Medium: how to gain followers as an author (writer), step by step

You gain followers on Medium mainly by regularly writing useful texts for a clearly defined audience, using precise headlines, offering articles to relevant publications, and sharing where your readers already are. Quick tricks such as mass clapping or follow-for-follow exchanges will not bring readers. Always verify Medium's specific rules and terms in its Help Center.

What does a follower on Medium mean and why does it matter?

A follower on Medium is a reader who has clicked the Follow button on your profile or publication, thereby showing that they want to read your future texts. For a writer, this is the most valuable audience, because readers return to their articles repeatedly.

Medium differs from Instagram or TikTok in that it is built on longer texts. Readers come to you through recommendations within the platform, from publications, from search and from links on other networks. The number of followers therefore does not by itself tell you how many people actually read your texts, so always compare it with read statistics.

The original version of this article was published in 2022. Since then, Medium has several times updated its Partner Program (the program through which authors earn rewards for reading their stories) and the way it recommends articles. You can find the current terms in the Medium Help Center (help.medium.com). Below, we focus on practices that do not depend on specific rules.

How do you set up your profile so that people want to click Follow?

Within a few seconds, your profile must tell readers what you write about and why they should follow you. When a reader finishes your article and opens your profile, this is where the decision is made.

1. Name and photo: use the same name and a similar photo as on LinkedIn or your website, so that people can recognise you.
2. Short description (bio): in one sentence, write what you write about and for whom, for example, “I write about accounting for beginning self-employed professionals”.
3. Clear topics: stick to one to three topics. Readers follow an author whose content they know what to expect from.
4. Featured article: if the interface allows it, pin an article that represents you well.
5. Links: add a link to your website, newsletter or professional profile so that readers can verify who you are.

What and how should you write so that readers keep coming back?

Readers return to authors whose texts have given them something: a new insight, a method, an experience or an opinion supported by arguments. In its guidance, Google describes such content as “people-first”, meaning content created primarily for people, not for manipulating search rankings (Google Search Central). The same logic also applies to Medium.

In the same guidance, Google recommends asking whether the text provides original information or its own analysis, and whether it is something the reader would save or send to a friend. Ask yourself these questions before every publication.

• Storytelling: begin with a concrete situation or problem that the reader knows, and only then move on to the general lesson.
• Specific insights: figures from your own practice, methods, and mistakes from which you learned. Readers can find general advice everywhere.
• Readable formatting: subheadings, short paragraphs, numbered lists for methods, and highlighting of key sentences.
• Call to action at the end: gently state what your next text will be about, and invite the reader to follow you if the topic interests them.

How do you write a headline and subtitle?

The headline should accurately describe what the reader will find in the text. Google recommends that headlines be descriptive and helpful, and that they neither exaggerate nor shock (Google Search Central). A headline that promises more than the text delivers may bring clicks, but not followers.

Use the subtitle to add the benefit: for whom the text is intended and what the reader will take away from it. Try several variants and check which one has a better ratio of reads to views in your statistics.

How often should you publish on Medium?

There is no universal frequency that would suit all authors. What matters is the rhythm you can sustain over the long term without a drop in quality.

You can find a suitable rhythm from your own data:

1. Choose a frequency you can manage, for example one story per week.
2. Keep it up for six to eight weeks and record the topic, headline, number of reads and new followers for each story.
3. Compare which topics and headlines brought the most followers.
4. Based on the results, adjust your topics and frequency and continue into the next period.

Planning your topics in advance is made easier with a monthly content plan template, which can also be used for articles.

How can Medium publications help, and how do you get into them?

A Medium publication is a collection of texts by multiple authors under one name, managed by editors. When your story appears in a publication, it reaches its readers, who may not yet know you.

1. Find publications in your field and read several of their recent stories.
2. Look for the publication's submission guidelines and follow them precisely.
3. Offer a finished, well-edited text that matches the publication's focus.
4. Be patient while waiting for the editors' response, and do not send the same text to many publications at once unless the guidelines allow it.
5. After publication, respond to readers' comments, as this is also a way to gain new followers.

Acceptance into a publication does not guarantee greater readership, but it increases the chance that your story reaches people beyond your existing audience.

How can you use Google search and social sharing?

People searching for answers on Google may find your Medium stories, and you can bring additional readers from other networks. Both routes require patience.

Search

According to Google, a good page title should be unique, clear, concise and accurately describe the content; a good description should be short and contain the most important points of the page (SEO Starter Guide). If the Medium editor offers a separate setting for the search engine title and description, fill it in according to these principles; check the story settings to see exactly where to find it. Google also points out that the effect of changes may become visible within a few hours or even a few months, and recommends evaluating results over a period of weeks.

Sharing on other networks

• LinkedIn: for professional topics, share the article directly in a post with a short summary of the main insight. How to build a professional profile is described in the article LinkedIn: Professional Profile Growth Step by Step.
• Facebook groups: share only where the group's rules allow it and where the text is genuinely valuable to members.
• Newsletter or website: readers who already know you are the most likely new followers.

Caution with boosting content through interactions. Meta's rules (as of November 2026) prohibit requiring users to like or share before they see promised content, as well as selling, buying or exchanging interactions such as likes, shares, views or follows (Meta Transparency Center – Spam).

Which "growth tricks" should you avoid?

Tricks that artificially inflate numbers do not create readers and may violate platform rules. Social proof is the impression that something is valuable because others have already appreciated it, and Medium readers judge this mainly by the quality of texts and comments. You can find further terms in glossary.

Tactic	Why we do not recommend it	What to do instead
Mass clapping and following in exchange for a return	It creates artificial activity without any interest in the texts; Meta's networks expressly prohibit exchanging interactions, and you should check Medium's rules in its help centre	Comment on texts you have actually read and add your own perspective
Inserting links to your articles in other people's comments	It looks like spam and tends to put readers off	Link to your text only where it directly answers the question asked
Sensational headlines that the text does not deliver	Google recommends not exaggerating headlines; a disappointed reader will not start following you	A descriptive headline with a clear benefit
Mass-produced texts without their own value	They do not match "people-first" content as described by Google	Fewer texts, but with your own experience and concrete procedures
Purchased interactions	They bring no readers, distort your statistics and may violate platform rules	Publishing, sharing with your own audience, collaborating with authors in your field

When paid promotion makes sense and when it does not?

Paid interaction packages make no sense for Medium itself: an author needs readers who finish the texts and come back, and no package can guarantee that. Purchased interactions do not replace content, do not guarantee audience interest, reach or earnings, and may worsen the ratio of reactions to followers. If your goal is to meet the Medium Partner Program requirements or you have a warning or restriction on your account, do not use paid promotion.

It is different for a profile on a network where you share your articles. For example, if you have a new Facebook profile with good content, a smaller package on the page Facebook followers serve as initial social proof alongside your own work. However, bear in mind that Meta prohibits purchased interactions in its rules, so a reduction in reach or restriction of your account cannot be ruled out; the same is expressly stated in the terms and conditions of sledujici.eu in article 3.3. Current options and prices are listed in package price list.