avatarCharlie J 🕊️

Summary

The article "You’re An Idiot if You’re Not Using These 3 Tagged Topics in Your Articles" on Medium emphasizes the importance of using specific tags—Humor, Women, and Mindfulness—to increase engagement and reach due to their high follower count, low competition, and consistent reader interaction.

Abstract

The Medium article in question analyzes the effectiveness of three popular tags on the platform: Humor, Women, and Mindfulness. It provides a detailed examination of the engagement metrics, such as claps and comments, for the top stories within each tag. The author, who references a Notion spreadsheet for topic analysis, outlines specific criteria for tag selection, including follower count, story-to-reader ratio, and top story engagement levels. The article also includes a disclaimer about the data's stability, noting that it takes about two weeks for a Medium article's statistics to normalize. The author, who has interacted with successful Medium writers like Robin Wilding, suggests that aspiring writers could emulate successful strategies within these niches to achieve similar results.

Opinions

  • The author believes that the right tags can significantly impact an article's success on Medium.
  • There is an opinion that humor is a niche with a unified theme of making readers laugh, and success in this tag can be attributed to consistent thematic engagement.
  • The author expresses enthusiasm about the high engagement in the Women tag, despite its wide range of topics, indicating the potential for diverse content within this category.
  • The Mindfulness tag is acknowledged for its variation in content but is also recognized as a valuable niche due to its relevance to mental health and self-improvement, which are popular topics on Medium.
  • The article suggests that writers who are not utilizing these high-value tags are missing out on potential engagement and growth opportunities.
  • The author encourages writers to leverage the insights provided to enhance their visibility and success on the platform, offering a free email course for those interested in improving their writing and reach.

Meta Medium

You’re An Idiot if You’re Not Using These 3 Tagged Topics in Your Articles

A look at 3 tags with over 1,000,000 followers, low competition, AND high engagement.

Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash

Non-members can read for free here.

The value of a tag is a difficult thing to determine. For the purpose of this article, I’ve consulted my notion spreadsheet of topics on Medium.

Super nerdy, right?

The criteria for these tags:

  • Most be in the 50 most followed tags on Medium
  • Must have a ratio of at least 5 stories per reader
  • Of the top 8 stories on the topic page, 5 must have over 1,000 claps or over 20 comments.

To ensure neutrality of the algorithm, I cleared my reading history on Medium before starting this article.

There are a few disclaimers I must make here.

  • These stats were recorded on January 18, 2024.
  • It takes about 2 weeks for a Medium article’s stats to stabilize. A story less than 24 hours old with 1k claps is doing much better than a story published 2 weeks ago with 1k claps.
  • Tags are certainly not the only factor behind engagement or reach. A tag with consistently high engagement is significant.
For contrast, look at the top 6 stories in Gaming, a tag with 1,500,000 followers.

Layout

Each tag has a look at its basic stats and a look at the top 8 stories today.

I have included the headline and subtitle of each story. This is mainly to help show you what is already performing well in this niches. Each article is linked if it peaks your interest.

In addition, I included the publication date. This is to provide context for stats.

For example, number 3 in Humor is only at 800 claps and 20 comments. However, it was published about 24 hours prior to when I recorded these numbers. 800 claps and 20 comments might seem low for this list, but getting this engagement in 24 hours is very impressive.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the top 3 most valuable tags on Medium.

Humor

2,600,000 followers 228,000 stories 11 stories per reader

When I first joined Medium a year and a half ago, one of the first authors I paid attention to was Robin Wilding, a writer in the humor niche. I’ve been lucky enough to be in a video chat with Robin, something that left me starstruck, haha. Robin’s very open with her success in humor.

I wish I was as funny as her. If you consider yourself a funny person, maybe you could copy Robin’s formula and make a killing in the humor niche.

Top 8 Stories in Humor

  1. How to Recreate Scenes From Jaws Using Everyday Household Items and a Giant Crocheted Shark by Rodney Lacroix
  • Subtitle: You’re gonna knit a bigger boat
  • Published 2 days ago
  • 1,000 claps
  • 20 comments

2. I Went to Africa and It Wasn’t Funny by Pam Gaslow

  • Subtitle: N/A
  • Published 2 weeks ago
  • 4,100 claps
  • 75 comments

3. Politics, Pandemic, and Pete the Cat by Kerry Kramer

  • Subtitle: How a stuffed animal got me through perilous times.
  • Published 1 day ago
  • 739 claps
  • 20 comments

4. Ballad of 3-Eyed Lou by Pernoste & Dahl

  • Subtitle: A humorous poem with narration and music.
  • Published 2 days ago
  • 800 claps
  • 10 comments

5. The Class Divide on Living Near Family by Sean Kernan

  • Subtitle: How to maintain strong connections with family when life pulls you apart.
  • Publish 1 week ago
  • 2,700 claps
  • 39 comments

6. I Quit Murdering People for 7 Days. Here’s What Happened by Philip S. Naudus

  • Subtitle: The hidden cost of homicide.
  • Published 1 day ago
  • 2,300 claps
  • 53 comments

7. Reasons Why I, A Millenial, Am Not Having Children by Sarah Gardner

  • Subtitle: I love avocado toast and six-dollar lattes more than I could ever love a child.
  • Published 1 day ago
  • 2,700 claps
  • 36 comments

8. Gigantic Men Who Promise to Make Me Feel Better by Christine Stevens

  • Subtitle: A sexy Los Angeles adventure.
  • Published: 7 hours ago
  • 425 claps
  • 6 comments

Data Analysis

Taking into account only the top 8 stories in humor, the average is 1,846 claps and 32 comments. 6 out of 8 stories were published within the past 48 hours.

