The world of content marketing is an ever-evolving one.
New techniques, strategies, and platforms keep popping up every now and then, and that’s a good thing. Because online users are constantly bombarded with a truckload of information and content, they grow tired of how it is presented to them.
To keep things new and fresh, content marketers often have to leverage these new platforms or tactics. Sometimes, that seems like the only way to either stand out from the rest of the crowd or to keep that engagement level high.
However, every now and then, you come across either a content marketing strategy or a publishing platform that becomes too big to ignore. Ultimately, it becomes an engraved part of normal content marketing. Medium is one of those platforms.
It started out as a website where people could write, read, and share whatever they want — just like a social media platform, but for writers and content creators. Since it was started by a Twitter co-founder, we couldn’t expect a lesser social media dimension anyway.
However, it quickly grew.
Content marketers realized how amazing Medium was, and so many of them started sharing their stories and articles on the platform. Some even built their credibility and authority using the platform.
And we are not just talking about newbie content creators. Some of the biggest companies we know, including BMW, decided to host their entire blog on Medium. That’s how powerful that platform became.
But every new strategy or platform has another side to it.
Nothing comes without a cost.
Based on your specific niche, business model, goals, and audience, you need to choose the cost you are willing to bear to achieve your objectives. Good online marketers are always choosing. That’s how they stumble upon great things.
So … is it really such a great idea to use Medium? Moreover, how does publishing on Medium affect your website’s content marketing and SEO?
Since every business is different, we can’t say what you should do.
However, we can inform you about everything related to it and equip you with the right knowledge so you could make that decision for your business.
In this post, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of publishing on Medium, and what impact does it have on your website’s content marketing and SEO.
Let’s begin with the advantages first.
1. Huge Audience Potential
Medium.com receives over 60 million visits every month.
Let’s face it. Unless you have an immensely popular website, you might not be getting 60 million visits every month.
More importantly, these are not the visitors who just stumble upon Medium. These are avid readers and content consumers who are actively looking for good information on one of the most popular content-sharing platforms out there. That is engaged traffic!
Therefore, one of the biggest benefits of publishing on Medium is that you can get your content in front of a big readership.
Lesson #1: If you believe you have something amazing to say, but your posts do not get enough views for them to matter, publishing on Medium might be a good idea.
2. An Easy User-Experience
User experience is a big deal nowadays.
With evolving technologies like AMP articles and the ever-shrinking attention span of online users, people want a simplified experience.
If they have to navigate through tons of web pages, banner ads, and links, readers are going to jump ship very, very soon. Search engines are not going to like that, and you are likely to get a sitewide penalty.
Not a good idea.
On the other hand, Medium offers an enviously easy user experience to its visitors. Plenty of white space makes consuming content an incredible experience. Other features, such as an estimated reading time and commenting on and highlight specific quotes are also found useful by most readers.
Moreover, there is an easy-to-use Android and iOS Medium app, which makes content consumption possible and simple on the go.
Lesson #2: If you believe your website does not — or cannot — offer such a good and easy user experience, host your content on Medium.
3. Instant SEO Power
Content marketers and e-business owners who rely on organic traffic will find this point particularly useful.
You know the biggest problem most new websites face? They don’t have any SEO authority in search engines, which makes it extremely difficult to outrank well-established websites.
You can’t even target moderately competitive keywords and have any reasonable success with them.
Medium changes all of that.
Moz gives Medium a domain authority of 92/100. According to Searchmetrics, Medium ranks for more than 320,000 keywords.
With so much SEO authority, you can target competitive keywords — which you just cannot on your own website. If you optimize your content strategically and pick the right keywords, you can outrank several well-established websites on search engine results pages.
Lesson #3: If you are struggling with ranking for competitive keywords and need a boost, try publishing on Medium.
The Not-So-Sunny Side
Before you jump into Medium and start creating content right away, let’s also take a look at some of the disadvantages of publishing on Medium.
1. Less Control on Analytics
If you like analytics, seeing numbers and strategizing accordingly, Medium might not be the perfect platform for you.
While Medium does provide reasonably good analytics about the performance of your content, it is no Google Analytics. You really miss the control and the granular view of Google Analytics, and just the sheer number of things you can do with it.
From creating funnels to tracking important KPIs to tracking events, you can do a lot in Google Analytics that you simply can’t with Medium — at least not in the free version.
Lesson #4: If insightful analytics and in-depth data are very important to you, don’t rely on Medium.
2. No Long-Term SEO Benefits
While taking off a new website is difficult because of a lack of SEO power, it really pays off in the long-term.
You can sneak an instant SEO advantage by harnessing the SEO authority of Medium, but that won’t propel your own website in the SERPs down the road. However, if you continue publishing amazing content on your own website, improve SEO, and build lots of links, eventually your website will start ranking higher in the SERPs — which is what everybody ultimately desires of.
Lesson #5: If your website’s success heavily depends on organic traffic, it would be better to just continue publishing content on your own website and gradually but surely build its SEO authority.
3. Limited Lead-Generation Capabilities
It is arguably one of the biggest disadvantages of publishing the bulk of your content on Medium and the worst effect it has on your site’s content marketing and overall success.
On your own website, you could do tons of things to generate qualified leads. From running pop-ups to generate leads, to placing forms to using content upgrades, there are so many options.
Medium, on the other hand, despite its brilliance, has limited lead-generation capabilities.
Lesson #6: If your business model depends heavily on nurturing email leads and selling product/services via email marketing, Medium isn’t a good option for you.
Final Words
Despite the disadvantages, Medium is a great platform for content marketers and business owners. However, you will have to use it strategically.
You cannot rely on it entirely unless you are a big brand like BMW, which would receive its traffic directly, and sales do not necessarily have to be closed via promotional emails.
On the other hand, it is a great platform for building credibility, getting your name out there, and start ranking for some competitive keywords right away.
So what do you think?
Do you believe that you should use Medium? Is it going to be helpful for your business? Let us know in the comment section below.
