If you’re looking to start a blog, you may wonder where to do that. Starting a blog on Medium can be a quick way for you to start experimenting with your passion for writing.
You could even earn your first dollar from your blogs, and you can do so for free. But is writing on Medium worth it?
Before we get into the pros and cons, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
Why Blog on Medium
Whether you’re new to blogging or are looking to distribute your content further, you may want to start a blog on Medium. That way, you can start getting some views without having to promote your content all on your own.
Consider a few reasons to use the platform for blogging.
Easy to Start
If you start a self-hosted blog, you have to buy a domain name and pay for a website host. However, you can start blogging on Medium for free just by creating an account.
You can even connect your Google account so that you don’t have to create a password. That means you can start writing within minutes, and you can publish your first story today.
Blogging on your own website involves a bit more setup that’s not the end of the world. But if you’re impatient, you might want to start with something quicker and easier.
Built-In Audience
Another thing I love about writing on Medium is that there’s a built-in audience. When you first start an account, there’s a better chance that someone will see your content vs. on your own new blog.
You can also find and follow other writers to get inspired. Now, to read some of the articles, you’ll have to pay $5 a month or $50 a year to become a Medium member, but that’s worth it for reading and learning.
Even if you don’t pay, you can still take advantage of Medium’s ecosystem. You can use tags to help categorize your content and get it to show up in front of people who don’t follow you.
The Community
Blogging can sometimes feel really lonely because you’re typing on your computer and publishing into the void. But on Medium, you can connect with your readers and with other writers.
You can apply to join publications, which can further help distribute your content. And you can use claps and comments to engage with others and to reply to people who engage with your stories.
It’s very similar to social media platforms, and you can argue Medium is a social network. Even if you have your own blog, it can be nice to connect with other bloggers through Medium.
Monetization Opportunities
Medium may not run ads on your content, but you can still make money from it. From the beginning, you can write content that lends itself to affiliate links.
You can also promote your products and services or link back to your blog that you’ve monetized with ads. Then, you can make more money from your content.
Once you reach 100 followers, you can apply to join the Medium Partner Program (MPP). Unfortunately, it’s only open to people in countries with Stripe as a payment option, but you can earn a small portion of your readers’ membership fees.
No Ads
As I mentioned, Medium doesn’t use ads to monetize the website or app. Now, this is more of a pro for readers than writers, but you can use this fact to attract new readers.
Then, you can get more people to sign up, and you could earn more from affiliate sales or the MPP. A lack of ads also makes it easy to log into your account and get straight to writing.
You won’t have to worry about incessant popups or other barriers. The editor is also very clean and minimal, in general, which helps make it easy to use.
Why Not Blog on Medium
Before you start your Medium account, consider if it’s worth using the platform. It’s gone through a lot of changes in the past few years, so it’s not as lucrative as it has been.
There are other drawbacks to using it as well, such as the following.
Not Yours
Like any other social media platform, you don’t own Medium. That means you don’t own your content on there, and Medium can deactivate you at any time.
You could lose all of your hard work, from your writing to your audience. If you’re going to use Medium, use it as a tool to drive people to your blog rather than your blog itself.
Include links to blog posts on your website in your Medium stories. Then, people can click on those links to find more of your work, and they can support you off of the platform.
Fewer Formatting Options
Compared to a blogging platform like WordPress, Medium has fewer options for formatting. At least when it comes to titles, you can only use h2s and h3s.
If you want to get smaller, you’d need to write somewhere else. That can be a big downside, especially if you like to use h4s or smaller headings a lot.
Formatting blog posts can make or break the reader experience. So keep that in mind when you decide where to publish a specific piece of content.
External Views Don’t Pay
When it comes to earning money from the Partner Program, you only earn from paying member views. That means you could do some good SEO to a post and get a lot of traffic.
However, a good portion of that traffic aren’t paying Medium members. So you could miss out on a lot of income, especially if you had placed the post on your site and used ads.
Now, you can make money from external views using affiliate links. But even then, people have to buy something for you to get paid.
Hard to Earn Good Money
Unless your content goes viral within Medium’s algorithm, the chances of making a lot of money right from the platform are slim. Even top writers have noted a dip in income within the past few months.
Over the past few months, I’ve earned more money from my various blogs than I have from the MPP. So while you can use it to supplement your blogging income, you probably can’t replace it.
You’ll need to publish a lot of content to earn a bit of money. And while you can earn more as you publish more, I’d rather earn that money from a platform I control and own, like this blog.
Membership Fee
If you want to read unlimited articles on Medium, you have to pay a membership fee. That allows you to interact with the other writers on the platform.
While the fee isn’t that expensive, it can be a bit annoying. Sure, other websites use ads to make money, but you don’t have to pay out of your own pocket to consume the content.
You have to consider if it’s worth paying $5 or $50 to access all of the Medium content. Sometimes, it’s better to put that money toward a domain and hosting for your own website.
Is It Easy to Blog on Medium?
Starting a blog on Medium is very easy because you just need to sign up. You don’t have to choose or customize a theme or select a domain name and a hosting account.
It’s a great platform for beginners who just want to write and see if they like blogging. Then, you can always create your own blog later where you have more control.
Does Medium Cost Money?
Writing on Medium doesn’t cost any money (aside from what you already pay for internet access). However, it helps to pay for a membership so that you can read the work of others.
You can pay monthly or yearly, and you can access more content. Reading other writers’ work can help you improve as a writer, so it can be worth the fee.
Final Thoughts
If you want to start a blog on Medium, I say that you should go for it. The platform makes it easy to get started and to find your audience and grow your following.
However, it never hurts to start your own blog with Blogger or WordPress. Then, you can have more control over your content, and you could make more money.