What You Should Know About Medium SEO

Unlock Medium SEO secrets: craft compelling titles, leverage metrics, and tap into a vibrant community for visibility & success.

Rising Creator (Doc JLB, MD)
4 min readFeb 22, 2024
What You Should Know About Medium SEO Unlock Medium SEO secrets: craft compelling titles, leverage metrics, and tap into a vibrant community for visibility & success.

Unlock the Power of Medium SEO for Your Blog Posts

If you’re a writer on Medium, understanding the platform’s SEO settings is crucial for maximizing your content’s visibility and reaching a broader audience.

Medium’s mission is to foster a vibrant community of ideas, and its SEO approach aims to promote high-quality, engaging content while discouraging spammy or self-serving clickbait.

In this Medium blog post, we’ll dive deep into Medium SEO settings, exploring the strategies and best practices that can elevate your writing to new heights.

The SEO Title and Meta Description

The SEO title and meta description are the first things potential readers see when your article appears in search engine results. Crafting compelling and keyword-rich titles and descriptions can significantly improve your click-through rates and drive more traffic to your Medium posts.

SEO Title

The SEO title is the headline that appears in search engine results. It’s crucial to keep your SEO title between 40 and 50 characters, as longer titles may be truncated.

Incorporating commonly searched high-volume with low-competition keywords can boost your article’s relevance and increase the likelihood of it being clicked.

You can find the SEO settings by clicking the 3 dots in the upper right corner of your Medium story. Tap Story Settings…

Medium SEO Settings
Medium SEO Settings

Long-tail keywords on Medium SEO strategy

Leveraging long-tail keywords is a powerful SEO strategy on Medium. These specific, phrase-based keywords align with user search intent, making them highly valuable.

Strategically incorporating long-tail keywords into your H2 and H3 headings, and paragraphs can significantly boost your article’s relevance and visibility.

Instead of broad keywords like “writing tips,” consider targeted options like “tips for improving descriptive writing skills” or “techniques for crafting compelling narratives.” Aligning your content with these specific intents attracts qualified traffic and engages your target audience.

SEO Description

The SEO description is a concise summary of your article’s content, displayed beneath the SEO title in search results.

Aim for a description between 140 and 156 characters that entice readers with a compelling glimpse into your post’s value proposition. Naturally weaving in relevant keywords can further improve your article’s visibility.

Reference: Medium

Mastering Medium SEO Algorithm: The Key to Ranking Higher

Medium’s algorithm is designed to prioritize high-quality, engaging content that aligns with the platform’s mission of fostering meaningful discussions and sharing ideas.

While the specifics of the algorithm are not publicly disclosed, several key factors contribute to your article’s ranking and visibility.

Engagement Metrics

Medium closely monitors engagement metrics such as claps, highlights, responses, and reading time.

Articles that generate substantial engagement from the Medium community are more likely to be favored by the algorithm and ranked higher in search results.

Content Quality

Medium’s algorithm is skilled at detecting spammy or low-quality content. Well-written, informative, and original articles that provide value to readers are more likely to rank better than shallow or duplicated content.

Topical Relevance

Medium’s algorithm considers the topical relevance of your article to the broader context of the platform’s content. Articles that align with popular and trending topics on Medium are more likely to be surfaced and recommended to readers.

External and internal linking

Strategically linking to authoritative external sources and other relevant content on Medium enhances credibility and user experience, signaling quality to search engines.

Optimized alt text

Including descriptive, keyword-rich alt text on images improves accessibility and helps search engines understand the context, boosting visibility and engagement.

Leveraging Medium’s Community for SEO Success One of Medium’s greatest strengths is its vibrant and engaged community of writers and readers.
Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

Leveraging Medium’s Community for SEO Success

One of Medium’s greatest strengths is its vibrant and engaged community of writers and readers.

Actively participating in this community can not only enhance your writing skills but also boost your article’s visibility and SEO performance.

Engage with Other Writers

Leaving thoughtful comments, highlighting insightful passages, and responding to discussions on other writers’ articles can help establish your presence within the Medium community.

This increased engagement can positively impact your article’s visibility and ranking.

Utilize Medium’s Topic Pages

Medium’s topic pages are curated collections of articles related to specific subjects. By strategically tagging your articles with relevant topics, you can increase their discoverability and reach readers interested in those areas.

Collaborate and Cross-Promote

Partnering with other writers or publications on Medium can open doors to cross-promotion opportunities. Guest posting on certain publications, mentions, or collaborations can expose your content to new audiences and potentially drive more traffic and engagement.

Related Article: Build a Medium Presence You Can Be Proud Of

Final Thoughts

Mastering Medium’s SEO settings is a journey that requires patience, persistence, and a commitment to creating high-quality content.

By understanding the platform’s algorithm, crafting compelling SEO titles and descriptions, and actively engaging with the Medium community, you can unlock the full potential of your writing and reach a broader audience.

So, the key to success on Medium lies in aligning your content with the platform’s mission of fostering meaningful discussions and sharing ideas that matter.

Reference: About SEO and Medium

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