Why The Medium Website Is One That Every Lawyer Seeking Online Exposure NEEDS To Use

Why The Medium Website Is One That Every Lawyer Seeking Online Exposure NEEDS To Use

(And 5 Key Tips On Unleashing Medium’s Super Powers)

We know about law firm SEO, online ads, Facebook and every other platform used to push your law firm up the rankings and generate new clients. But Medium offers a unique blend of characteristics that also unleash a viral ‘super power’ of a top social media platform.

But there’s something that can be done now, to make your law firm site haul in engaged, new readers and clients.

The site?

Medium.com

It’s a site that sits as one of the top sites on the Google rankings (it’s

Since being launched in 2012 Medium has created high interest because it is – well – not quite fitting itself into one box or another. It’s not an online magazine, it’s not exactly a blogging platform or a content farm.

It’s a mixture of many, adopting a unique approach to writing, providing a disruptive approach that has broken conventional blogging boundaries – and in doing so provided a unique opportunity for marketers and others (like law firms) to take advantage of what it offers.

Medium content is curated by its editorial team, but there are some other unique opportunities the platform offers.

The Medium Difference

Medium’s algorithm determines the ranking for various posts.

To quote from co-founder Ev Williams, a Twitter co-founder also, explains how things work when Medium began right back in 2012 –

What we’re doing is ordering things by our best guess of the relative quality/interestingness of the different items—according to the people who have seen them… It’s not a direct popularity ranking. It takes in a variety of factors, including whether or not a post seems to actually have been read (not just clicked on) and whether people click the “Recommend” button at the bottom of posts. The ratio of people who view it who read it and who read it and recommend it are important factors, not just the number. (This is an attempt to level of the playing field for those who don’t already have large followings and/or a penchant for writing click-bait headlines.)

Medium is open to everyone – so lawyers can use it to develop leads and authority.

Plus, it has its own authority. And its algorithm provides the ability for content meeting your interests to ‘float’ to the top.

And Medium has grown exponentially over recent years. Currently, its Alexa ranking sits at around 90. Hitting the top 100 sites on the Net is a ‘major’ for any website and Medium’s growth has placed it firmly in that space.

Why The Medium Website Is One That Every Lawyer Seeking Online Exposure NEEDS To Use

According to Ev Williams in an email to Medium members in 2021 the website attracts 120 million readers a month. And the readership is one that tends to be well educated and tech-savvy.

Some content is behind the paywall (requiring $5 a month for full access) and providing the funding model for the site.

The Social Media Sugar ‘Hit’

The fact is that website rankings are tough to maintain as social media platforms focus increasingly on making themselves more visible and attractive.

Their ‘sugar hit’ status is to use whatever charms they have to attract your eyeballs.

Digital media growth continues to develop strongly, as the Hootsuite figures below demonstrate –

Why The Medium Website Is One That Every Lawyer Seeking Online Exposure NEEDS To Use

Medium is no different. Their focus on quality content means that regular content on the platform will continue to serve your law firm marketing efforts well but delivering your content and traffic to your site.

And that translates into higher rankings for your firm.

Even smaller law firms with smaller audiences can deliver their quality content to publications on Medium that have sizeable audiences.

The Medium Pros and Cons

There are some factors you need to think about before using Medium website for SEO, which requires a balancing act between what you should do and what you should avoid.

If you republish what is on your law firm blog then you will either have your site’s content indexed by Google, or Medium’s. The better option is to re-write your site’s content for Medium, which takes extra time but is worth the extra effort.

It’s a risk/reward balance and it pays to provide Medium with their ‘own’ content, rather than building up a body of content on Medium that you do not control (unlike your own site).

Using Medium’s Super Powers

So what is required to grow your authority and readership with Medium?

If we were to identify the top 6 powers we would identify them as follows –

1. Publish Regularly (and one caveat)

The best way now (and things have changed from when you could link via other social media accounts) is to publish regularly, thereby making yourself visible and generating authority.

Writing ‘stories’ (as Medium refer to them) is intuitive and simple, with Medium providing a layout function that makes them as professional-looking as possible, as well as simple to work and set up.

You can use Medium’s guide to help you work out the functionality of their editing program.

Just as you are doubtless adding your content via other social media programs, you should add Medium into that mix by repurposing the content you have published for Medium. Sure, it takes extra time – but the rewards in audience- and traffic-building for your site will be there to see.

One caveat – the same as with any content on your blog or elsewhere – focus on quality content. Both Google and Medium reward quality and you should be rewarding your own clients (and potential clients) with quality content. No self-promotional, ‘how great thou art’ articles – just quality, useful, relevant content.

But consider this, too. Having quality content is one thing, but you do not need to be entirely original with it. You can republish your own website’s content and other content without jeopardizing your ability to generate high returns from your growing band of Medium followers.

2. Embed Other Content

You should work on embedding links to other content on your Medium stories. Medium provide various services that permit embedding of other content, including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Slideshare, etc.

Embed content onto Medium

This embedding of something like a Youtube video will increase the views for the video and help attract followers for other content channels that you use.

The third-party services embedded in your Medium stories work to generate that additional upward momentum towards heightened visibility for your articles and hence your ability to increase your authority and leads.

3. Study the Medium Analytics

Use the tools that Medium gives you, like their analytics. If a post is under-performing, or you think it can be improved then feel free to ‘kill it’ and re-write.

Medium permits you to look at various key factors to assess your content’s ‘success’ on the site, including –

  • Views which are the number of visitors who clicked on a story’s page
  • Reads which tells you how many viewers have read your entire story (this is an estimate based on the length)
  • Fans which represents the number of unique readers who particularly favored your story.

The analytics will also let you see key data on what is of particular interest for your readers. The “Your Readers’ Interests” chart shows the topics that the readers of your story are most interested in and provides the listed percentages following each topic. This information lets you know what you should be writing about and also whether you are reaching the audience you want to reach.

4. CrossLink and Back Link

Make sure that as your Medium content grows you crosslink between stories and backlink to your own website via your bio profile.

Similarly, when you reference someone in your story (using their @… handle), that person will get a notification after you publish your content, which is an effective way to network and build connections with influencers in your area, as well as building your own online visibility.

5. Share And Engage

Sharing Medium content and engaging with others who have written similar content is important to develop additional audience. You should do so via your social media channels.

You also need to respond when comments are made and also comment when others write relevant content that you feel you can add to in some way.

If you connect with others on Medium (via their Medium handle) you increase the chances of them following you or promoting your content. Those with whom you engage will let them see your action via a notification. There is a good chance they will follow you back and so your audience grows.

6. Generate Leads From Medium

One of the main benefits of regularly publishing on Medium is to convert your growing visibility on the platform into an increasing number of leads for your business.

This can be done by linking back to your blog with opportunities provided there to opt-in to your email list or for free reports or other information.

By offering a relevant piece of information or resources. You can use a resource like optinopoli to create a page that builds your leads. Or simply request those interested in knowing more to contact you directly via your website.

Finally: The Medium Website Super Powers Advantage

Medium’s ability to provide a unique advantage to those seeking to obtain more readership and leads for your law firm are a key tool in the law marketer’s arsenal. Using the power of Medium can be a huge benefit to law firms seeking to establish a higher ranking and leadership in their geographic and/or legal area of specialty.

Use the super powers properly and the benefits will acrue.

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