Last year, for a month, my follower growth on Medium exploded. Unfortunately, I had to reduce the frequency of publication, so it returned to normal levels after about a month.

Talking with other writers, I learned this can happen on the platform. If you continue to strike while the iron is hot, you can also keep it going.

It’s a “feature” of Medium’s algorithm. Today, let me share with you how to exploit it.

How Medium recommends authors and articles

Medium recommends authors and articles in several places in the app and on the site:

• in the main feed,
• at the bottom of articles,
• in topic pages,
• in the Recommended for you section of the Explore page,
• in the sidebar (on the site).

The details of the algorithm are secret, but from my experience and the authors I studies, some things are clear. Like most (all?) current algorithms, it’s a flywheel. The more a user reads and interacts with your articles, the more they will be promoted by the algorithm.

The Medium flywheel

Let’s consider the reader's point of view:

• one day, she stumbles upon one of your articles,
• she likes the title, so she clicks,
• then she reads to the end and maybe even claps, highlights or replies,
• the algorithm takes these actions as signals of appreciation for your article,
• so, more articles of yours appear in that reader's feed
• she reads and interacts with more of them,
• since she likes your style and the topic, there’s a higher chance she clicks on the recommendations at the bottom of each article (the “More from” section)
• if you have a large catalog, the algorithm shows her even more of your articles, also going back in time,
• it also recommends you to other similar readers,
• the more readers appreciate you, the more similar readers will see your articles.

This process isn’t guaranteed, though. Some practices have a higher change to trigger the flywheel and keep it going.

Greasing the flywheel

Imagine you write one article about business, another about cats, a third one about fitness. A reader reads the first one. When she reaches the bottom, she is recommended the other two. How probable is it she clicks on them?

What if, instead, you write mostly only articles about business or very close topics?

This is what happened to my friend Derek Hughes. I knew him when he had fewer than 2000 followers, less than a year ago. Now he’s over 12000.

What happened?

• He started writing only about writing.
• He targets mostly beginner writers.
• He publishes more tan 3 times per week.

Writing is an extremely popular topic on Medium, other topics may bring less exciting results. But the quantity and the focus fueled his flywheel. Readers passionate about the topic can binge on his multitude of articles and know what to expect.

So, what’s the strategy

In summary, it’s simple:

• choose a topic, or a few very close topics,
• address the largest audience possible,
• publish multiple times per week (possibly at least 3).

This is independent of the Boost. Derek published hundreds of articles, but he only has a handful of Boosts.

It’s a simple strategy. The hard part is the publication volume. I’ve never seen successful authors on Medium publishing once per week.

A warning

Too often, tips for growing on various platforms focus too much on increasing followers. Sadly, this is the easiest statistic to increase and the least relevant.

In fact, you can have more than 10,000 followers on Medium and still publish articles with 100 views. The algorithm reward individual content.

But initially, the number of followers matters. It serves as social proof. Once you get into 5 figures, readers see you more as an authority.

Above a certain threshold, the algorithm might work better. Nowadays, all algorithms show each new piece of content to a subset of followers. If their reaction is positive, they expand the audience. They repeat this process until the audience continues to appreciate that piece.

So if you are just starting and have a few hundred or a few thousand followers, the initial sample will be very small. And it will be more difficult to have strong growth. Instead, with 10,000 followers, it might be easier to have a larger and more representative sample.

What do you think of this strategy?

I’ve seen this work multiple times, before and after the introduction of the Boost. If you want to try it, give it at least one month.

Let me know if you have questions and if you try it.

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If you need help to grow on Medium, for a limited time I'm providing free 30-minute calls to find the best strategy for you. Click here to book yours.

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See you soon!

Alberto