Hoping For a Boost? - Avoid these 3 Fatal Mistakes
Doing number 3 will 100% guarantee, that Medium doesn’t boost your post…. and most of you won’t even be aware of it.
In deciding what picture to use as the main image for this article, I definitely spent more time than usual. The rocket, blasting off into outer space, is a good metaphor for how we’d like our posts to perform, and, Medium’s boost feature, can help do just that.
However, as I alluded to in the title, there are a couple of things that will hinder that, and one thing that will downright put the Ki-Bosh on it happening at all..
Okay, here’s the rundown (the deal breaker is at number three, so scroll on down if you’re in a rush, otherwise take a look at all three, you’ll be glad you did)
Three things that make your post ineligible for a boost:
A bland or boring title.
It’s the first thing we all see… you, me, Medium readers and perhaps most importantly, the curators, who ultimately choose which posts to boost. So… paying special attention to your title, maybe reading a few blogs on the subject of catchy titles or a tactic I’ve heard about recently recently: write your article first, then have a good think about what would best describe it. Write 5-10 titles.
The next step (my favourite) get yourself a warm drink and forget about what you’ve just written for as long as you want, but an hour or two at least. Then reread your article, go back to your list of titles and watch one jump out at you!
Avoid using dull or irrelevant images.
This shouldn’t be too much of an issue due to the countless amount of photo’s on Unsplash and of course the Internet itself, I’ve heard there’s a few images on there if you look hard enough… I joke of course and if you do decide to use the Web, always make sure you aquire the rights to the image and be sure to credit it properly to the OG source when you publish.
Now to the one that may surprise a few of you:
If you’d like your post to be eligible or even just in the running to be considered for a boost… you can not use the word ‘Medium’ anywhere in your title.
Those whose opinions count at Medium, deem it to be self promotion on their part, and, as a result the name of the publication must not be mentioned in the title if you are to stand any chance of your article being boosted.
Finally, for those of you that don’t know: a boost can be the difference between your post getting a couple of hundred, to tens of thousands extra views. So most definitely worth taking the time and never neglecting those small details and finishing touches.
As always, happy writing and please feel free to clap, comment and subscribe if this article has brought you any value.
