or italicize important words
When you bold a word or sentence, you capture the readers’ attention. Bold text strongly emphasizes something. You can also use italics as well if you want to emphasize a word or sentence but take a more subtle approach. It’s up to you and your style. Try both and see what works best for you and your readers.
13. Add famous quotes
When you add quotes to your stories it gives your writing more authority. You’ll have more impact on the reader if you also include some quotes from famous people who back your point of view or perspective on a given topic. If you are unsure about a famous quote, check Quote Investigator.
14. End your story with a strong paragraph
Add an ending headline and a closing paragraph. I like to use “bringing it all together” and then end with a paragraph. Find what works for you. You could say conclusion or use another headline that tells the essence of your story. Your endings are crucial because according to research most people remember the beginning and the end.
15. Determine your call to action (CTA)
Create a CTA strategy that works best for you. Create a CTA at the end of your story or intentionally don’t. Your choice. Some people add a short bio at the end while some writers add one to three Medium stories with a “you also may be interested in” this story approach.
Bringing it all together
To make more money on Medium you need to draw your readers in with your headline and image, entrance them with your introduction and send them down the slippery slide of your story until the end.
These 15 tips should help you get your readers to stay and keep them engaged. To earn money on Medium, you need to attract Medium members and increase their reading time. It’s that simple.
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