How to Write a Medium Article That Goes Viral in 2026 (The Real Formula I Used Views)
Hey friend,
My name is Tamzidul Haque and I make a full-time living writing online on Medium, my blog, and affiliates.
One random Sunday night in March 2025, I published a Medium story that exploded to 1.2 million views in 30 days and paid me $18,400 from the Medium Partner Program alone.
Today I’m giving you the exact checklist — no fluff, no “just write great content” nonsense.
Let’s make your next Medium article go viral too.
Step 1: Pick a “Quietly Obsessed” Topic (Not a Trending One)
Everyone tells you to chase trends. Wrong.
The articles that truly explode on Medium are about topics people are quietly obsessed with but rarely see written about well.
My 1.2M-view article?
Title: “I Deleted My Smartphone for 30 Days — Here’s What Happened to My Brain”
Sounds basic, right? But nobody had written the raw, day-by-day emotional rollercoaster version in 2025 yet.
How to find these topics in 5 minutes:
Open Medium → click “Topics” → scroll the niche lists (Productivity, Mental Health, Self Improvement)
Look for topics with 100K+ followers but the top story is 3+ months old
Or use this free trick: Google “site:medium.com [your niche] 2025” and see what’s missing
Step 2: Write the Hook in the First 3 Seconds
Medium shows only the title + subtitle + first 2–3 lines in the feed.
If you don’t hook in 3 seconds, you’re dead.
My viral hook formula (copy-paste this):
[Surprising statement or number] + [Specific time frame] + [Emotional promise]
Examples that worked:
“I made $18K from one Medium article — here’s the stupid mistake that caused it”
“I stopped drinking coffee for 60 days — my anxiety disappeared on day 9”
“I told my boss I’m quitting in 90 days — best decision of my life”
Step 3: Use the “Story → Lesson → Story” Structure
Here’s the dirty secret: people don’t share listicles anymore.
They share stories that make them feel something.
My million-view article structure:
Minutes 0–3: Personal embarrassing/funny story (hook)
Minutes 3–12: Day-by-day diary style (what actually happened)
Minutes 12–15: The 5 lessons I learned (bullet points)
Last 2 minutes: Emotional closing story + call-to-action
This is the same structure James Clear, Mark Manson and Tim Urban use.
Step 4: Formatting That Forces People to Keep Reading
Medium’s algorithm loves “reading time” and “read ratio”.
Trick the system (ethically):
Short paragraphs (1–3 sentences max)
One-sentence paragraphs for drama
Bold the emotional lines
Use — em dashes — instead of commas for rhythm
Add at least 5–7 subheadings
Insert a relevant image every 300–400 words (free from Unsplash)
Step 5: The Secret Image Trick Nobody Talks About
Your cover image decides 50% of your clicks.
The highest CTR images on Medium right now:
Close-up of a real human face showing strong emotion (surprise, sadness, joy)
Bright contrasting colors (orange text on dark blue background is killing it in 2025–2026)
Text overlay with the hook question
I use Canva → search “Medium cover” templates → swap the face and text in 4 minutes.
Step 6: Publish at the Perfect Time (Data from My Last 50 Articles)
Best times for maximum distribution in USA + Canada (2025 data):
Tuesday 8:00 AM EST
Wednesday 7:30 AM EST
Sunday 9:00 AM EST
I schedule all my big articles for Tuesday 8 AM sharp using Buffer or Medium’s own scheduler.
Step 7: The 24-Hour Promotion Checklist (Do This or Die)
Minute 0: Publish
Minute 5: Share to your 3 biggest publications (submit properly!)
Minute 10: Post in 5 relevant Reddit subs (with value comment first)
Minute 30: Tweet the link with a thread of the best 5 lines
Hour 2: Send to your email list (even if it’s only 200 people)
Hour 6: Share in 10–15 Facebook groups (where allowed)
My 1.2M article got 400K views from Reddit + Twitter in the first 48 hours using this exact timing.
Always add these three tags no matter your niche:
Self Improvement
Life Lessons
Mental Health (if even slightly related)
These three tags alone have 15M+ followers combined and insane distribution.
Step 9: The Bonus Monetization Hack
Want to 3X your earnings from one viral article?
At the end of every viral story, add this:
“Enjoyed this? I send one deeply personal story every Sunday that I don’t publish anywhere else. Join 18,000+ readers here → [your newsletter link]”
Then sell a $29 mini-product or course to that hot audience.
I made an extra $27K doing this in 2025.
My Exact Medium Article Checklist 2026 (Steal This)
Hook in first 3 lines
Personal story opening
Short paragraphs + bold emotional lines
5–8 images
1,800–2,800 words
Published Tuesday 8 AM EST
Submitted to 3 big publications
Shared on Reddit + Twitter + email list
Save this checklist. Use it every time.
Final Thought
I went from 300 views per article to multiple 500K–1M+ view stories using only these steps.
You don’t need fancy tools or a huge following.
You just need to write something that makes a stranger go:
“Damn… I need to send this to my best friend right now.”
That’s the only thing that goes viral.
Now go write that article.
Rooting for you,
Tamzid
FAQs
Q: How long should a Medium article be to go viral?
A: 1,800–3,000 words performs best in 2025–2026. My 1.2M view article was 2,411 words.
Q: Can you really make money on Medium in 2026?
A: Yes — I made $18,400 from one article and average $8K–15K/month now.
Q: What is the best time to publish on Medium?
A: Tuesday 8:00 AM EST crushes it for USA/Canada audience.
Q: Do tags still matter on Medium?
A: Yes! Always use Self Improvement, Life Lessons, and your niche tag.
check my blogs- tamzidulhaque.com