A Smart Naming Strategy For Your Podcast Matters More Than Ever
Few things in life have a “wrong way” to them.
It’s one of the cool things about us humans — we each have an “individual” perspective from which we approach things.
Our particular slant makes our approach unique.
It’s not wrong — it’s just different.
But when it comes to naming a podcast there very well may be a wrong way.
At least as far as the Apple Podcasts team is concerned.
Beginning in the fall of 2018 the enigmatic powers that be at Apple decided that they were tired of people keyword stuffing their podcast titles, author tags, and episode titles.
Why just those three things? — Because THOSE are the only things the search function of iTunes/Apple podcasts searches when a user enters a query.
As that fact became apparent, podcasters of all stripes started naming their shows differently.
A SHOW-LEVEL TITLE EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE:
(but keep in mind the same things illustrated here are often done in author fields and episode-level titles — since they are also searched by the algorithm)
A show titled…
“The Best Business Show Ever”
was modified to be
“The Best Business, Marketing, Sales, and Entrepreneur Show Ever.”
Do you see what they’re doing there?
Since their show has to do with all those topics — and surely will cover all those topics in episodes it publishes — the are naming their show to appear in search results for those terms.
It seems a legitimate way to name the podcast… and get the show found by those searching for their target keywords.
TO ME — this makes for a better end-user experience and as such, should be something Apple is happy to facilitate.
But when that worked, some went a step too far…
Some podcasters decided to cash in on the notoriety or success of others by renaming their shows in this fashion:
“The Best Business, Marketing, Sales, and Entrepreneur Show Ever: Interviewing people like Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, Michael Hyatt, Dave Ramsey, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, and others”
In that case — good on you, Apple powers that be.
Get rid of the spammy show creators who are abusing the algorithm.
I’m WITH you grand-poobahs of podcastificating goodness!
But Apple responded with the BAN HAMMER…
Without warning, podcasts suddenly got booted from the Apple-owned directory.
Let me be clear…
It’s entirely within their rights to do this. It IS their playground.
But what’s concerning is this…
The ban hammer doesn’t seem to have been applied with any kind of nuance or insight about some important things…
- There can be legitimate uses of words other than the show title — in the title field. It’s not automatically spam.
- Both show titles and episode titles should serve the end user. THAT should be the main issue.
- People have titles too — CEO, President, Coach, Author. Those can be used without automatically being spam.
Let me splain… no, there is no time. Let me sum up.
LEGITIMATE USES OF WORDS IN THE TITLE THAT ARE NOT PART OF THE ACTUAL TITLE
A perfect example of a podcast that falls into this category is a show published by podcast media host, Libsyn.
Their show — which published its very first episode July of 2013 — is called “The Feed.”
Being a show about podacasting, that’s a GREAT name.
But it’s not exactly clear, even to a podcaster, what the show is about.
And the issue got further complicated as Apple allowed more shows with the exact same name “The Feed” — to come into its directory.
So for some time, in an effort to rectify the confusion and bring clarity, the Libsyn team placed the following into its show-level title:
The Feed: The Official Libsyn Podcast
But once Apple’s ban-hammer started swinging, the Libsyn team changed it — quickly.
The show is now simply “The Feed.”
Even though their modification was not spammy.
Even though their modification was a legitimate use of their keyword “Libsyn.”
Even though their modification truly served the end user.
So… now we get to podcast naming strategies
Imagine this is you:
You’ve got a beautiful new baby podcast. You invested lots of thought and time into naming it.
It’s a show chronicling your discoveries as you travel the United States, visiting small towns, historical sites, landmarks, and regions.
People interested in travel, US history, cultures, or the United States in general would be interested in the show. And perhaps others (like you) who travel full time.
And you found the perfect name to represent it — both from a branding perspective and from a niche orientation.
“The Great American Roadshow”
But alas — very few people searching the Apple Podcasts directory for a new podcast about travel, culture, or US history are doing so using the terms “great,” “great American,” OR “roadshow.”
So… any hope of the largest podcast directory in the world being of benefit to you is foolish.
You’ll have to do all the legwork yourself.
OK, stop imagining
That’s the scenario I find myself in right now. The Great American Roadshow is MY new podcast.
I’ll be launching it within the next 6 months as my family and I begin traveling the US permanently.
