Link Building Playbook for Medium writers

Audit every platform and community your target Medium writer persona actively uses (e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, specific writing forums, other blogging platforms).

Identify authors or publications within these ecosystems that have a reciprocal audience or complementary content.

Reach out with a unique value proposition: offer a guest post, a curated list inclusion, or an interview focusing on their audience's writing challenges.

Propose a co-authored piece or a 'resource roundup' linking to their best work to earn a secondary 'featured author' or 'community highlight' link.

Identify 5-10 high-DR publications or established writers whose content style matches your target audience (e.g., writers focusing on productivity, freelance business, specific genres).

Find a specific niche writing concept or author question they *aren't* ranking for that has zero search volume but high reader interest and commercial value (e.g., 'monetizing micro-fiction,' 'building author platform for debut novelists').

Reach out and offer to provide proprietary data from your own writing journey, unique insights, or a well-researched quote they can use to rank for that term.

Earn a high-authority backlink in exchange for helping them establish topical authority on a new, underserved writing facet.

Identify 20-30 terms specific to writing, publishing, or content creation with high topical relevance and low DR competition (e.g., 'narrative arc mapping,' 'reader retention hooks,' 'authoritative voice calibration').

Write definitive, 500-word definitions for each on a dedicated '/writing-terms' or '/glossary' path on your blog.

Outreach to writing bloggers and publications suggesting your glossary as a source for their technical posts or beginner guides.

Monitor niche writing forums and communities for discussions where these terms could be relevant and suggest your page as an external reference.

Create 'Best [Competitor Platform] Alternatives for Writers' or 'Top [Niche] Writing Tools' comparison hubs.

Outreach to tech reviewers or writing bloggers who cover 'Platform X vs Platform Y' comparisons.

Suggest your hub as a comprehensive third-party resource they should cite for readers seeking alternatives or deeper dives.

Distribute the hub link on high-intent community threads (writing subreddits, author forums, relevant Slack groups).

Extract anonymous usage data or conduct a survey showing an interesting trend (e.g., 'Average Earnings Per Article by Genre,' 'Reader Engagement Metrics vs. Article Length').

Design 5-10 professional, high-resolution charts and 'Stat cards' for easy sharing.

Write an 'State of the Writing Industry' report and pitch it to top-tier publications (Publisher's Weekly, Forbes, industry-specific blogs).

Follow up with niche newsletters (e.g., The Millions, Lit Hub's newsletters) to secure high-authority distribution links.

Set up Google Alerts or use tools like Ahrefs to find mentions of your author name, blog name, or book titles.

Filter for mentions that do not currently have a hyperlink to your domain or relevant profile.

Send a polite 'Thank You' email to the author, asking if they would mind adding a link for reader convenience.

Suggest a specific, value-adding resource (like a relevant blog post or your author page) as the best link destination.

Analyze the top 3 ranking articles for your target high-volume writing keyword (e.g., 'how to write a novel,' 'freelance writing rates').

Identify gaps: Is it outdated? Is the design poor? Does it lack actual implementation steps? Is the advice generic?

Produce a 'Gold Standard' version using the same structure but with 2x more actionable value, unique case studies, or expert interviews.

Reach out to everyone linking to the original article and offer your version as a superior, more up-to-date, or more actionable source.

Find 10 newsletter curators or authors whose products serve the same writing persona but don't directly compete (e.g., a fiction writing newsletter swapping with a non-fiction productivity newsletter).

Propose a 'Newsletter Swap' where you feature their resource or a recent post in exchange for a link from theirs.

Ensure the link from their newsletter is archived on their blog or website to secure a permanent backlink.

Build a 'Collaborations' or 'Resources' page listing these partners to create a recursive link-building loop and showcase community.

Identify 20 podcasts that interview authors, writers, or content creators in the writing/publishing space.

Pitch a specific, counter-intuitive angle from your author journey or writing process (e.g., 'Why I Write Badly First,' 'The Unsexy Side of Building an Author Platform').

Request the host include a link to a 'special resource' (like a free chapter, a writing template) or a specific hub page in the episode notes.

Repurpose the audio or transcript into a blog post on your site to invite cross-linking and listener engagement.

Crawl defunct writing blogs, abandoned author websites, or old writing resource directories for their incoming backlinks.

Identify high-DR pages that are now pointing to dead 404 links (e.g., a link to an old writing tool or a deleted author interview).

Contact the webmaster and inform them of the broken link to improve their page health.

Suggest your relevant hub page, definitive guide, or a similar, active resource as the perfect replacement to keep their readers informed.