Hi Purna

I better understand where you are coming from now. Thank you.

I don’t think you need to worry about clickbait titles ruining Medium for the following reasons.

There are different ways to measure success on Medium, and not all are equal. For instance, follower numbers are meaningless (they are mostly bots). The consensus is, and I agree, that the best measure of how well you are doing is what your read ratio is. Some suggest that anything above 40% means you are doing something right. And anything over 70% means you are excelling. The read ratio tells you how many people stay on the page to read what you have written to the end. It means your writing is engaging.

Medium wants to push the best writing to its readers. So, when the read ratio is high, Medium pushes the story to more people. When the read ratio dips, the algorithm does not push the story.

This is why clickbait titles do not work on Medium unless the content delivers and the readers keep reading. If people click on a piece and discover it is JUST clickbait, with nothing worth reading included, then the read ratio dips. And the story dies.

I have seen clickbait titles here with zero claps or engagement.

The reason my piece has 6.3 claps and 170 comments is that the read ratio is 73%.

This means that most people did stay on the page and actually read the piece and found it engaging.

I’m sharing this with you because I see you are relatively new to Medium, and I wish I had known and understood this when I first arrived.

Of course, the problem is that no matter how good your work is, you still need to get eyes on your work when you first publish so that the algorithm picks up that the read ratio is good.

I don’t think there are any shortcuts to this. First your content needs to excel. Then, you need to find writers you admire and build relationships with them by commenting (nicely!!) on their work so that they check yours out.

You will see the difference when you have made 20 reliable friends who will support you.

BUT. And it is a big but. Even wonderful content will get little engagement if the title is boring. There are simply too many other writers competing for the attention of readers.

You must get the balance right between great content and an eye-catching title that delivers what it promises. There is more of course: a good picture, not one from Unsplash that people have seen countless times, perfect grammar and formatting etc etc.

My friend, Michelle Teheux, wrote a cracking title (you might consider clickbait) for a truly excellent piece of writing. She has made over $20,000 and deserves every penny.

So back to your response . . . a clean slate new user who sees my story and tries to copy the formula will get nowhere fast. The algorithm will punish them. And then, the learning will begin. Hopefully, they will check out writers like Malky McEwan, whose content is often aimed at helping newbies.

I said I wouldn’t use a clickbait title again. I retain the right to change my mind depending on circumstances. The earnings from this squirrel story have helped immeasurably at a tricky financial time. And while it may seem unfair and that the reward (currently over £500) is not proportional to the time spent on it, the truth is it has taken me 2 years to write that article. Two years of learning what works and what doesn’t and constantly working to improve my writing.

It is clear you have much knowledge and expertise to share here. I hope you find something helpful in what I’ve shared with you and that you go from strength to strength.

In kindness,

A