Here are some very easy to implement tricks that will make your podcast listenership spike. Here at Podlad, we have helped our partners to implement some or all of these in order to grow listenership. However, these are also things you can implement yourself. It is a small amount of extra effort that will go a long way to increasing your podcast listenership.

1. Release Bite-Sized or Bonus Episodes 

If you do long-form interview-based podcasts, think about releasing short or bonus episodes in between them. The length of an episode can be a substantial contributing factor in whether or not someone turns on your podcast. It's easier to commit to 5 minutes than 50 minutes, so give the listener the option of those short 5 - 10 minute episodes.

Short episodes can be your chance to show more of your personality or do a slightly different skew on your main podcast. It's much easier than doing an entire episode with a guest, and it will increase the listenership figures on your podcast.

Bonus episodes are also helpful. Let's say you have a guest on for an interview. Think about doing a second, much shorter chat with them at the end about something completely different. It could be quick-fire questions or an anecdote. Episodes can be as short as 5 minutes, just make sure it's got a different angle or theme to the primary episodes. Save these up as bonus episodes and release them down the line.

2. Title Podcast episodes correctly

You need to come up with a podcast title that is SEO friendly. Don't start the podcast episode title with the episode number, and unless you're interviewing a particularly well-known guest, don't start your show title with the guest's name.

The guest's name should be secondary to a snappy and informative title. Instead, think about one key outcome of the episode that, and reword it to something people would actually search for.

For Example, I see a lot of titles named like this

Episode 17 with Jane Bloggs from JB-Media

The above title immediately rules out ever being found on a search engine.
A much better way of titling this would be:

The easy way to attract customers with Jane Bloggs [#17]

The best marketing strategy for a small business with Jane Bloggs [#17]

How to blog for affiliate marketing with Jane Bloggs [#17]

When coming up with key phrases or episode titles, use google for inspiration, type the first few words and see what comes up as suggestions, the phrases that are suggested are things that people have been searching for. The key is to name your episode something that people actually search for.

Here at Podlad, we do keyword research when creating Podcast episode titles and show notes. We use keyword research tools to identify commonly searched phrases with low competition and add these phrases to the episode title and show notes, increasing your chance of being found by searchers.

3. Write more SEO friendly Podcast show notes

Podcast show notes are a great resource for generating new listeners. In a small amount of time you can learn how to write podcast show notes that will add to your searchability. Ensure the first thing in your show notes is not a copy and pasted biography from another site. Copying and pasting will damage SEO. Instead, write podcast show notes in your own words.

Set the scene, use statements, ask questions and make it relatable. Follow that with crucial things that people should expect to learn from the episode. These should be searchable and impactful keyphrases.

Podcast Show notes example:

What does it take to launch and grow a six-figure business during a global pandemic? In this episode, I put that question to Joe Bloggs, CEO of JB-Media. From humble beginnings to multi-million dollar deals, Joe joined me for a coffee and a chat to share some incredible insights into the mindset and attitude of a successful entrepreneur. The first thing Joe was keen to share was a new coffee from Columbia that he had recently discovered…. wow, my studio was smelling amazing for hours after we blended numerous cups. But don’t worry, the coffee enthusiasm was before I pressed record and everything after that was for your benefit.

Here's what you will learn from this episode:

• How to get your first ten customers

• A single easy way to attract customers that you can implement now

• The 5 minute morning routine that sets you up for a productive day

• How to get the work-life balance that's perfect for you

• The one book that changed Joe’s outlook on life and business

The example above is just a short, rough example but is far more effective than a biography that has been copied from another site. The idea is that you put a small amount of time into wording show notes in your own personal way.

Telling a story or an anecdote about what went on behind the mic is just a way of painting a picture and giving you unique content which is far better than copying and pasting.

Bullet points or timestamps are a great way of giving a listener a quick overview of the chat.

After this, you should include any relevant links to items/articles discussed. At the very end, you can include your biography and social media links. 

4. Get Podcast reviews

Reviews on Apple podcasts are like podcast currency. A lot of reviews tell apple that this is a podcast worth taking note of.

