Medium has been growing in popularity as a blogging platform in recent years. With its easy-to-use interface, large audience and community, and built-in promotion and distribution, many bloggers have turned to Medium as a way to share their thoughts and ideas with a wider audience. But is Medium a good platform for blogging?
Medium is good for blogging, but many writers will be better off posting content on their own website instead. While Medium does have a very large community, it’s often hard to build a following and get many views to your posts. The same applies with a blog of course, but there is more potential for monetisation and growth with your own website.
Below, I’ll take a closer look at Medium as a blogging platform and explore the pros and cons of blogging on Medium, how it works, and whether it’s better to write on Medium or your own blog.
Is Medium A Good Platform For Blogging?
Medium is a well-designed and user-friendly platform that allows bloggers to share their work and reach a wider audience. The platform has a large and engaged community of readers, which can be beneficial for bloggers looking to get their work seen by a wider audience.
Medium’s algorithm promotes high-quality content, which can help your writing to be seen by more people. Medium also has a built-in promotion and distribution feature that boosts the performance of your posts and shows them to a wider audience of people that don’t get follow you (but this doesn’t happen for every post, and it never happens for some writers).
However, when it comes to blogging on Medium, there are also some drawbacks to consider. One of the main downsides of blogging on Medium is that you have limited control over the design and layout of your blog. Medium’s design is fixed and it doesn’t allow much customization, other than some tweaks to the way your profile page looks.
Medium’s monetization options are limited, which can be a drawback for bloggers who are looking to make money from their content. Another downside is that Medium’s reach is algorithm-dependent, which means that your content may not be seen by as many people as you would like. Of course, your own blog will be largely affected by Google’s algorithms too.
Pros & Cons Of Blogging On Medium
| Pros | Cons |
| Large, friendly community | Minimal customization |
| Easy to use | Limited monetization methods |
| Free to write on the platform | Medium algorithm can be a tough nut to crack |
| You can make decent money on the platform |
How To Start Blogging On Medium
To start blogging on the platform, you’ll need to set up a Medium account. Once you’ve set up your account, you can start creating and publishing your posts. Medium makes it easy to write posts and track your performance with a simple, intuitive interface.
You can also add images, videos, and links to your posts to make them more engaging. You can write posts directly from your phone if you’re out and about, or from your desktop.
From there, it’s all about writing consistently and finding out what people respond well to – and then writing more of that! As with anything to do with blogging, it takes patience to see success on Medium, but you can then start earning some money from your writing.
Need some help getting started? Check out my 250+ article title ideas for some inspiration.
How To Monetize Your Medium Content
The Medium Partner Program
When it comes to monetizing your content on Medium, the platform has a revenue-sharing program called the Medium Partner Program (MPP) that allows writers to earn money from their writing.
The program is based on a member-based subscription model. This means that Medium members pay to read stories and a portion of the revenue generated is shared with the writers. This means the better your stories perform and the more people that read them, the more money you can make. But if your stories don’t get many views, they won’t earn you much money.
Other Monetization Methods
Medium also allows writers to monetize their content through affiliate marketing, although you must do so in a natural way. If your posts are blatant pushes for specific products or services, you may end up on the wrong side of the Medium guidelines, but having the occasional, relevant affiliate link is typically fine.
You can also monetize your content on Medium using their referral program. With this, you can make money when someone clicks on your link to sign up for the platform (at no extra cost to them). You can see an example of a Medium affiliate link below!
Finally, you can also build an email list on Medium, which you can use to direct people towards your other content, products or services, and this can be a useful way to monetize your following once you start seeing some traction. This won’t be a great monetization method for those with few followers, but it can be one to shoot for in the future.
Writing On Medium vs Your Own Blog
| Medium | Your Own Blog |
| Free and easy to set up | Requires some upfront costs and setup |
| Can write about anything and see success | Usually need to niche down a little more |
| Can start earning money almost immediately | Usually need to wait months for monetizable traffic |
| Limited customization | Almost limitless customization options |
| Limited monetization methods | Plenty of ways to monetize, from ads to sponsorships and affiliate marketing |
| You’re at the mercy of the Medium algorithm | You’re at the mercy of the Google algorithm |
How To Make Money On Medium vs Your Own Blog
Making money on Medium:
- Medium Partner Program (MPP): Medium’s revenue-sharing program, MPP, allows writers to earn money from their content. The program is based on a member-based subscription model, which means that Medium members pay to read stories and a portion of the revenue generated is shared with the writers.
- Lightweight affiliate marketing: Medium allows writers to monetize their content through some relevant affiliate marketing. This can be a great way to make money from your Medium blog, especially if you have a large following, but it’s a fine balance to strike, as people are not on Medium to buy things and are there to be entertained or informed.
- Affiliate program: While this depends on your following or your audience elsewhere, you can make money with Medium’s referral program too.
- Newsletters: If you can build up a large enough following that subscribes to your emails, you may be able to monetize that too.
Making money via your own blog:
- Advertising: One of the most common ways to make money from a blog is through advertising. You can sell advertising space on your blog, or use advertising networks such as Google AdSense to place ads on your blog. This is a very hands-off monetization method, which you can’t use on Medium.
- Sponsored content and affiliate marketing: On a larger scale than on Medium, you can monetize your content through sponsored content and affiliate marketing on your own blog. Sponsored content isn’t allowed on Medium, while some lightweight affiliate marketing is. But you can go all in on both on your own blog.
- Selling products or services: If you have a niche blog, you can sell products or services related to your niche to your audience. This can include e-books, courses, or consulting services. As you can create product pages and landing pages, it’s much easier to make money with this method on your own blog.
- Membership or subscription-based models: You can also use membership or subscription-based models to generate revenue from your own blog. This could include exclusive content, access to a community or forum, or other benefits for paying members.
Final Thoughts
Medium is a great place to start writing if you’re a beginner, but it’s also a decent way to start making money from your content as well. While a little limited compared to starting your own blog, it’s free to become a writer on the platform and it can help get the ball rolling towards your content creation goals!
Chris is the creator of Freelance Ready. He originally started freelancing (on Fiverr) while at university, writing and editing website content. He created this website to share his freelancing experience and help others on their own self-employed journeys. He is now a freelance SEO consultant and content editor. You can learn more about Chris here.
Freelance Ready is reader-supported. That means some links on this website are affiliate links. If you sign up or make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission.