Hey friend,
Imagine this: you pour your heart into a new story, hit publish, and… crickets. Ten views. Maybe twenty if your mom shares it.
Now imagine the exact same story suddenly getting 300, 500, even 1,000+ reads — all because of a few blue underlined words you added months ago.
That’s the quiet magic of internal linking. It’s the closest thing Medium has to free, evergreen traffic. And almost nobody uses it properly.
Let me show you how to turn your archive into a ladder that pulls new readers up to your newest work — like a friendly escalator inside your own little bookstore.
What Is Internal Linking, Really?
It’s just linking from one of your own stories to another one of your own stories. That’s it.
When someone finishes your piece about “Why I Quit My Job, you drop a line like:
“By the way, here’s exactly how I replaced my income in 6 months.” → links to your freelancing guide.
Boom. One reader becomes two pageviews. Two become four. It snowballs.
Medium’s algorithm loves this. The more time people spend bouncing happily between YOUR stories, the more Medium thinks, “Huh, this writer keeps people on the platform. Let’s show their stuff to more people.”
Why Internal Links Beat External Links (Almost) Every Time
External links send readers away → Medium hates that.
Internal links keep readers here → Medium rewards that with more distribution.
You control the anchor text and the destination → perfect SEO for your own catalog.
Zero extra promotion needed — your old stories do the selling for you.
The 4 Types of Internal Links That Actually Work
The “Next Step” Link (most powerful) At the end of every story, ask: “What does the reader want to do next?” Example: Story about morning routines → link to “My Exact 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Schedule (with free Notion template)”
The “Proof” Link When you make a bold claim, back it up with your own proof story. “I made $8k last month freelancing” → link to your income report.
The “Beginner to Advanced” Ladder Create a clear path: How to Start Writing on Medium (for total beginners) → How I Hit 1,000 Followers in 3 Months → How I Made $5k on Medium This Year
The “Related Reads” Section (lazy but effective) Add 3–5 thumbnail links at the bottom. Medium even has a built-in widget for this now.
My Dead-Simple Internal Linking Formula
When I finish any draft, I force myself to add at least 3 internal links using this checklist:
One link in the first 25% of the article (hooks curious early birds)
One link around the middle (re-engages skimmers)
One “Next Step” link in the final 100 words (highest click-through rate)
Takes me 4 minutes. Returns thousands of extra views over time.
Real Numbers From My Own Account
One story I wrote in 2022 (“10 harsh truths about freelancing”) still gets 2k–3k views every month — almost entirely from internal links from my newer articles. That one post has made me over $4,000 in passive Partner Program earnings. Zero promotion since the day I published it.
That’s the ladder in action.
Pro Tips That Took Me 2 Years to Learn
Use curiosity-driven anchor text: Bad: “Check out my productivity guide” Killer: “The stupidly simple trick that saved my sanity”
Link to your BEST performing stories the most (snowball the winners)
Update old posts! I go back every month and sprinkle 2–3 new internal links into my top 10 articles.
Don’t overdo it — 3–6 internal links max per story or it feels spammy.
Your 5-Minute Action Plan (Do This Today)
Open your stats page → sort by “lifetime reads”
Pick your top 5 most-read stories
Open each one and add 2 fresh internal links to your newest or second-best pieces
Hit “save”
Watch the views climb over the next 30 days
That’s it. No fancy tools. No begging for claps. Just a ladder.
You’ve already done the hard part — writing great stories. Now let those stories work for each other.
Start building your ladder today, and six months from now you’ll look at your stats and wonder why you ever stressed about “getting more views.”
You’ve got this.