Top 10 Cons & Disadvantages of Medium

Medium has emerged as a popular online publishing platform, attracting a diverse community of writers and readers alike. It offers a streamlined, aesthetically pleasing interface that simplifies content creation and discovery. Aspiring and established writers leverage Medium to share their thoughts, stories, and expertise with a potentially vast audience. The platform’s appeal lies in its ease of use, built-in audience, and the opportunity to monetize content through its Partner Program.

However, beneath the surface of its user-friendly design and broad appeal, Medium has significant drawbacks that writers and businesses should carefully consider. While it presents itself as an ideal space for content creation and audience engagement, several limitations and disadvantages can hinder success and long-term growth. Understanding these potential pitfalls is crucial for anyone considering investing time and resources into the platform. 

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10 Disadvantages & Drawbacks of Using Medium

Before committing to Medium as your primary publishing platform, it’s essential to understand its potential downsides. While Medium offers numerous benefits, being aware of its disadvantages can help you make an informed decision and strategize effectively. These drawbacks can impact your reach, control, and overall success on the platform. Let’s explore ten significant disadvantages of using Medium that every writer and business should consider.

Disadvantage #1. Limited Monetization Opportunities

Earning substantial income on Medium can be challenging for most writers. While the Medium Partner Program offers a way to monetize content, the actual earnings are often modest. Success heavily depends on factors outside a writer’s direct control. This can lead to frustration and undercompensation for the time and effort invested in creating quality content.

• Low average earnings: Most writers earn very little through the Partner Program. Over 90% of active Medium writers earn under $100 monthly.
• Boost dependency: Significant income often requires articles to be “boosted” by Medium curators, which is unpredictable.
• Inconsistent income: Earnings can fluctuate significantly month to month, making it unreliable as a primary income source.

Real-Life Example: A freelance writer spent weeks crafting a detailed, well-researched article, only to earn a few dollars because it wasn’t boosted, making the time investment feel disproportionate to the financial return.

Solution: Diversify income streams by using Medium as a supplementary platform, not the sole source of revenue. Explore other platforms and monetization methods to build a sustainable writing career.

Disadvantage #2: Algorithm-Driven Visibility

Medium’s algorithm dictates content visibility, meaning even high-quality writing may not reach a large audience. The platform favors content that already has high engagement, creating a hurdle for new writers or niche topics to gain traction. This algorithmic dependency can make it difficult to build a consistent readership based purely on merit.

• Unpredictable reach: Article visibility is heavily influenced by the algorithm, not just quality.
• Favors popular content: Content with existing engagement is prioritized, making it harder for new articles to gain visibility.
• Limited organic growth: Building an audience organically can be slow and challenging due to algorithmic filtering.

Real-Life Example: A blogger consistently publishes insightful articles on a niche topic, but their views remain low because the algorithm prioritizes broader, more popular content, hindering their ability to reach their target audience.

Solution: Optimize content for the Medium algorithm by studying trending topics and engaging with other writers. Simultaneously, promote your Medium articles on external platforms to drive initial traffic and engagement.

Disadvantage #3: Content Ownership and Control

Publishing on Medium means relinquishing a degree of control over your content and brand. You are subject to Medium’s terms and conditions, and the platform has the right to distribute your work. If you decide to leave Medium, migrating your content and audience can be complicated. This lack of full ownership can be a concern for writers seeking long-term control.

• Platform dependency: Reliance on Medium’s terms and policies.
• Limited brand control: Less opportunity to customize branding and presentation.
• Migration challenges: Difficult to move content and audience to a different platform.

Real-Life Example: A business built a blog solely on Medium, but when Medium changed its partnership program terms, they faced uncertainty about their content’s future and monetization strategy due to lack of control.

Solution: Maintain a primary website or blog where you have full control over your content. Use Medium as a secondary platform to expand reach, cross-posting content with appropriate canonical tags to manage SEO.

Disadvantage #4: Lack of Community and Engagement Tools

While Medium has a built-in audience, it lacks robust community-building features. Engagement tools are limited, hindering deeper interactions with readers. Building a loyal community directly on Medium is challenging compared to platforms with more interactive features. This can impact long-term audience retention and engagement.

• Basic comment system: Limited features for in-depth discussions.
• No direct email list building: Difficult to capture reader emails directly on Medium.
• Limited interaction tools: Fewer options for community features compared to dedicated blogging platforms.

Real-Life Example: A coach wants to build a community around their writing on Medium, but finds it difficult to foster meaningful connections beyond basic comments, missing opportunities for deeper engagement and relationship building.

Solution:  Incorporate calls-to-action within your Medium articles to encourage readers to join your email list or engage on other platforms where you have more community-building tools. Use social media to foster discussions and community beyond Medium.

