Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Nityesh Agarwal

In the past 4 years, I have published 13 articles on Medium and have got to 3k+ followers.

Here are the key lessons and tips I've learnt:

1. Medium is great place for early writers to reach more people.

I was a nobody on the Internet. And Medium still boosted my articles, allowing me to reach hundreds of thousands of readers.

2. This is especially true if you publish with a popular Medium publication.

A lot of pubs accept articles from new writers and share it with their followers.

I started by publishing with 3 large programming-focused publications and they were a large part of my early success.

3. But it has a big con - you don't own your audience. You are at the whims of the Medium platform.

In the past 2 yrs, they've decided to clamp down the distribution of non-paywalled articles.

This has made my 3k followers worth ~nothing for me. I have no way to reach them.

This is also the reason why some of Medium's biggest publications have exited the platform in the past couple of yrs:

• Signal v. Noise
• FreeCodeCamp
• HackerNoon

(Read: Signal v. Noise exits Medium)

4. You should also beware of publishing for a publication.

When one of the publications that I had published with, decided to leave the Medium platform, they took my most popular articles (and all their SEO value) to their new website - leaving me high and dry.

5. But there is a way to capture the upside (Medium's distribution) while securing yourself from the downside (Medium's whims):

1. Publish articles on your domain on your own website
2. Republish them on Medium by setting a canonical URL to your version

Search engines use canonical links to determine and prioritize the ultimate source of content, removing confusion when there are multiple copies of the same document in different locations. Sites that publish an overabundance of duplicate content without indicating a canonical link may be penalized in search engine rankings.

I now publish articles on my own website under my domain - nityesh.com.

But then, I also also republish them on Medium by adding a canonical URL pointing to my website's version of the article.

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Nityesh Agarwal

Print Share Comment Cite Upload Translate Updates

APA

Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx (2021-04-07T10:02:20+00:00) Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/

MLA

" » Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons." Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx - Wednesday April 7, 2021, https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/

HARVARD

Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx Wednesday April 7, 2021 » Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons., viewed ,<https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/>

VANCOUVER

Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx - » Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons. [Internet]. [Accessed ]. Available from: https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/

CHICAGO

" » Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons." Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx - Accessed . https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/

IEEE

" » Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons." Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx [Online]. Available: https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/. [Accessed: ]

rf:citation

» Is Medium still a good platform for new writers in 2021? Discussing the pros and cons | Nityesh Agarwal | Sciencx | https://www.scien.cx/2021/04/07/is-medium-still-a-good-platform-for-new-writers-in-2021-discussing-the-pros-and-cons/ |

Please log in to upload a file.

There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.

You must be logged in to translate posts. Please log in or register.