The provided materials discuss the potential of using Medium as a publishing platform to benefit website SEO and lead generation. While Medium possesses a high domain authority and inherent discoverability, the data indicates that directly benefiting a website’s SEO through Medium publication requires specific strategies, primarily utilizing canonical tags to signal content origin to search engines. The sources highlight Medium’s value as a tool for brand awareness, lead capture, and driving referral traffic, but emphasize that owning a self-hosted website provides greater control and long-term SEO opportunities.
Medium’s Domain Authority and Reach
Medium is identified as a substantial online platform, ranking as the 407th most visited website globally based on SimilarWeb data. It also boasts a high authority score of 89 out of 100, as measured by SEMrush. Ahrefs assigns Medium a domain rank of 94/100, while a new website, selfmademillennials.com, has a domain rank of only 8/100. This disparity in domain authority suggests that, all other factors being equal, content published on Medium may be indexed and ranked by Google more readily than content on a newer, less established website. The data indicates that Google tends to trust Medium more, potentially leading to its content appearing higher in search results when identical posts exist on both platforms.
Utilizing Medium for Lead Generation and Traffic
Several sources emphasize Medium’s potential for driving traffic to a website and growing an email list. One author reports that approximately 30% of their website traffic originates from Medium, achieved through consistent publication in reputable Medium publications. This referral traffic can be further leveraged by incorporating calls to action (CTAs) within Medium posts, such as offering a free ebook in exchange for an email subscription. The data suggests that nurturing leads through email marketing is a valuable strategy, allowing for direct and personalized communication with a target audience.
SEO Considerations When Cross-Publishing
The materials address the potential for SEO conflicts when publishing content on both a self-hosted website and Medium. To avoid competition in Google’s index, the recommended approach is to use Medium’s “Import Story” feature, which automatically applies a tag indicating the original source of the content. This signals to Google that the Medium version is a syndicated copy, preventing it from being treated as duplicate content.
However, the sources also state that cross-publishing on Medium doesn’t necessarily benefit a website’s SEO directly, as Medium doesn’t consistently send significant traffic back to originating sites. The primary SEO benefit is indirect—increased brand awareness potentially leading to more direct searches for the website.
The Canonical Tag Strategy
A key recommendation for leveraging Medium for SEO is the use of the rel="canonical" link element. This tag, placed in the “advanced story settings” on Medium, explicitly identifies the original source of the content on the website. According to Google’s recommendations, this helps search engines understand the relationship between the two versions of the article and prioritize the website’s version in search results. The process involves:
- Publishing SEO-optimized content on the website.
- Waiting for Google to index the website’s page (status can be checked in Google Search Console).
- Publishing the article on Medium.
- Adding the canonical link to the website’s URL in Medium’s story settings.
- Linking from Medium back to the website to redirect traffic.
Medium vs. Self-Hosted Website: A Long-Term Perspective
The sources consistently advocate for owning a self-hosted website for long-term SEO success. While Medium can be a valuable tool for lead generation and initial traffic, a self-hosted site offers complete customization and control over content and design. This control allows for optimizing elements that can increase time on page, decrease bounce rate, and improve user engagement—factors that contribute to higher rankings. One author explicitly states that if forced to choose between WordPress and Medium for SEO, they would choose their own blog.
Integrating Medium Feeds into a Personal Website
One source details a method for dynamically integrating Medium content into a personal website without requiring user authentication through the Medium API. This involves fetching Medium feeds and displaying them on the website, ensuring that new articles published on Medium are automatically reflected on the personal site. The goal is to avoid redundant content management across both platforms.
Copyright and Terms of Service
Medium grants writers full copyright over their original work, allowing them to add, edit, and delete content as desired. However, the platform’s Terms and Conditions reserve the right for Medium to modify or present the work in any way it deems necessary for public distribution and sharing.
Conclusion
The available data suggests that Medium can be a useful component of a broader SEO and content marketing strategy, particularly for lead generation and brand awareness. However, it is not a replacement for a well-optimized, self-hosted website. Utilizing the rel="canonical" tag is crucial when cross-publishing to avoid SEO conflicts and signal content origin to search engines. While Medium’s domain authority can provide an initial boost in visibility, long-term SEO success relies on owning and controlling the publishing platform.