In this post I’ll share how and why you should syndicate your posts to Medium.

Why you should syndicate content

Medium is a free blogging tool with some really nice features built-in to a minimalist writing platform. The ability to recommend, follow, comment, and annotate the works of other authors has built up a nice community over the last couple of years. For some reason…it’s on fire.

I’ve been testing out the process of syndicating post from my blog out to my account on Medium with some success. If you’re a blogger, I would advise you to post content to your own site, and then syndicate this out to your account on Medium. By syndicating, I mean that you’ll repost, or broadcast your work to another network. You may have a regular audience that reads your blog. You might still be trying to build up an audience. I think you’ll benefit from re-sharing your content elsewhere.

The process is super-simple. With a couple of clicks you can share and connect with a new audience. You can also keep your content archived on your site.

How to syndicate content

There are other ways to easily syndicate posts to Medium. I’m going to show the simplest technique that works with any blog post.

First, write up and publish your post on your blog. Copy the URL (web address) for the individual blog post. Open a new tab or window in your browser and keep the original post open while you work. In the new tab, log in to Medium and click on your icon on the far right of the screen. When the drop down menu appears, click on the link that says “Import Story.”

Import your post

You’ll then come to a page that asks you to paste the link to your blog post in the box. They give you an indication that you’ll be able to edit the story before it goes public. Medium also shares a link to their Terms of Service to remind you that you should only publish your own works. Paste the URL for your blog post into the box and click the “Import” button.

Clean up and revise your post

When you click the button, it’ll automatically import your work to your Medium account. You’ll get a screen like the one below that indicates that they successfully imported the story, and they give you advice on how to polish it up. I’m hoping that at this point you’re an expert in writing and publishing in Medium thanks to the links I shared at the top of this post. You should be able to skip on through and click on the “See your story” button.

When you get to your story…the real work begins. I usually keep my original blog post open on my website so I can easily grab content and pull it over. I think Medium does a great job pulling over and formatting most of the content. I definitely recommend giving it a good read to make sure everything is correct.

I usually find that images, especially the top image don’t come through. I also find that the headings are usually a bit mixed up. Creative Commons licenses almost always are missing, or messed up. To help keep you sane, keep your original post open and click back and forth to grab any content you might need from your original post.

You can find advice on formatting and organizing your work in my post on writing in Medium. You’ll use the same formatting and writing/revising techniques to polish up the draft that you would use to write a brand new draft. Take your time, read through your draft, and make sure the images are all where you want them. Keep in mind that you still can click the “Share” button to get a copy of the draft to share out with others for review before you publish it.

Add tags to your post

When you’re read to publish, click on the “Publish” button to the top right corner of your browser. You’ll get a drop down menu that asks if you are “Ready to publish?” It’ll also ask you to enter up to three tags for your publication. This is very important. This will help you…and your work get noticed. Typically they’ll automatically add tags in for you. I’ll usually delete these and add my own tags that help describe the content in my post. Add three tags that would be keywords or themes you would use to describe what you wrote about.

Add licensing to your post

After you add your keywords, under that section you’ll have a place to “schedule to publish” and “visibility and license options.” I don’t care about scheduling my posts, but you may be looking for that option. What I care a lot about is the ability to not only set a license for my work…but also support the use of Creative Commons licensing online. At the very least…you should know what licensing you are giving to your own work. This determines what you’re allowing others to do with your content.

Click on the “visibility and license options” link. You’ll get an option to change the visibility of your work. Under that I want you to click on “License” and select the option that works the best for you.

The Creative Commons license that I give to all of my work is Attribution, Share Alike. This means that you’re free to use my content for whatever purposes. All I ask is that you give me “attribution”…that is credit. Basically include a link back to my page so people who see your content can see that I had a small part in it. The “share alike” means that I shared my work, and you used it…now I ask you to pay it forward and you share it as well. In these two selections I’m encouraging others to create, share, and connect online.

Select the license that works the best for you. I know that Creative Commons licensing can sometimes get confusing. I recommend taking the time to understand, use, and respect these licenses. This is especially true if you work in Education. You should use and require CC-licensing in your classroom. Don’t take my word for it..listen to Cable Green from Creative Commons.

Publish

Once you’re ready, click that “Publish” button and send your post out into the wild. If you’re syndicating a brand new blog post, you can choose to share out the post on your site, or the Medium post that you just created. If it’s a new post, I will typically share out the one on my site.

I’ll also go back through my blog and find old posts that I’d like to revisit. I’ll re-write or revise those posts..and syndicate the new version out through Medium. In that instance, I’ll share out the link to the Medium post.

The last piece I’ll share is possibly the best reason to syndicate your works, and that is to include it in a Medium Publication. I’ll share how to make that happen in an upcoming post. For now, start syndicating content from your blog to Medium and share it out. See what reaction and response you get from the community.

Top Image Credit

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