Party time 🥳, because I belong now to the Top #25 Education publications on Substack.
Here’s the proof:
And I know, some already start saying:
Oh, you know, I hate these categories on Substack because they are not so specific.
No category fits quite right for me.
It's so confusing.
I'm not sure if it serves me.
This is something that I hear from my community.
So I thought it would be very valuable for you to share a bit more because what I found out Substack shipped hundreds of new categories you might not know about.
So let’s dig a bit deeper into categories.
Where you would find these categories and
where you could pick them for your publication
where to find the hundreds of new categories Substack shipped
How to choose a category for your Substack
In the backend you would go on…
Settings.
Click on Basics
Pick your categories.
You should pick two categories to help people discover your publication.
So I would go, for instance, with education. This is the primary category I picked. And then the second category I picked was business.
With education, I think this fits okay because I'm educating others on getting started and monetizing their writing online.
And then we have business, and business means different things for different people. So for me, I explained it to myself saying, "Hey, of course I help people build their online writing business, and I interview people on their online writing business." So I thought that this category would be good.
Make experiments and swap your (secondary) category
However, as I shared from the community, I know many are confused and think, "Hey, the categories aren't a great fit for me." However, what you can do is say, "Every three to six months, I'm going to change the secondary category. I'm going to swap this." For instance, I would not go with business. I would go with another category that I think would fit better.
Since I'm sharing everything publicly, what you could do also is just experiment with it. This is pretty easy and pretty cool to do.
So experiment and see what happens. You might get more eyeballs on your writing and be seen more.
What’s very important is Substack still has the right to adjust inappropriate category assignments, meaning if they think the category assignment is inappropriate, they could change it. This is very important.
The explore page is great to get discovered
If you want to see where the magic of this discoverability feature is, you would go on
your avatar
click on Explore.
Om the Explore page you see the "For You" tab, similar to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Medium. This is based on people you follow and people they follow.
For instance, I would see here
, , and then I could say, "Hey, cool, I'm interested in this," and read them.I also would see featured publications recommended by Substack and staff picks.
For Staff Picks, Substack would tell me
"Hey, Kristina, based on what you’re reading or what people are reading a lot, this is what we recommend."
So I’d like to talk more about these tabs and categories now.
You can see all these categories from culture to music. (I created an overview of all 29 categories for you to download for free here.)
I’m on Substack’s leaderbord in the top #20 publications in Education
If you’re clicking on Education you see the leaderboard with the top 10 publications in Education.
Here’s Ryan, here’s Beth, and Jennie.
I could go on the "See All" button and scroll down. I would see my publication at number 23, which is freaking bonkers.
The leaderboard shows the people on Substack who have the most paid subscribers plus the most engaged subscribers - I was told by
, he has thousands of paid subscribers and an orange badge, in our live session inside my membership experience.I have hundreds of paid subscribers. When you have 100 paid subscribers, you're a bestseller, and I am a bestseller.
I became a bestseller within less than 60 days, but that’s another story. And just the sexy one. 🤣
That's why I'm on the leaderboard.
For you, this could mean the same. You could go into your category, like Literature, and see where you are compared to others. But of course, you don’t have to compare yourself to others if it’s more draining than helpful.
There are now 29 official categories (and hundreds of more)
So just to give you an overview again, there are 29 categories ranging from Art, Business, Climate, Environment, U.S. Politics, World Politics, and more.
We had 26 categories before, but since this spring now we also have Fiction because we have many fiction writers, plus Health and Politics.
A lot of politics.
Substack’s new U.S. Election category tab
Some quit Substack earlier because there was no fiction category, but now it’s here. In the app, if you go now, you’d see the 2024 U.S. election section with updates like how much presidents affect housing prices or RFK leaving the race. They recently updated the politics leaderboards into separate categories for U.S. and world politics, discoverability, and reader preferences.
This is for writers and community members such as
.So, if you’re interested in the U.S. Election, now is a great time to write about it. This is available for all publishers and readers on the web and in the iOS and Android apps.
If you're using the desktop version, you’ll see the changes I mentioned with the Explore page and the new categories.
Hundreds of new Substack category tabs
I found out that new categories like Author Interviews are great for me because I do these author interviews, and it’s very niche.
Similar to how Medium lets you use tags, I can now tag my posts as "Author Interviews" or other specific categories.
from Substack shared that 100-150 new categories were rolled out, and they might stick around unless people revolt. If they do stay, this will be awesome because it enhances discoverability on the platform.So, the direction Substack is taking is cool because we can be more specific.
For example, I could tag a post as "Author Interview," and people could find me there, which I think is awesome.
Substack is all about discoverability
Compared to other email service providers (ESP), Substack stands out with its unique social features. You can like, comment, and share posts, making it more engaging.
Another growth feature on the platform is Substack Notes, an internal social media network where you can share your posts and get discovered, similar to the Explore page. It’s great for growing your audience because you're not just talking into the void. You’re getting discovered and recommended, and gaining subscribers.
For instance, 5,000 of my subscribers came from recommendations, and 25% of my growth came from Substack Notes. With the new categories and tabs, this could be a game-changer for all of us.
So, I’d like to know:
🤔In which categories did you tag your Substack newsletter? Are you excited or worried about these new features? Please tell me in the comments.🤔
🔥 It’s nice to know the WHAT but you want to know HOW to capitalize on the new categories and tabs🔥
Inside Substack School, I’ll show you the EXACT (baby) steps to set up your Substack for success.
Plus, you can attend multiple LIVE sessions (we have 4 next week (!) alone) with me and other inspiring voices who have gone before you.
Besides the opportunity to meet the people I interview on YouTube and my podcast, such as
and Elna Cain, here’s what I’ll offer in the last week of September 2024:From Zero to Inbox Hero
Get Paid to Be You on Substack
From Zero to Substack Bestseller
BONUS:
Get access to the smallstack list to connect and collaborate with 280+ other stackers from around the globe
Get the chance to be recommended by yours truly
Sooooo many LIVE sessions in the last week of September 2024
Don’t take it from me. Here’s what some of my 280+ members say about the LIVE sessions, bootcamps, community, courses
I'll see you in there, friend!
❤️🔥Your feedback is just a spark but it’s enough to keep me going.❤️🔥
See you inside our community and next week’s FREE LIVE sessions for members.
Happy weekend 👋🏻,
P.S. Liked it? Please share, like, and let me know what you think 💗 Your feedback is important and can spark many ideas. Thanks sooooo much!
P.P.S. Thank you so much for watching this video. I hope you found this valuable. If you liked it, please subscribe, follow, and I’ll see you in the next educational video.
P.P.P.S. Here’s the list with the 29 categories in 2024 to download.
There Are Now Hundreds of New Substack Categories and Tabs