My Medium articles consistently rank at the top of Google search results. But is that a fluke or something you can count on for yourself?
How well do Medium articles rank?
Medium articles rank very well because Medium is a trusted, high-authority website with a domain ranking of 94. The higher the domain ranking the easier and faster articles rank on Google. Well-written, original articles on low-competition topics can rank within minutes, hours, or days.
In the blog post, I’m going to share everything you need to know about how well Medium articles rank (with my own examples).
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank? (Detailed Explanation)
You may still be wondering, “Why do Medium articles rank so well?”
Let’s dig a little deeper into the how and why of Medium rankings. If you’re a blogging nerd like me, you really want to know all the nitty-gritty details.
I’ve tried to split up the explanation into digestible categories so that it is easier to understand.
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank With Medium’s Domain Ranking?
Google’s search algorithm is constantly evolving, but one of the key factors that they have always looked at is a website’s authority.
As I mentioned earlier, Medium has a high domain ranking (currently in the 90s on a scale of 100).
Therefore, Medium articles rank well
But why does authority matter to ranking on Google and other search engines?
Authority is essentially a measure of how trustworthy and influential a site is, and it’s determined by looking at factors like the age of the site, the number of inbound links, and the quality of the site’s content.
Sites with high authority are typically more reliable and informative than those with low authority.
Google takes this into account when determining its search rankings.
In addition, sites with high authority are more likely to get shared on social media and generate natural backlinks, both of which can help to boost their search ranking even further.
Medium articles rank well because:
- Medium is a high-authority website
- Medium has a lot of good backlinks
- Medium is an aged site that has been around for years
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank By a New Medium Writer?
Medium articles can rank well for a new Medium writer if they follow some SEO best practices.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of content optimization for Google search in order to increase online traffic and improve site exposure.
Medium articles can be optimized for Google search by:
- Including relevant keywords throughout the article
- Using descriptive titles and headings
- Filling out the Medium SEO settings (Meta Title and Medium SEO Description)
- Formatting the article using design elements that are easy to scan and understand
By following these best practices, a new Medium writer can improve their chances of ranking high in Google search results and earning more web traffic to their articles.
I should know since this is exactly what happened to me when I first started on Medium years ago.
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank By an Established Medium Writer?
If the writer is established on Medium, they will most likely rank their articles faster.
Why?
Because they know how to choose lower-competition topics, write better articles, and do SEO better.
Let’s break it down.
When it comes to topic selection, established Medium writers have an advantage. They know which topics are being talked about the most and which are overdone.
They also know which topics are too niche and won’t get much traction.
So, they are able to pick topics that have low competition but are still popular enough to get a good amount of views.
In terms of article quality, established writers tend to produce content that is more engaging and well-written.
This is because they have practice writing for an audience and know what sort of things interest people. As a result, their articles tend to be more successful and get more views than articles written by less experienced writers.
Finally, established writers tend to be better at SEO.
They know how to use keywords effectively and how to structure their articles in a way that will make them more visible on search engines.
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank on Low Competition Topics?
Medium articles rank extremely well on low-competition topics.
In fact, one of the Google ranking “loopholes” I’ve found is combining Medium’s high authority with very low-competition topics. Doing this, I’ve ranked articles at the top of Google search in minutes.
To find low-competition keywords, I like to use keyword tools to filter for topics with high search volume but low competition.
It’s as simple as plugging search topics into keyword tools and adjusting the filters.
Some of my favorite free and paid tools are:
- RankIQ
- Ahrefs
- DeapMarket
- AnswerSocrates
- SearchResponse.io
By combing through the filtered keyword lists on these tools, I can usually find plenty of low-competition keywords that I can target in my article.
How Well Do Medium Articles Rank on High Competition Topics?
Medium articles can rank well on topics with high competition from other high-authority websites.
But there is a caveat.
In order for a Medium article to rank on a high-competition topic, it needs to be better than the other articles that are competing for those keywords.
It needs to be more relevant to the topic, more original in its approach, and more helpful to the reader.
The first step is to study the competing articles.
Read them carefully and take note of their strengths and weaknesses. Then, using that data, you can write a better article that targets those same keywords.
How Well Do Short Medium Articles Rank?
When it comes to SEO, the length of your article isn’t nearly as important as the quality of your content and the competition for your target keywords.
A well-written and informative article on a keyword with little competition can rank quickly and highly on search engine results pages.
Meanwhile, a poorly written article on a tough keyword might not rank at all.
Ultimately, it’s more important to focus on creating high-quality content that accurately reflects the searcher’s intent than it is to worry about whether your article is “too short” or “too long.”
Focus on providing value to searchers and answer their questions in a concise and informative way.
How Well Do Long Medium Articles Rank?
While short articles can certainly rank, long articles (with original and helpful content) tend to rank even better and faster.
That’s because longer articles tend to be more comprehensive and helpful to the reader.
However, don’t write long articles full of fluff and nonsense.
Google’s algorithms are designed to detect and penalize low-quality content, so make sure that your articles are well-researched and offer valuable information that your readers will appreciate.
