The name of your new podcast has two jobs it must do:
- be memorable
- be search-friendly.
Step One: Brainstorm. Over the course of a week, write down whatever words and phrases cross your mind as a potential name for your new show. Take your time with this step, and for right now don’t worry whether what you are writing down will work as a title or a sub-title. Aim for at least ten words or phrases on this list. Remember: The trouble is not usually thinking up podcast names, it’s remembering podcast names. Write everything down!
Step Two: Make sure you are being unique. Take your list of potential names and start running ones you really like through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Messy, and other podcast directories. If there’s already a podcast with your chosen name out there, you’ll want to go in a different direction. You want listeners to be able to find your podcast, not confuse it with others.
Step Three: Check social media. Because social media is so important to promoting your podcast, do a search on the various platforms to see which of those names (if you want your podcast to have its own account) are available. The social handle doesn’t need to be an exact match to the podcast name, but it should be close. Ideally you’ll have the same handles for your podcast across all platforms — NameCheckr can be very helpful here.
Step Four: Ask your target audience what they think. At this point, you’ve probably narrowed your potential name down to two or three. It’s time to ask your target audience what they think. If your podcast is about teaching elementary school and you want to name it “Ms. Frizzle’s Biggest Fan” but then when you ask your teacher friend what she thinks it’s about and she guesses it’s fanfiction for the Magic School Bus, it’s time to make a tweak. Changing the sub-title so it is now “Ms. Frizzle’s Biggest Fan Teaches Elementary School” helps a lot.
Step Five: Say the name out loud. A lot. How does it sound? Does it flow easily? Is it catchy? If all goes well, you’re going to be saying this name a lot, so you want to be comfortable with it. One trick is to pretend you are introducing yourself on a panel. Do you like how “I’m Katie, the host of Sailing for Landlocked Beginners” sounds? If so, you and your nautical podcast are ready to launch!