Disadvantage #5: Dependence on Medium’s Ecosystem

Writers on Medium are inherently dependent on the platform’s ecosystem. Changes in Medium’s policies, algorithms, or monetization models can directly and significantly impact a writer’s success. This dependence creates vulnerability and uncertainty for writers relying on Medium. External factors can dictate your reach and revenue.

• Policy changes: Platform policy updates can alter monetization and content visibility.
• Algorithm shifts: Changes in the algorithm can impact traffic and earnings.
• Platform stability: Writers are vulnerable to Medium’s operational stability and long-term decisions.

Real-Life Example:  A writer heavily relied on Medium for income, but when Medium changed its algorithm, their article views and earnings dropped drastically, highlighting the risk of platform dependency.

Solution: Diversify your online presence beyond Medium. Build a presence on multiple platforms and create your own website to reduce reliance on a single ecosystem for your writing career.

Disadvantage #6: Competition and Content Saturation

Medium’s popularity results in intense competition and content saturation. Standing out among millions of writers and articles is increasingly difficult. Even well-written pieces can get lost in the sheer volume of content published daily. Visibility becomes a constant battle in a crowded space.

• High content volume: Millions of articles compete for reader attention.
• Intense competition: Many writers vying for visibility and readership.
• Standing out is hard: Difficult for new writers or niche content to gain traction amidst saturation.

Real-Life Example: A new writer joins Medium, publishes several high-quality articles, but struggles to gain views and followers because their content is buried under the massive influx of daily publications.

Solution: Focus on niche topics and high-quality, unique content to differentiate yourself. Actively promote your work on social media and other channels to drive traffic to your Medium articles and increase visibility.

Disadvantage #7: Limited Customization and Branding

Medium offers minimal customization options, limiting your ability to create a unique brand experience. The platform’s uniform design aesthetic can make it challenging to establish a distinct visual identity. This lack of branding control can be a drawback for businesses and writers focused on brand building.

• Generic design: Limited options for visual customization and branding.
• Uniform platform look: Most Medium publications share a similar aesthetic.
• Brand identity limitations: Difficult to create a unique and recognizable brand presence.

Real-Life Example: A company wants to use Medium to showcase its brand voice and style, but finds the limited customization options prevent them from creating a branded publication that truly reflects their identity.

Solution: Utilize publications strategically to enhance branding within Medium’s constraints. Focus on consistent voice and high-quality content to build brand recognition, even within the platform’s design limitations. Leverage your own website for full branding control.

Disadvantage #8: SEO Limitations

Medium’s SEO capabilities are limited, hindering your ability to fully optimize content for search engines. Lack of control over metadata, URL structures, and site architecture can negatively impact search engine rankings. This can reduce organic traffic from search engines compared to self-hosted websites.

• Metadata restrictions: Limited control over meta titles and descriptions.
• URL structure limitations: Less flexibility in creating SEO-friendly URLs.
• Domain authority dilution: Being on a shared domain can dilute SEO authority compared to a dedicated domain.

Real-Life Example: A marketer publishes SEO-optimized articles on Medium, but sees lower search engine rankings compared to similar content on their company’s নিজস্ব website, missing out on potential organic traffic.

Solution: Use Medium primarily for audience engagement and brand awareness, rather than as a primary SEO tool. Focus SEO efforts on your own website and use Medium to complement your overall content strategy. Utilize keyword research to optimize within Medium’s limitations.

Disadvantage #9: No A/B Testing or Advanced Analytics

Medium lacks built-in A/B testing and advanced analytics features. Writers cannot easily test different headlines, content formats, or calls to action to optimize performance. Limited analytics provide less insight into audience behavior compared to dedicated analytics platforms. This hinders data-driven content improvement and strategy refinement.

• No A/B testing: Inability to test content variations for optimization.
• Basic analytics: Limited data on audience behavior and content performance.
• Less data-driven optimization: Challenging to refine content strategy based on detailed analytics.

Real-Life Example: A content strategist wants to improve article engagement on Medium, but lacks A/B testing tools to experiment with different headlines and measure the impact, making it difficult to optimize their content strategy effectively.

Solution: Utilize UTM parameters to track traffic from Medium to your website for more detailed analytics. While direct A/B testing on Medium isn’t possible, experiment with different approaches and monitor performance through available metrics and external analytics.

Disadvantage #10: Restrictions on Calls to Action and External Links

Medium places restrictions on calls to action and external links within articles. Overly promotional content or excessive external linking can be penalized. This can limit your ability to drive traffic to external websites or directly promote products and services. Monetization and traffic generation beyond the Medium platform can be restricted.

• Limited CTAs: Restrictions on direct promotional calls to action.
• External link limitations: Excessive external links can be discouraged or penalized.
• Platform-centric ecosystem: Medium prioritizes keeping users within its own platform.

