avatarBin Jiang

Summary

The article analyzes the impact of tags and content quality on Medium post earnings, revealing disparities in pay rates and suggesting strategies for improvement.

Abstract

The article delves into the variability of earnings on Medium, examining how different tags and topics may influence pay rates. It presents a case study of six posts with varying performance, discussing factors such as post length, reader engagement, and Medium's filtering system. The data indicates that longer posts with depth and quality content tend to yield higher earnings per read. The author also shares insights on the worst-performing posts, emphasizing the importance of a compelling title, subtitle, image, and introduction to improve read ratios. Additionally, the article suggests that the choice of tags can affect a post's success and encourages writers to experiment with shorter content forms.

Opinions

  • The author posits that not all tags are equally lucrative, suggesting that some tags may lead to higher earnings per read due to reader preferences and Medium's backend ranking system.
  • Alana Beth is cited, supporting the idea that longer posts often perform better financially because they offer depth and substance.
  • The article implies that Medium's algorithm favors posts with a high read ratio, which can be improved by optimizing the title, subtitle, image, and initial content to engage readers quickly.
  • There is a belief that the overall quality of the content, including read time, significantly influences earnings per read.
  • The author's experience indicates that posting multiple articles in a single day might negatively impact the performance of individual posts.
  • The data presented suggests that readers are drawn to well-structured and lengthier stories, which in turn can lead to better earnings.
  • The article encourages experimentation with different content lengths and formats, such as shorter posts, to find what resonates best with the audience.

What Tags Paid You More? — From Best to Worst Post

Have you ever wondered if the pay rate is the same for each tag or topic?

Well, I have the same question too.

Image By Monstera Production From Pexels

Not All Tags Are Created Equal.

Let’s figure it out, together.

Today, we’ll be looking at 6 posts and see if we can find a clue of why the earnings are so far apart and if there is a pattern.

A. Longer post does well because they have some kind of depth to it. Alana Beth mentioned that in one of the comments.

B. Topics or tags do have an effect after a reader has read it. It would make sense if it is then ranked or placed by the medium on the back end.

C. That is why the medium has a big filter system, as we know that most posts can’t last over 2 days and some can’t even for a couple of hours.

D. Remember Earning per read = the overall quality of the content or the read time to be exact.

Some of the best performers of this month:

Image stats of a post 3/24/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $20.03/81 = $0.247

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Image stats of a post 3/22/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $13.99/66 = $0.211

Make Money Online Medium Partner Program Writing Tips Writing Write A Catalyst

Image stats of a post 3/21/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $14.5/73 = $0.198

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Now Let me show you the Worst 3 posts of the month.

Just so happened to be on the same day, that day I posted 5 posts, maybe that is why.

Image stats of a post 3/19/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $0.24/16 = $0.015

Progress Publication Medium Writing Write A Catalyst

Image stats of a post 3/19/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $0.51/24 = $0.021

Clickbait Startup Careers Corporate The Echoing Epiphanies

Image stats of a post 3/19/24

Tags for this post:

Earning per read: $0.39/14 = $0.03

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What is your experience with tags, reads, or earnings?

How To Improve Read Ratio

The read ratio is the first thing you need to bring up to at least 50%. This is important for the algorithm to pick up your post and share it with more readers.

From the worst-performing post, it is clear that the title, subtitle, image, and first 100 words or so need some improvement.

Go for the read first and then improve the rest of the content, also try AB test by writing a shorter form.

Tags

From the tags that are being used, do have some effect as the data set is still not large enough yet, from the example above does show that readers like to read better stories or posts in terms of the overall layout and the length did have an impact.

Tagging some friends that have been showing up:

Jonesy’s Arti-facts of the Mind: Art-Mind-Musings | Mario Da Silva | Ellie Kingswell 🐑 | Sompa Mensah | yourgoalsyourgains | Sidra K. | Stanley Chibuike | Smart Crafts | Ankita Chursenoff | Philip M — I | Tammie | Georgina Odafe | Andree Koehler | Brad | Safia | Jason Gosseck | Eshal Fatima | Wayne Shi | Daniel Usama | Girish Babu (Entrepreneur, Advisor, Exec, MBA) | Brenna Clark |

Thanks for Reading

Image By Joshua Earle From Unsplash

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