Want to Get Medium’s Boost? Here’s a Checklist to Help You Out

There are exceptions to every rule, but you’ll improve your chances if you follow these basic guidelines

Image by Walter Rhein — Drawing by his daughter

Hello Friends!

It seems like every month I go through a slow patch where I can’t seem to get anything Boosted. Although it’s true that an article can do well on Medium even without a Boost, a Boost tends to get a lot more eyes on your work a lot faster.

A few days ago, Medium sent out a newsletter by Zulie Rane where she linked to an article with some Boost advice. Most of the information in that article was stuff that I’d heard before, but it’s worth checking out. Here’s the link (it doesn’t appear to be behind a paywall so you should all have access to it).

If you’re going to work seriously on Medium, it’s imperative that you familiarize yourself with the expectations for the platform. There’s no getting around that. You aren’t allowed to use Medium to promote some sort of anti-humanitarian agenda (and I applaud Medium for this).

Medium does like to be open ended when they discuss their expectations for boost. They are reluctant to nail down “instant disqualifiers” and I think that’s good. Besides, they already have a terms of service. You should familiarize yourself with that.

However, I’m reminded of sitting in grade school and having the teacher assign us a paper.

“How long does it have to be?” we asked.

“As long as it needs to be,” the teacher replied.

Then the teacher would smirk at us as we squirmed. This annoyed me because I always felt the teacher had an expectation for how long the paper would be. Usually what ended up happening was that people would come up to me, “How long do you think the paper needs to be?”

“3 to 5 pages,” I’d say.

And that direction was enough for some of them to go from turning in nothing to turning in a paper that was exactly 2 pages plus one word on the third page.

What I’m trying to convey is that my advice is just a guideline. If you follow my checklist, it does not guarantee that your work will be Boosted. However, these are the good practices I follow and for the most part conform with (yes, even I sometimes break my own rules).

They’re also what I’m looking for when I am nominating. So, disclaimers done, let’s get on with it.

My Boost checklist

I will provide you with a list that you can print out and put next to your computer. Then, I’ll go through and offer some further remarks on each item.

1. Have a non-clickbait title and subtitle that scores at least 70 on the CoSchedule Analyzer tool

2. Have a quality featured image with a proper citation (also fill in the ALT text)

3. Make sure your article is 7 minutes long

4. Do not write about disturbing content (child abuse, extreme violence, etc.)

5. Begin with a personal narrative

6. Demonstrate that you are an expert

7. Finish with a profound takeaway and a strong closing line!

8. Do not use large pull quotes (one or two lines max)

9. Short paragraphs and non-complex sentences

10. Do not include a huge CTA

I stopped at 10. that feels about right. Now, let me give you a few more details.

1. Title and subtitle

Honestly, I’m not sure if a bad title will necessarily get you disqualified from Boost. However, a bad title might negate the positive Boost effect. You don’t want to go through all the work of writing your article, getting it nominated, getting it accepted, and then you don’t get any traffic because your title is boring.

Titles are tricky. I did an article on the Writing Cooperative not too long ago that I’ll probably need to import here sooner rather than later. It was an article that didn’t get Boosted, so it will probably be sooner. In the meantime, here’s a link.

A good rule is that your Title, Subtitle and HEADERS must all be good writing. I’ve discovered that when I read an article, I scan through the headers like I’m reading a sonnet before I really start paying attention. I need to see something in the headers at the end of the article to make me read the first paragraph.

If I see “In Conclusion...” I’m clicking away.

2. Good featured image

I think you’re better off not using AI images though I know that some authors still do. The Writing Cooperative has banned them.

Look, get a camera and learn photography. That’s the only way to be sure you aren’t stealing images. I’m not entirely trustful of the web pages that claim to offer free images—too many horror stories.

I also like to feature my artwork and the artwork of my kids. No issues on images, just make sure you put “Image by Walter Rhein.” An improperly cited image really hurts your chances.

I think the sweet spot is 2-3 images.

3. 7 minutes

This number is just because you’re holding my feet to the flames. It can be 6, it can be 8. I’ve had articles Boosted that were around 10 and heard of articles Boosted that were around 1.

There’s an old saying, “The standing nail gets hammered.” How that applies here is that if a curator is already on the fence about approving your article and it’s 36 minutes long, then that plus her other doubts are probably going to lead to a “non-acceptance.”

I have the best luck with articles that are around 7 minutes give or take. It’s not written in stone. I’m not saying it is.

4. No disturbing content

I’ve heard Boost referred to as Medium’s front page. These are the stories that they want to present to the world. Think of the things you want to read while you’re sitting down to eat breakfast.

There is a place for that other kind of content. Medium does not censor it. I write hard hitting pieces all the time. It’s just that Medium doesn’t want to drive away its primary user base that ensures we all get paid and that the platform is allowed to persist.

It makes sense. If you really have to write about this stuff, do it in a way that allows people to read about it while they’re eating breakfast.

5. Personal narrative

I’ve been over this a bunch of times. Start your story with something interesting. Tell us about you. Tell us something only you can tell. Tell us something a robot didn’t write.

You can use a little narrative craftsmanship here.

6. Demonstrate that you’re an expert

If it’s a personal narrative, you’ve already halfway established that you’re an expert. Tell us a story from your days as an undergrad. Tell us about a research study you did. Tell us a personal narrative that led to a profound realization about life.

These are the types of stories that both get the Boost and go on to perform well.

7. Strong takeaway

I cannot overemphasize the importance of a strong takeaway. You should spend as much time on your closing line as you do on the title. These tend to be the last 2 things that I write.

In fact, the title and the closing line should mirror each other. If a person does nothing else but read your title and your closing line, they should fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. After doing that, they should be overwhelmed with a NEED to sit down and enjoy your article like a warm cup of coffee.

You want your readers having to read your work TWICE in succession. Aspire to be that good.

If a curator is on the fence, the strong takeaway needs to be the thing that impulsively makes them accept your article for Boost!

8. No large pull quotes

If your article is nothing but pull quotes, you’re essentially being paid for somebody else’s work.

9. Short paragraphs and simple sentences

Note, I don’t like the articles that are a bunch of paragraphs that are nothing more than a single line. Your paragraphs should be 2-5 lines. I just did an analysis of one of my articles here (another story that wasn’t Boosted—fist into hand!).

Don’t write huge, complex sentences. Most of the time when I’m editing, I go back and take out words. Your readers have too many distractions, don’t make them sit through “just,” or “already,” or “suddenly,” or “very,” or any other superfluous words.

That... get rid of “that.”

10. No big CTA

There are people who leave PARAGRAPHS at the end of their article. Don’t do that. If you want to talk about yourself, put it in the “about” section on your profile, or the “bio.”

As for me, I end all my articles with this: Subscribe

That link goes to my Medium subscription link, not my Substack subscription link. Medium is excellent about seeing itself as a complimentary platform. They aren’t going to get “mad” at you for having a Substack. In fact, they encourage it! But all that being said, I use my space on Medium to promote my Medium following.

That’s just common sense.

In conclusion... (see how annoying that is?)

So, there you have it. My Boost checklist. Again, it’s not set in stone. Instead, it’s more like the Joker’s evil plan from the original Batman (the one with Michael Keaton). Joker put Smylex into various beauty products. It only became fatal if you used a variety of different products.

See how that relates?

Sigh... FINE, I’ll explain it slow and BOOOORING!

It’s not likely that any one item on my Boost checklist will get you disqualified. However, if you combine a bunch of them....

I see you nodding so I’ll just leave it there.

Happy writing awesome people!

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