I have no problem doing the hard work required to promote my own podcast. I’ll get it done, regardless what Apple does on this issue.
But wouldn’t it be great if what they want their directory to do (help people find podcasts they are searching for) was actually being accomplished?
So, what are my options?
#1 — I can name my show what I want to name it and forget about any searchers in Apple’s directory even finding me.
Bummer, but it’s just the way it is.
I’ll have to work overtime with personal promotions, appropriate social media posting, networking, etc. — but I can do it.
#2 — I can adjust the name of my show, maybe something like this…
Traveling The USA In Search Of The People, Cultures, And History Of America
It’s clear and relevant — I’ll give you that.
But there’s not much of a beat to it…
… and it’s hard to dance to. ;)
Not to mention I’ll have to change my spiffy cover art (and I really LOVE the cover art).
#3 — I can try to do both, which in my case is pretty difficult.
If you take a look at the cover art again, you’ll see what I mean.
I may launch it with the title,
The Great American Roadshow USA History Culture and Travel
If I do that, I’ll intentionally leave out colons, dividers, dashes, and commas — because it appears those “tip off” the Apple ban hammers that extra keywords may be included in the title.
HERE IS THE IMPORTANT QUESTION:
If I do this, is it spamming the title?
Maybe so in Apple’s eyes.
If so, and I get my show banned, I’ll make adjustments and move on.
But I don’t think it’s spamming the title.
I think it’s helping people who WANT to find a show like mine actually find my show.
Maybe I’ll do this this option — as my own sort of silent protest against the decisions the Apple team is making.
It won’t do any good — but I’ll feel better.
:)
Until I get ban hammered.
:(
My gut reaction and advice to you…
The Apple Podcasts directory belongs to Apple… so they can make any decisions they want about it and apply those decisions however they want.
But that doesn’t mean they do it perfectly.
The ban-hammer application currently in play is dumb.
And inconsistent. And silly. And unlike any other publication medium out there.
Think of it this way…
What would you think if “The Hobbit” actually had the following title:
How A Wizard Talked A Halfling Into Taking A Long Trip With Some Strange Dwarves To Kill A Dragon And Regain Treasure
It’s ridiculous, right?
But what if the only way people could find the book was to search for it using those words — wizard, dwarves, dragon, treasure?
That kind of title would make sense then.
Amazon seems to make it work in their catalog of books. Why can’t Apple? Or maybe they have a secret conspiracy to make all podcasts have unflashy, boring names/
Maybe.
But seriously — it simply doesn’t make sense.
My advice to YOU as a podcaster
- If you’re starting a podcast from scratch — think through the name from a keyword perspective.
Are there ways you can include the keywords that searchers on Apple Podcasts will be using and STILL make it appealing and punchy?
If not, are you OK with a less-than-appealing title for the sake of having more eyes on your show via Apple Podcasts?
- If you already have a podcast listed in Apple Podcasts — think through your title again.
Are there legitimate ways you can modify your title to make use of keywords WITHOUT spamming?
Are you willing to make that kind of pivot in order to get more eyes on your show?
- Don’t, DON’T, DON’T spam your title.
Just don’t.
You’ll only serve to convince the Apple grand-poobahs that the way they are handling this issue is the right approach.
It’s not.
My advice to Apple
At the risk of being presumptuous, I’d like to suggest a few things to the great Apple grand poo-bahs…
You are one of the most highly talented teams on the planet.
There is SOME wizard in your company who can fix this problem algorithmically, without applying an indiscriminate ban hammer.
Find him/her.
Commission that person to solve it the RIGHT way, not just the easiest way.
Some suggestions…
- Don’t allow shows with duplicate names. Make this retroactive — you know when a show was first sumbitted, so make the “newer” versions change their names.
- Re-implement the tags functionality and use THAT in your search algorithm as well as appropriate show names and author tags. Your aforementioned programming wizard can figure out a solution for abuse on this level. If Amazon’s wizards can, yours can. Really.
- Keep banning legitimate spammers as in my second example above. They are the ones you’re really after, right?
By doing these things…
You’ll make your content providers happier (where would Apple Podcasts be without podcasts, after all?).
And you’ll give your users EXACTLY what they want/need from your directory.
THAT builds your market share via customer happiness in the long run.
In one of my business coaching sessions I’d charge for that kind of advice — but for you Apple, no charge. ;)