Real-Life Example: A business uses Medium to publish thought leadership content, but struggles to effectively drive traffic to their product pages due to restrictions on direct promotional CTAs and external links within articles.

Solution: Use subtle calls to action that align with Medium’s guidelines, focusing on providing value to readers first. Directly promote your website or offers in your Medium profile and leverage social media to guide readers from Medium to your external platforms.

How Could These Disadvantages Be Overcome Globally?

Addressing the disadvantages of Medium requires a multifaceted approach involving both individual writer strategies and potential platform-level changes. Many of these drawbacks stem from Medium’s design choices and business model, but collective efforts and platform evolution could mitigate some of these issues. By understanding these limitations and advocating for improvements, the Medium community can work towards a more balanced and writer-friendly platform. Here are some strategies to overcome these disadvantages:

• Advocate for Feature Enhancements: Writers can collectively voice the need for more robust community tools, advanced analytics, and greater customization options to Medium, encouraging platform evolution.
• Develop Third-Party Tools: Entrepreneurs and developers could create external tools and services that supplement Medium’s limitations, such as advanced analytics dashboards or community engagement platforms that integrate with Medium.
• Promote Cross-Platform Strategies: Writers should proactively adopt multi-platform content strategies, using Medium in conjunction with personal websites and other social media to diversify reach and reduce platform dependence.
• Foster Community Collaboration: Writers can build stronger networks and communities outside of Medium, supporting each other and sharing strategies for navigating platform limitations and maximizing reach.
• Educate Writers on Platform Realities: Transparency and education about Medium’s disadvantages are crucial. Writers need to be aware of the platform’s limitations to set realistic expectations and develop informed strategies.

Top 5 Best Medium Marketing Agencies

For businesses and individuals seeking to maximize their impact on Medium, partnering with a specialized marketing agency can be highly beneficial. These agencies possess the expertise to navigate Medium’s nuances, optimize content for the platform, and develop effective strategies to enhance visibility and engagement. Working with experienced professionals can help overcome some of the inherent challenges of the platform and achieve better results. Here are five of the top marketing agencies that can assist with your Medium marketing efforts:

• Brafton: One of the oldest full-service content marketing agencies, Brafton helps organizations plan, create, and distribute content across various channels. Brafton can manage publications for companies or repurpose blog posts into Medium articles to extend their reach.
• WebFX: With a high client retention rate, WebFX provides diverse digital marketing services, including SEO and content marketing, which are valuable for optimizing Medium presence.
• Ignite Visibility: This agency is recognized for its performance-driven digital marketing solutions. Their expertise in SEO and content strategy can be leveraged to enhance Medium content performance.
• Right Side Up: A versatile agency proficient in digital and offline marketing services, including content optimization and paid advertising, offering a broad approach to Medium marketing.
• Directive Consulting: Specializing in B2B and enterprise businesses, Directive Consulting offers performance marketing services that can be tailored to develop effective Medium content strategies for businesses.

What is Medium?

Medium is an online publishing platform founded in 2012 by Evan Williams and Biz Stone, the co-founders of Twitter. It serves as a hybrid platform, blending elements of social networking and blogging. Medium’s primary purpose is to provide a space for writers, bloggers, and thought leaders to share their ideas and stories with a wide audience. It distinguishes itself with its clean, ad-free interface and focus on quality content. The platform operates on a subscription-based model, where readers can pay a monthly fee to access premium content, and writers in the Partner Program can earn money based on member engagement with their articles.

• User-Friendly Interface: Known for its clean, simple, and aesthetically pleasing design, making it easy to write and read content.
• Built-In Audience: Offers access to a large community of readers already on the platform.
• Focus on Content Quality: Emphasizes in-depth articles and thoughtful writing over short-form social media updates.
• Partner Program: Provides monetization opportunities for writers through member subscriptions.
• Publications: Allows writers to publish under themed collections, increasing discoverability within specific niches.

Real-Life Example: A blogger uses Medium to republish articles from their personal blog to reach a broader audience and potentially earn passive income through the Partner Program, while still maintaining their own website for full control.

Videos About Medium

Video tutorials can be incredibly helpful for understanding how to effectively use Medium for writing and publishing. Visual guides can simplify the learning process and offer practical tips for navigating the platform. Here are some video resources that can help you learn more about Medium:

Conclusion

Medium offers a compelling platform for writers seeking to share their work and connect with readers. Its ease of use and built-in audience are undeniable advantages. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge the platform’s significant drawbacks, including limited monetization, algorithmic visibility challenges, and restrictions on control and customization. Before making Medium a central part of your writing or business strategy, carefully weigh these cons against the pros. Consider your long-term goals, monetization expectations, and need for brand control. A balanced approach, leveraging Medium strategically while diversifying your online presence, is often the most prudent path to navigate the platform’s limitations and maximize its potential benefits.