Women

1,000,000 followers 166,000 stories 6 stories per reader

I’m thrilled to say Women is a tag with high engagement. Though, it is worth noting that engagement varies much more than it did in humor. Also, humor seems to have a more unified theme: the stories want to make you laugh. The stories tagged with women have a much greater range.

With that said, the engagement here is truly nothing to sneeze at.

Top 8 Stories in Women

  1. Notes on Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” by Me and My Muse
  • Subtitle: Did you pick up her messages?
  • Published: 17 hours ago
  • 700 claps
  • 11 comments

2. Why Do Women Leave Good Men? by Y.L. Wolfe

  • Subtitle: Answer: You’re asking the wrong question.
  • Published: 2 weeks ago
  • 4,100 claps
  • 93 comments

3. The ‘Instagram Hair’ Trend Is Yet Another Weapon Against Womens’ Right to Bodily Autonomy by Charlie Brown

  • Subtitle: Hair CAN just be hair
  • Published: 15 hours ago
  • 1,600 claps
  • 29 comments

4. I Like to Get Dressed Up. Am I Still a Feminist? by Alice Cutler

  • Subtitle: Wanting to look good doesn’t make you an anti-feminist, but judging others does.
  • Published: 14 hours ago
  • 700 claps
  • 15 comments

5. No, Women Should Not Set Themselves on Fire to Keep Others Warm by Katie Jgln

  • Subtitle: But, unfortunately, we’re still expected to — and that comes with its consequences
  • Published: 6 days ago
  • 5,200 claps
  • 55 comments

6. Grieving What Could Have Been by Seconde Nimenya

  • Subtitle: Give your grievances space to be heard
  • Published: 15 hours ago
  • 124 claps
  • 1 comment

7. Let’s Make Cuddling With Friends a Thing by Y.L. Wolfe

  • Subtitle: I’m on a journey to find more physical affection beyond romantic relationships
  • Published: 1 day ago
  • 1,000 claps
  • 31 comments

8. At 40 He Told Me I Was Too Old, And I Agreed by Kelly Eden

  • Subtitle: Are there age limits for certain things?
  • Published: 1 month ago
  • 12,600 claps
  • 239 comments

Data Analysis

For the top 8 stories in women, the average is 3,253 claps and 59 comments. 5 out of 8 stories were published within the past 48 hours. There is a lot of variation in this tag, with #6 at 124 claps and 1 comment and #8 at 12,600 claps and 239 comments. Still, some really strong engagement over in women.

Mindfulness

1,700,000 followers 181,000 stories 9 stories per reader

Mindfulness is another tag with a lot of variation. Given that 1/3 of the top 15 topics on Medium have to deal with mental health or self-improvement, it’s really no shocker mindfulness has so much engagement.

Top 8 Stories in Mindfulness

  1. The Disturbing Epiphany That Unblocked My Manifestation Channel by Alberto Garcia
  • Subtitle: My life was like a clogged sink until I discovered the truth.
  • Published: 5 hours ago
  • 170 claps
  • 2 comments

2. The Psychology Behind Why You Can’t Put Down Your Phone by Scott H. Young

  • Subtitle: N/A
  • Published: 4 days ago
  • 3,200 claps
  • 54 comments

3. 10 Powerful Visuals You Need to See Before You Enter 2024 by Harsh Darji

  • Subtitle: visuals on procrastination, ego, love…
  • Published: 3 weeks ago
  • 15,200 claps
  • 226 comments

4. Alan Watts: Dancing With Life by Thomas Oppong

  • Subtitle: “The greater the resistance, the greater the pain”
  • Published: 1 day ago
  • 900 claps
  • 13 comments

5. How to Leverage Problems Away by William Adams

  • Subtitle: You must learn to stand in the best place.
  • Published: 4 days ago
  • 1,000 claps
  • 16 comments

6. 10 Things to Stop Doing If You Want to Attract Positivity into Your Life by Bridget Webber

  • Subtitle: These are my tried and tested tips
  • Published: 1 week ago
  • 3,000 claps
  • 52 comments

7. Three Latin Life Sayings I Learned at 42 That I Wish I Had Known at 22 by Alberto Garcia

  • Subtitle: Learn this Archaic knowledge before it’s too late
  • Published: 1 day ago
  • 1,500 claps
  • 28 comments

8. The 9 Circles of the Afterlife by Nedislav Ivanov

  • Subtitle: Life is too important to be taken seriously
  • Published: 4 days ago
  • 800 claps
  • 15 comments

Data Analysis

For the top 8 stories in mindfulness, the average is 3,221 claps and 50 comments. Only 3 out of these 8 stories were published within the past 48 hours.

5 Bonus Tags

Here are some other high value tags:

Should I make an analysis list of these five tags? Let me know in the comments below.

Which of these tags was the most surprising for you? Have you tried your luck in any of these topics?

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to maximize your growth as efficiently as possible, sign up for my free 5-day email course here. I’d love to help you become the best writer you can be.

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