What’s in a name? Well, as it turns out when it comes to a podcast, everything is in the name. You want people to click on your podcast and listen to it. Which makes the naming podcast episode part of your process extremely important. Listeners both seasoned and first-time, coming to your podcast should understand what they will get when they click on the episode title and it should also directly relate to your podcast name at large. 

We understand that it might seem complex initially. But there are some tricks that you can use to set the ball rolling. The process of naming podcast episode might not be an exact science, but we can help you steer in the right direction..

1. Why Is the Title of the Podcast Important?

When it comes to a podcast episode, people are judging a book by its cover. The name of the podcast episode is the metaphorical cover, of course.  When people search for a podcast, the search result is the name of the show and the name of the episode. This is why naming podcast episode is so important. You want a title that will make people want to stop scrolling and click on your episode. 

A generic name in a space where there are dozens of shows to choose from is not the right approach to take. The naming podcast episode part of the process is also important for search engine purposes.  A well-written title is bound to help you get listeners through Google, Bing, and Yahoo as well. 

2. 6 Effective Steps For Naming Podcast Episode

2.1 Analyze Your Audience and Listeners

The first step in the process of naming podcast episode is understanding your target audience. What are they looking for? How do they talk? What words make up their lingo and what are the words they do not use? These are simple questions but will save you from a world of pain later. You are naming podcast episode in a bid to gain listeners, not lose them. 

By putting your audience first,  you are setting yourself up for success. Initially, you can even do A/B testing to understand what style of episode names people are gravitating towards and then use that as a blueprint moving forward.

2.2. Keep It Relevant and Crisp

Your title needs to have value, it needs to be relevant to the content inside your podcast.  Your podcast episodes are like chapters in the book. Individual chapter headings in a book should reflect the title at large. 

However, do remember that you can’t just your episode title say everything, so reign in your urge to have a big title. You can cover the nitty gritty aspects through the episode description. Your episode title needs to be descriptive enough for the listener to understand the theme being discussed yet short enough to be easily visible in the search results. 

2.3. Give Hints About the Upcoming Episode Content

When you are naming podcast episode so users know exactly what to expect, there is nothing wrong with being ambiguous either. This is completely dependent on the kind of podcast you are sharing with the audience. Do not write clickbait titles, it makes the audience feel cheated and you will end up losing a listener for good. 

If you have an interview podcast, the commonly accepted method is to go ahead with the name of the guest especially if they are well known. Ambiguous titles work well for comedy podcasts and science research-based podcasts. This is because it creates a sense of intrigue in the listener, they want to know or understand what happens next. On the other hand this will not work for a true crime podcast becasuse people already have a light idea about the contents and they are looking for a straightforward answer. 

2.4. Avoid Unnecessary Clutter and Words

Now, you might have a very strong urge to let your inner wordsmith break free when you are naming podcast episode, reign it in. Short and sweet is the general mantra while crafting episode titles. However, this is not set in stone. Episode titles can be long, but only if they serve a purpose.

Find a balance while naming your episodes, what you are looking for is not to overload the title but rather tell the reader what you plan on covering. Also, do not just name your episode something like “Episode #1“That’s bad practice. You are not showcasing anything to the audience and it just comes off as lazy. Like you could care less. You do not want that. 

2.5. Search for Trending Keywords and Add Them

This is the point at which we would like to introduce you to keywords. Keywords are the building blocks of search engine optimization. When people search online, they are generally searching for certain terms, these terms are not complete sentences. But rather select words called keywords. You can use them in your title, to increase your chances of showing up in search results.

The places where you upload your podcast, whether it is Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  Google Podcasts, or any of the multiple platforms out there, are all like a search engine and you need to optimize your title so that it shows up when people search. Do remember not to overstuff your entire podcast episode name with keywords. Not only will you end up putting off your readers. You might even end up getting penalized by search engines.

2.6. Get Creative!

Honestly, there is no one approach that is the best when naming podcast episode. You need to remember to have fun with the title and the podcast at large. There are plenty of podcasts out there that have just two people pointlessly talking to one another, but it works because people feel connected to the hosts. 

Do remember though that you don’t have to get it right on the first try. Look at the metrics like click-through rate and see what your audience is responding to. There might not be a standard approach that works but if you try and test a couple of different things, you will eventually come to a point where people will be right there whenever you upload an episode. 

3. Examples of Names of Podcasts

3.1. Good Examples 

The examples below work because they are easy to understand, The name of your podcast episode comes first. That is what will get your listeners attention. The next part is that of the Episode number or name of the podcast or a number system you have deviced for your podcast, all of these make navigation easy and not interesting, 

• Top 15 Murder Mystery Podcasts 
• Top 15 Murder Mystery Podcasts | Episode 12
• Top 15 Murder Mystery Podcasts | (Name of Podcast) (Episode No.)
• Top 15 Murder Mystery Podcasts | (Code For Your Podcast)

3.2. Questionable Examples

There is nothing more unimaginative than just putting an episode number as the name of podcast episode. It looks sloppy. Which is why you should avoid doing this. You will see that even in serialized podcasts there is a name with the episode number.

• Episode #xx
• Episode #xx| (Name of Podcast)

4. How Do You Name a Podcast Episode | Analysing Podcast Episode Names  

4.1. Serial |  Short & Crisp

If you ever do a search for the best podcast in the world or the most popular one, this will be on top of the list. Serial shot to fame thanks to its great coverage of the polarizing Adnan Syed case. But the contents of the podcast aside, the names of the episode are a masterclass in naming podcast episode. Every episode tells you exactly what it is about without giving much of the story away.

4.2. Stuff You Should Know | When Longer Titles Work 

Another very popular podcast is the Stuff You Should Know Podcast, it covers a different topic every week, and depending on the topic the title is decided. Notice that the topic is clutter free and ambiguous enough that you want to tune in. The length of the title does not play a role here because it’s conveying the topic clearly. 

4.3. Song Exploder | The Interview Podcast

When you have an interview-style podcast like Song Exploder where musicians come on and describe the process behind the creation of a particular song and in some episodes even books. As far as the naming podcast episode part goes, it uses a simple formula- (Name of Guest – Name of Song)

5. FAQs

How do I organize my podcast episode?

To organize your podcast ensure you give it a number and a unique name. When you save it you can even save it with the date to ensure you remember the chronological order in which you have to upload your podcast.

How do you write episode titles?

To write episode titles you need to;

• Analyze your audience 
• Understand your niche 
• Give a clear and concise summary of the content 
• Decide on the title

How long should a podcast episode name be?

Generally, your aim should be to have a title that is less than 5 words or 60 characters as that is the amount visible in the directories at first glance. But it is also dependent on the niche you are covering. If it makes sense for your podcast you can have longer titles as well.