If you can provide in-depth, helpful content, you’ll find that your articles will usually rank well in the search engines.
How Long Does It Take a Medium Article to Rank?
Most Medium articles rank within two weeks after you publish them on the platform.
The time it takes a Medium article to rank depends on these factors:
- The keyword difficulty of the topic
- The level of competition from other articles
- The authority of Medium
- The authority and expertise of the author
- The quality and helpfulness of the article
- The SEO applied to the article
With that in mind, you can realistically rank a Medium article in 1-2 hours if you write a high-quality article on a low-competition topic.
This happens to me consistently. See the next section for some examples.
5 Examples of My Medium Articles that Rank on Google
Now let’s turn to five examples of my Medium articles that rank.
Keep in mind that ranking algorithm change over time. These examples are valid now (you can go see them in the search results). However, 20 years from now, search rankings will have changed dramatically.
Here are my five examples:
1) 5 Ways To Fail as a Blogger
If you search “how to fail as a blogger” today, my Medium article comes up in the number four spot (out of 10).
Not too shabby.
Especially for an article that is only 800 words and published on my own Medium publication (The Bald Writer).
Does this article get me tons of traffic and money? No.
But it does rank.
2) How I Make $5,000 Per Month Writing Slow Articles
This is another great example.
In this case, I’ve been working on a series of articles on Medium about making money writing different kinds of articles. This time a “slow” article, which I explain in the blog post on Medium.
My article ranks #1 on Google for my exact title phrase keyword.
However, only about 10% of my traffic comes from external sources, such as Google. That makes sense because I wrote the article for Medium’s algorithm and my Medium followers, not Google.
And the article has so far made me nearly $100 with over one thousand views.
3) How I Use Dark Horse SEO to Destroy My Blogging Competition
One of my recent favorites, this article ranks number four on Google for the term “Dark Horse SEO.”
That is made more significant by the fact that the term happens to be the name of a whole SEO company (although I didn’t know it when I wrote the article).
I thought I came up with the term.
This Medium article gets 17% of traffic from external sources like Google.
4) Grow Your Blog Twice as Fast With Seed Sites
I’m really proud of this article because I think it is a valuable contribution to bloggers.
It also happens to rank #1 for “Grow your blog twice as fast.”
Here are the stats:
- 1.2K views
- $56 revenue (so far)
- 20% external views
- 1,700 words
- Published in The Start Up (on Medium)
5) 3 Fastest Ways To Scale Your Blog
Right now, this article ranks #2 for the term “Fastest ways to scale your blog.”
Like all of the rest of the examples I’ve shared, I ranked it as a secondary benefit. My main focus when publishing on Medium is to make money on the Medium platform (which I highly suggest you try).
Most of these articles also rank on Google for certain specific terms.
However, you can easily target Google rankings (although your Medium stats and earnings may be less). It depends on your priorities at the time.
If you do it right, you can get the best of both worlds:
- Make money on Medium
- Rank high on Google for multiple, high-traffic terms
In the next section, I show you how.
What’s the Best Way To Rank Medium Articles?
As you might guess, the best way to rank Medium articles is to:
- Choose a keyword or topic with little to no competition (I usually call these Ghost Keywords or Invisible Keywords)
- Filter those easy keywords by traffic potential (you want as much traffic as possible)
- Study your competition (if you have any)
- Get personal experience with the topic (If it’s about cats, go spend some time with cats)
- Conduct original research on the topic (Do the easiest research you can think of)
- Write the best, most helpful, and most comprehensive article on the topic
- Match searcher intent exactly (If the person searching wants information, give it to them. If they want to buy something, show them how)
- Create a hyper-relevant image to go along with the article (I like to use Jasper Art and Canva)
- Create a simple YouTube video on the exact keyword (and embed it into the article)
I’ve found these tools helpful for ranking Medium articles:
- RankIQ for keyword research
- Jasper Art for creating images
- Canva for formatting images
- Jasper AI writer for helping to write the article
When it comes to research, there are many different approaches that you can take.
However, not all research needs to be complicated or time-consuming. Sometimes, the best way to learn about a topic is to conduct your own simple, original research.
This can be done by conducting experiments, surveys, interviews, or other types of data collection.
For example, you could test how long food spoils, use a stopwatch to figure out how long dogs usually sleep, or call 100 local artists to interview them about their best creative hacks.
By taking the time to collect your own data, you can gain a valuable and unique perspective on a topic.
And that can help your Medium articles rank.
Final Thoughts: How Well Do Medium Articles Rank?
In my experience over the last few years, Medium articles rank very well.
You can leverage Medium to rank articles for affiliate marketing, build an email list, send traffic to your website (or any other link), and much more.
Before you go, check out a few of our other great articles on Medium.
Related posts:
- Where To Promote Medium Articles (21 Best Traffic-Boosters)
- Do You Get Paid for Medium Articles? (Yes, With 7 Caveats)
- Can You Buy and Sell a Medium Account? (Official Answer)
Sources
My personal experience
Medium.com