Backlinks, a crucial component of SEO play a vital role in improving website visibility and driving organic traffic. In recent years Medium has emerged as a popular platform for generating backlinks. But is it truly effective? In this article, we will delve deep into the world of Medium backlinks examining their potential benefits and pitfalls as well as exploring best practices and real life examples.

What is Medium?

Medium is an online publishing platform and social network that allows users to create, share and discover content. Launched in 2012 by Twitter co founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone Medium has grown rapidly boasting millions of active users and a diverse range of topics.

Medium and Backlinks

Backlinks (also known as inbound or incoming links) are links from one website to another. They serve as a signal to search engines that the linked site has valuable relevant content. High quality backlinks can improve a site's SEO leading to higher search engine rankings and increased organic traffic.

Medium allows users to create backlinks by linking to external websites within their articles. These backlinks are considered nofollow links by default meaning that they do not pass on any SEO value or "link juice" to the linked site. However, in 2020, Medium implemented the rel="ugc" attribute for user generated content which can potentially pass some SEO value to the linked site.

Pros and Cons of Medium Backlinks

Pros

1. Increased Exposure: By publishing engaging content on Medium, you can reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your website.

2. Enhanced Credibility: Medium is known for its high quality content. Associating your brand with this platform can boost your credibility and improve your online reputation.

3. Networking Opportunities: Medium's social features, such as claps, comments and followers can help you connect with other users and build relationships that may result in additional backlink opportunities.

Cons

1. Limited SEO Value: As mentioned earlier, Medium's backlinks are nofollow by default which means they have limited direct impact on your SEO.

2. Content Duplication Issues: If you republish content from your website to Medium you risk creating duplicate content which can hurt your search engine rankings.

3. Temporary Boost: The initial surge in traffic generated by a Medium article may be short lived as your content can quickly become buried under newer posts.

Best Practices for Using Medium for Backlinks

1. Create High Quality, Original Content: To make the most of Medium's exposure, create well written, engaging and informative articles that provide value to readers. Avoid republishing content from your website to prevent duplication issues.

2. Use Anchor Text Wisely: When linking to your website within a Medium article use relevant and descriptive anchor text that accurately reflects the linked content.

3. Promote Your Medium Articles: Share your Medium posts on social media and other relevant platforms to maximize your content's reach and potential for backlinks.

4. Engage with the Medium Community: Respond to comments on your articles, follow other users and participate in relevant discussions to build relationships and increase your visibility on the platform.

5. Track Your Results: Monitor your website's traffic, backlinks and search engine rankings to determine the effectiveness of your Medium backlink strategy.

Examples

Example 1: Startup Success Story

A tech startup published a series of informative articles on Medium sharing insights and lessons learned from their journey. By linking back to their website and promoting the articles on social media the startup saw a significant increase in website traffic, user signups and social media followers.

Example 2: Freelancer's Portfolio

A freelance writer used Medium as a platform to showcase their writing skills and expertise. By including backlinks to their personal website and portfolio they successfully attracted new clients and increased their online visibility.

Conclusion

Using Medium for website backlinks can be an effective strategy for increasing exposure, enhancing credibility and building relationships. However, it's important to remember that Medium backlinks have limited direct SEO value. To make the most of this platform focus on creating high quality, original content, engaging with the community and promoting your articles across various channels. By combining Medium with other backlink building strategies you can create a diverse and robust backlink profile that will help your website rank higher and attract more organic traffic.