Writing is a creative endeavor, one in which you express and interpret your thoughts, opinions, and experiences through the written word. At its best, writing is an exercise of soul-baring, revealing truths about ourselves in ways that we may be uncomfortable verbalizing. Many writers label themselves as artists, the written word their canvas.

While I fully believe in the artistic and creative merit of writing,

many writers struggle to transition from writing solely for art to writing for art and profit.

Several years ago, I worked for an art and design university. While there, I witnessed the tension many young artists experience trying to ensure their work upheld their artistic standards but also earned them a living.

Some students felt that by embracing a more analytical and business outlook, they would compromise their standards. Others commodified their work by making it as viably commercial as possible, while some completely ignored profitability. Each way is valid and the great thing about writing is you’re completely in control. As the saying goes, “you do you!”

When I made the choice to start writing on Medium as a way to express myself and earn a few extra dollars in the process, I was ‘willy nilly’ about the whole thing. I wrote what I wanted, posted when I wanted, and didn’t pay any attention to my stats.

After my first two months of earning very little, I realized if I was serious about using Medium to supplement my income, I needed to adopt some basic business practices. I envisioned that I was opening a store and writing was my product.

I quickly understood that my stats were my business bible. They provided me with important details on what was working and what wasn’t!

The statistical trinity

Medium’s stats provide what I refer to as the statistical trinity: views, reads, and fans.

The stats homepage displays a bar chart with a daily breakdown of the ‘trinity’ spanning a 30 day period. This layout allows you to easily view your monthly growth.

The chart will allow you to find noticeable patterns in your traffic. For example, when I scroll back through 90 days worth of data, it quickly becomes obvious that Mondays and Tuesdays are my busiest days, while Wednesday and Sundays typically see a decline.

Each story, tells a story

Below this chart, there is a list containing every story you’ve published, organized by month. This list displays the total number of views, reads, and fans each story has received since the day it was published.

Looking at the overall numbers for each of your stories is important as it will give you a clear indicator of what topics draw in the most viewers and engagement. You can click on each story’s title to get a breakdown of how many views the story has received each day for the last 30 days.

Where the are your readers coming from?

On the left-hand side of each story’s individual stats page, there is a chart displaying how many of its views were internal to Medium and how many were external. This box also provides a list of sites and URLs that readers used to access your story externally.

This data is a major help when it comes to marketing your stories. I’ve learned that the majority of my clicks come from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Quora, while only a small amount comes from Twitter and Reddit. This knowledge has shifted my marketing strategy by focusing more heavily on the first three platforms and slightly less on the other two.

When your story hits around 1000 views, a breakdown will appear on the right side showing what topics the majority of Medium members enjoy reading about. This gives you vital foresight about which tags to select when you’re publishing new stories in a similar topic. For example, if the majority of your readers are interested in “Self,” you might want to utilize the tags “self” and “Self-improvement” on future stories.

Use a computer not the app

The Medium app is great for a quick check of what your viewership and fans numbers are at, but the software used on the app provides you with very little data.

You should be checking your stats on a computer or laptop. The information available there is far more detailed. While the app is limited to just viewer numbers, on your computer’s browser you will get viewers, readers, fans, all your stories and data in 30-day intervals. The app only contains views for the past 30 days.

Chrome stat extension

Chrome has an extension that gives you expanded stats data lacking in other browsers. The expanded stats give you the ability to see a story’s daily views on the homepage’s 30-day chart by clicking “show on chart.”

It also gives you a Fan % based on the number of views to fans and the overall number of claps. Fans mean the number of individual Medium members who have clapped for your story. The claps stat represents the cumulative number of claps for each story.

When I do my daily stats check, I only use the Chrome extension. You can find the extension here:

Other patterns to look for

Beyond your general overview, you want to be looking at specific trends. First, you should study to see which topics tend to gain the most viewers and engagement. Which days of the week are you getting more traffic? In which topic(s) do you have the highest rate of curation? Etc.

These are all great indicators of the areas in which you should focus your writing if you want to increase your income potential. This doesn’t mean that you should limit what you write about. I recommend you write across numerous topics rather than limiting yourself. By having a vast range you can attract more readers. Indeed, you should be writing about things you enjoy writing about.

From a business perspective, identifying which stories generate the most income will allow you to hone in on your “bread and butter” topics. These are topics that you enjoy writing about and you put them out more frequently.

Go wild and create a stats chart

Medium’s stats provide you with a solid overview of how your stories are doing, but certain elements are missing that would benefit writers greatly.

This is why I have created a stat chart in Excel. I categorize my stories by topic and every day I input the total number of views, reads, and fans for each story. Now that I have nearly 100 stories published, I only track for 30 days.

Having a chart allows me to see all my story stats on one screen rather than having to click between stories. With a pre-programmed formula, the sheet automatically calculates the increase or decrease of each story daily.

My chart also allows me to track trends that aren’t readily available on the Medium stats page. With my data, I’ve been able to dig deeper and determine which days certain topics perform best. For example, I have learned that my stories about writing get the most overall views on weekends, stories about politics get more views on Mondays, and stories about social issues seem to perform better on Fridays. This has allowed me to adjust my writing schedule to try and get stories that fall into those topics out on the days when they seem to perform best.

If you write it, they will come

Finally, if you’re serious about growing your readership, you should track the number of followers you have.

I check my number of followers once a day, usually around 9 pm. Keeping a daily number allows you to see growth which helps you to stay motivated. Also, you may see patterns develop such as a sudden spike in followers when you publish stories within certain topics.

Back in July, I had a day when I suddenly saw that I had gained 100 new followers. Thanks to my daily stats, I realized that it was a result of my story “Why You Should Stop Writing at Home” trending.