Jukka Ahola is the host of the Finnish literature podcast Kertojan ääni and has had to come up with dozens of episode titles so far.
Have you heard of PSO yet? PSO, as in Podcast Search Optimization? Well, now you have. Today we’re going to dive into perhaps the most important aspect of optimizing your podcast for discovery – the episode title.
This article includes six actionable tips you can start using today. Or tomorrow, if that’s the day you’ll finally get to launch the podcast you’ve been dreaming about.
1. Decide On the Topic. The Title Will Follow.
If you’re having trouble coming up with a name for the episode, the problem may not be your creativity. It could be that the topic of the episode is unclear. The clearer the topic, the easier it is to name the episode.
To make life easier for yourself, spend some time defining the topic, the challenge or the benefit the listener will get out of the episode – before you hit record.
2. Front-Load the Main Keywords
Start your episode title with the keywords towards the front because the listener will be skimming through available episodes in their podcast app with lightning speed. The apps will also cut off really long titles, so don’t save the best for last.
3. Learn From SEO Title Best Practices
Your podcast episode is not only an episode, but it’s most likely also a webpage. Spend some time checking out the latest recommendations for good SEO titles and use them to your advantage.
4. Include the Name of Your Guest in the Title
This goes for big-name guests as well as lesser-known experts. Big names may bring big traffic, but the topic area experts may be well-known in the niche you want to attract. Make sure to include the name of your guest in the episode title, preferably towards the front.
5. Find Your Own Way to Include Episode Numbers
Should you start the name with the number of the episode? There is no right or wrong answer here.
In serialized podcasts, the answer currently is yes. You should start the episode with the number so that your listeners can easily work through the series in the right order.
Looking at some of the most popular podcasts, there is a tendency to put the episode number at the front of the title even if the podcast is a recurring weekly or biweekly podcast. This custom may change as podcasts become more mainstream and podcast apps introduce a more uniform way to mark episode and season numbers.
Here are some formats you can try:
● #13: Episode Title With a Hashtag and Number
● 219: Episode Title With Just a Number
● [22]: Episode Title With Square Brackets
● Episode Title with the Number at the End #134
Spelling out “Episode” is redundant and eats away at precious screen real estate, so it’s best to avoid titles like “Episode 23: Title Goes Here with the Name of the Guest Cut Off By…”
6. Remember that Clear Beats Cute Every Time
Imagine a situation where someone listened to the first 10 minutes of your podcast episode but got sidetracked. Worst of all, there was a bug in their podcast app and they lost your episode. They really want to listen to the whole episode, so they launch their app and type something in the search bar.
What will they type? They don’t remember the name of your podcast, but they remember the topic. So they’ll write:
– dog training submarine
– podcast search optimization nonprofits
Here are two possible episode titles for each search. Which one do you think they’ll find?
– How to Train Dogs on Submarines
VS.
– The One with the Sub-Woofers
Here’s another:
– How to Optimize Podcast Titles: 7 Tips for Nonprofits
VS.
– Episode #214: What If You Didn’t Have to Work So Hard? Here’s How Dr…
There’s an old saying in the podcasting space: No one can hear you scream if you don’t spend some time crafting a great title!
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Note From Tongal: "Name Your Podcast Episodes for Ultimate Discoverability" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
