Modern people love consuming information, but prefer doing so in a way that doesn’t disrupt their daily activities while keeping them entertained in the meantime. This desire for receiving information in a convenient format kick-started a common craze for podcasts we are currently experiencing.
It is a good time to get into podcast creation – it is predicted that the podcasting industry will become a $1 billion industry this year. If you want to hop on that train and get the best out of your podcast, follow these tips to see how you can optimize the title of your podcast episodes to make them pop!
10 Tips on Naming Podcast Episodes to Ensure Visibility
1. Study listener behavior
Knowing one’s audience is the oldest trick in the book when it comes to getting on the listeners’ good side. Take proper time to research the target audience, study their behavioral patterns, habits, interests, note topics that are relevant to them, etc. These actions are crucial if you want to compose a title they are going to click on.
Knowing your listeners will also help you get into their heads and determine which words and phrases they will use to browse your product, adding to your keyword research.
2. Include targeted keywords
The title of the podcast should include a long tail keyword specific to the podcast theme, so it would be more targeted towards your audience. Try working keywords naturally. There are plenty of podcasts out there, so including proper keywords is crucial for podcasts’ visibility online, as it will ensure that your audience will have an easier time finding them.
3. Consider keyword placement
An additional keyword-related tip is regarding the placement of keywords. Generally, the first part of a title, its beginning, is prime real estate. You should always put the main keyword at the beginning of a title. Yet, a mistake many podcasters make regardless of their experience is sacrificing that extra-valuable space to put less useful information first, like episode number, brand name, date, etc.
Of course, keeping track of your podcast episodes is important, and including episode numbers or dates will help you navigate through your content, but such thinking is counterproductive when it comes to marketing – by doing so you simply throw away opportunities. Remember that each word in a title you use mindlessly is a space that could have been occupied by a useful keyword.
4. Use all the useful space within your title
Some podcasters skimp out on their titles. They utilize only the bare minimum of words they believe will do so that their listeners could understand the topic of the episode. This is wrong in many ways. Even if the only few words you put in your title are those of your main key-phrase. You are still taking money out of your own pocket by not utilizing the remaining space to elaborate on the topic, or naturally include another couple of keywords.
Secondly, shorter podcast titles rarely give your potential users enough information about your episode or make it sound tempting enough to click on. So, by not utilizing all the space within the title in a smart way you are doing everyone a disservice – your listeners, search engines, and yourself.
5. Note high-traffic information
When creating a podcast title, think about what your audience may search for the most. For example, if you interviewed a celebrity or specialist for an episode, or maybe you discussed a topic that is currently trending, include relevant words in the title, preferably at the beginning. This way it is more likely that new listeners will stumble upon your podcast and give it a listen simply because you mention something they are passionate about. This is a great way to attract a new audience.
Put vanity aside and cast away low-traffic information. For example, you don’t need to put your name into the title unless you are famous, have a significant online following, etc.
6. Make the title stand out
There are over 850,000 podcasts in the world today, so making yours stand out is a must. Most marketers who are well-versed in creating perfect commercial SEO-friendly titles and product descriptions don’t utilize this tip, and their finished result, although perfectly optimized, doesn’t resonate with people. Why is that? Because their title is bland, dull, doesn’t spark interest or evoke any emotion – it is just like everybody else’s. With the amount of content available online nowadays, creating mediocre titles is simply pointless – even if search engines love them, people generally don’t. Don’t be afraid to utilize charm, sprinkle some humor in, let charisma shine through, add something daring or provocative to the mix.
Making your work stand out is not easy. This concept often baffles students that only begin to find their unique personal writing style. If this is the case with you, learn more here and see how you can write engaging and creative essays or other texts that will blow people away.
7. Make sure the title is accurate
Some podcasters create a clickbait title, which misleads their audience regarding the contents of the episode. This is a bad idea because listeners will not appreciate it. Those who concentrate on clicks often brush away their customers’ inconvenience, without realizing the damage that bad customer experience and lack of trust for the brand may do to their business and product. Remember that the title should reflect the topic on your podcast and not be misleading.
8. Don’t create a title that you like – make one that your audience likes
This is such a rookie mistake, but it is worth mentioning. Newbie podcasters often have a specific style or brand image in mind, which represents how they want their product to look. Blindly following that idea is completely wrong and will likely make your product fail. The main thing to remember is that the title of your podcast is not created for you – it is made for your customer, and a robot who will determine how to rank your product in search results. You make the latter happy by utilizing proper keywords, but the former needs you to use the right words for naming your podcast. You don’t have to speak in the coolest or wittiest way, but in a way that makes you heard and understood.
9. Be mindful of word choices
Many smart podcasters come up with creative names for their episodes, which reflect the common interests they share with their audience. For example, if your podcast is about Harry Potter, you can incorporate notable phrases from the series, or create short puns with those phrases, incorporating them into your title. This way your target audience (in this case, Potterheads) will understand what the theme of your podcast is right away and your title will appear catchy and funny, which is an additional bonus.
Another tip when it comes to proper word choice – you should avoid overly complicated words, technical terms unless they directly relate to the topic of your podcast.
10. Make sure the podcast title is unique
Once you create a perfect title by using our tips, you should do your research and make sure that the title you composed is unique. Remember that if there is an older title extremely similar to yours, all SEO efforts you had put into creating such a title will fail. If this happened to you, simply cut your losses and use a different title instead. If you make your titles creative and add a twist to them, it is less likely that you will find a duplicate title online.
Ready to Rumble
Now that you are well-equipped to create killer SEO-friendly user-oriented titles, your content will be even more special, attention-grabbing, and well optimized. Keep all the nuances mentioned above in mind, and you will be surprised at how much such simple adjustments can boost visibility online and connect your awesome podcast with its new appreciators.
Read Next
- Learn how to write your perfect podcast episode script.
- Stuck on creating your podcast segments? We have some help for you here.
- Learn all you need to know about podcast audio branding.
