Unless Medium starts compensating external views (through ads, for example), they’re useless, right?

Wrong!

Here are 3 ways to make use of external views on Medium.

1. Direct money

The first option is trying to turn those external views directly into money. The way you’d do that is with referrals.

External readers are most likely not Medium members. They’ve found your story through Google search or from promotion via social media and other outlets.

That presents a chance. With a well-put call-to-action at the end of your posts (or even throughout the text body), you could turn external readers into new Medium members with your referral link. This way, you’ll be compensated for some external views.

I’ve recently shown how I revised my referral link to attract more members. This led to an increase in referral sign-ups. Over 75 in 2 months.

Referrals are a great way to make use of external views.

2. Redirecting traffic

Another way to make use of external views on Medium is redirection. What do I mean by that? There are a couple of ways to go about it.

1. You could (sort of) redirect traffic to another version of your story on a platform that pays you for it. For example, you could add a canonical link to your Medium story that leads to Simily or Vocal Media (where the same story resides). This canonical URL will tell search engines that Simily or Vocal is the original story and redirect external traffic (from search engines) to that platform. Since Simily and Vocal pay for external views, you get compensated there.
2. You could redirect traffic to other platforms via a short paragraph within your story, like “If you’re not a Medium member, read this story for free here”.
3. You could redirect your viewers to your other money making platforms if you have such, like linking to digital products you sell or a blog you have that generates money through ads.

These 3 options present indirect ways to make use of external views on Medium. Don’t underestimate the power, though. Medium’s high domain authority score means you can get a ton of external traffic. Redirecting that traffic to platforms that pay is a lucrative principle.

3. Embracing external views

Lastly, and this isn’t really a tip to make more money from external views, but rather something to think about.

You’re a writer. You want people to read your stuff.

I’m excited about reads, no matter the source. Whether they’re external or Medium members, I’m glad people read and engage with my posts.

Don’t think of external views as a bad thing. Growing your audience is always a positive.

You never know, it might lead to future opportunities. Ranking at the top of Google search results with something you wrote is a wonderful accomplishment. More people will get to know you and your content and might look you up in other places or turn to you for help or with offers in the future.

The bottom line

It isn’t always the immediate impact that counts. Getting paid by Medium for internal views is great, but growing your audience and building a successful story catalog with high search engine rankings should not be overlooked.

Furthermore, with referrals and redirection routes, you can still make use (and potentially money) from external views on Medium.

What do you think? You know other ways to make external views? Tell me, please 🙂