Encourage your listener to leave a review on iTunes (or other platforms that take reviews), don't do this in the outro. Instead, use an insert and give a personable message about how iTunes reviews help grow the podcast, make it natural and in some way relatable.

Here's an example of how one of our clients worded his insert, which asks for reviews:

If you can give something away (a book, a free subscription, a trial version of a service), use it to build reviews. Buying some prizes yourself could be a good investment. Prizes generate interest, create interaction and let you get to know your audience better.

Here is an example of how we helped one of our partners implement using competitions to build reviews:

This is the outcome of running a competition where a listener leaves a review to enter, as you can see they all came in the space of 10 days after the release of the giveaway announcement:

It’s better not to do this in the first few episodes. Let the listener get to know the show and then ask for reviews.

5. Use Podcast Audiograms

A great way to promote or market a podcast is audiograms. They are snippets (typically 30 – 60 seconds) with a promo graphic and an animated waveform. Share these on social media to try and hook the listener to the main show.

Check out our previous, more detailed article on podcast audiograms here, where I explain how you choose the right clip that's going to hook in a potential listener. Here are some examples of our Podcast audiograms:

6. Back and forward sell episodes 

It's not all about new episodes. The more podcast episodes you have, the more you should be compounding listens and downloads. Attracting just one new listener should give you a multitude of listens as they should be listening to at least some of the older episodes. They might just need to be reminded or pushed in the right direction.

Never miss an opportunity to mention or sell old or upcoming episodes. Doing this might come up in conversation naturally with a guest "actually it's funny you mention mindset, I spoke with Chris James in episode 25, and he had an interesting take on it". 

The outro is a great moment to consider pushing your listener to a specific previous episode. If you record episodes ahead of schedule, give them a teaser of what's to come in the next episode. They may be ready for more, so give them a reason to keep listening. Here is an example of how we helped our partner Conor McCarthy execute this with the First 10 Podcast:

Otherwise, use the outro to throwback to an old episode but don't make it a generic statement like”

"you can listen to all my old episodes now wherever you get your podcasts"

That's lazy. A listener doesn't want to look through all the old episodes and decide which they might like. Don’t spoonfeed but make it as easy as possible for a listener to make a decision, and like I always say use casual language when doing these so it feels like an authentic recommendation:

"If you enjoyed that episode today, specifically when we spoke about financial goals, then you’ll love episode 12 when I spoke to Dave James. He revealed a 5 minute daily routine that changed his whole outlook on financial freedom."

It’s important with any teasing any other episodes, that you don’t give everything away. Notice in the script above that I have not included what the routine is. Similarly, with the audio clip above of Conor McCarthy where we used a clip to tease the next episode, it doesn’t actually reveal the biggest mistake freelancers make when pricing services. Give a little bit but not everything, that’s the secret sauce to creating interest in a podcast.

7. Be consistent, and don't disappear without warning.

The final tip is the hardest but maybe the most important. Consistent releases are vital to grow and maintain a podcast. The minimum consistency to aim for is one episode every two weeks. Otherwise, it can be tough to gather momentum. However, if you do release infrequently, try and do short solo episodes to boost the amount you release. An active feed is important in podcasting.

Please don’t ghost your listener. I see this scenario all the time; First, someone starts a podcast, then their listeners grow to a healthy number and then, it just stops! No explanation or reasoning, seemingly just the end of a podcast that had hundreds of loyal listeners.

Coming back six months later and calling it "season 2" is no good if you never told your listener that you would be gone for that long. Saying nothing, disappearing and then resurfacing not only shows a lack of planning but also a lack of respect to anyone who listened to your show.

If you are taking a break, that's fine, but you must communicate that to the listener! Podcast addicts will never leave an idle feed in their Podcast subscriptions.

If you stop releasing, record a short episode telling the listener your plans and let them know when you will be back. Then hold yourself accountable to that plan. Otherwise, the podcast looks dormant and half baked. If you don’t seem to care too much about your podcast then why should your listener.

If you are ending a podcast, then communicate that too. It gives you more credibility if you come back with a new podcast down the line.