If You Write On Medium, Don't Put So Many Links At The Bottom Of Your Stories, Okay?

Here's a little tip that can make a big difference...

Happy Friday,

Here’s a thing writers do on Medium. You’ve probably seen it. At the end of their story, they paste in the links to several more stories. Two, three maybe four. Medium turns them into fancy boxes with pic and description.

But they’re not done yet. Oh heck, not even close.

Then they add the link to Medium’s affiliate (referral) program. Because they hope someone will click it and become a member and they’ll get the two bucks per month referral fee. Woohoo.

But they’re still not done.

Under that, they add a text footer with a bunch of links. Like, maybe their Substack or some other newsletter. Or their Linktree or website. Heck, maybe throw in some affiliate links to a program that pays a decent commission.

Don’t do that, okay? Keep your footer clean.

Let’s talk about why…

First? That’s not how CTA (call to action) works

Most people think the more options you give people, the more likely they are to click something. But that’s not actually how it works. The more options you give people, the less likely they are to click anything at all.

There’s a hilarious study that was done with jam. Show people 2 or 3 jars of jam and they’ll ask themselves which they want to try. Show them 58 jams and they say nah, I don’t want any jam. Choice paralysis.

It plays out a little different on the internet.

It’s more like banner blindness. There’s so much junk at the bottom — the stuff you add, plus the stuff Medium adds, that they just ignore it all. Because it’s not just you adding stuff. Medium adds a bunch of other links, too. It’s a lot.

Also? It reduces your read rate…

You know what a read is, right? It’s when someone make it to the bottom of your story. But that stuff you add? That’s part of the story. Because you put it there. So technically, that’s part of your story.

Honestly, I think Medium needs to look at how they calculate a read. I think it’s wonky because I’ve had people comment on stuff at the bottom of a story, but they didn’t register as a read. I don’t know why it’s so wonky, but why make it worse?

But the big one? Here’s one you didn’t know…

Right now there are over 60 publication editors who can nominate stories for a boost. By September it will be at least 100. That’s the goal Medium recently announced.

Most of them do not want you to know who they are.

Only 27 have publicly announced that their publication can boost stories. The reason most of them are staying silent is the crap that goes along with it. Their publications get slammed with submissions. People PM them to ask to get boosted. People get angry if they write for that publication and don’t get boosted.

Here’s what I do know. Many editors who have the ability to nominate stories for a boost overlook stories that have “too much stuff” at the bottom. I know that because History of Women is one of the publications that can nominate stories for a boost.

I wrote about it, to share some of what most writers don’t know about Boost.

It would be a real shame if you wrote a great story that really deserved to get boosted, but got overlooked because of the link-a-palooza at the bottom. If it’s in my publication, I’d message to as you to remove it. But the vast majority of editors who are keeping it hush hush will just pass you by. And that would be a shame.

Let’s talk about the Boost program real briefly…

There’s already a ton of stuff that’s not eligible to be boosted. No meta posts. No take-down posts that slam someone. No inflammatory business reviews. No posts that make unverifiable claims that may harm someone, like health and mental health “advice” that can’t be verified. No erotica. No posts that use images that the writer doesn’t have the rights to use. No link farms. The list is long!!

So if you’ve written something that ticks all the right boxes, it hits people in the feels or teaches them something, it’s memorable and well-crafted, it would be a darn shame to not get boosted because the editor doesn’t want to out themselves by asking you to clean up the footer. Why do that to yourself?

A question to ask yourself…

It’s pretty much a fact of marketing that people are more likely to click if you ask them to. That’s not in question. The question is, what do you want readers to do when they finish reading your story?

Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Then put one link at the bottom, to your newsletter. You want them to read more of your stories? Link to your profile or a list of your top stories.

Pick the one action you most want them to take, and link to that. It’s all you need. And it won’t make boost nominators cringe and pass.

By the end of summer, there will be 100 editors looking for great writing to nominate for a boost. You will not know who most of them are. A lot of posts get discounted right at the beginning. They’re meta posts, or unqualified advice. Take down posts that slam a business or person. It’s a darn shame to see posts get disqualified at the very bottom.

So don’t do that to yourself, okay?

:)

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On Medium…

• History Of Women Can Nominate Your Stories For A Boost

• No One Really Tells You The Hardest Part Of Getting Older

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Thanks for reading. If you enjoy my writing, click the heart to let me know. ❤️

xo,
Linda