86. 7 Podcast Naming Mistakes to Avoid | Podcasting Tips for Titles, Launches, and Rebranding

Struggling to come up with the perfect name for your podcast, or wondering if a rebrand might be in order? In this episode, I dive into the nitty-gritty of podcast naming conventions and share 7 common mistakes to avoid. Tune in to discover all the essentials for naming success and keep your podcast journey moving!

Resources Mentioned: 

Episode 66: Want to Attract New Listeners? Add a Subtitle to Your Podcast!

US Patent and Trademark Search: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search

This episode was produced by me, The Podcast Teacher! Contact me at Hello@ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Take the quiz to find out what you need to focus on for podcast growth: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com/quiz

Transcript

Hey, hey, and welcome back. Last week, I ran a podcasting 101 workshop for beginners. One of the things that I always teach during this workshop is how to choose a name for your podcast. Your podcast's name is really, really important for attracting new listeners. It impacts your show's ability to appear in search results and is also a big factor in whether or not a listener will choose your show from the list of results and read the description, listen to the trailer, etcetera. Not surprisingly, the title can be a tough one for my students to figure out because there are a lot of factors to consider. Right after wrapping up the workshop, I was helping one of my advanced students rebrand her podcast. She's making some pivots in her business and needs to rename her podcast to align with her new business direction.

We spent a lot of time bouncing around name ideas and vetoing them for different reasons. Needless to say, I have had best practices for podcast names on the brain this past week. So today, I'm going to share 7 common naming mistakes, Things that you want to avoid, whether you are naming your brand new podcast or it's time for a refresh. Mistake number 1 is thinking that it has to be perfect before you launch your podcast in the first place. This one is for my aspiring podcasters out there. I have seen so many folks put off starting their podcast time and time again because of this one single thing, the podcast name. Yes. It is important, but it's also changeable.

We're not carving it in stone here. So while I encourage you to put some time and energy into choosing a good one, don't let it hold you back from putting your content out into the world. If you've been around here for a while, you may remember that this show was originally named Podcasting for Introverts. I knew that wasn't quite right, but rather than spend any more time deliberating over the decision, I decided it was good enough. And then when the right name came to me, I changed it. And now, of course, it's Podcasting for Solopreneurs. While mine happened to be a fairly minor change, you can definitely change the whole entire thing. So while I'm going to go on and give you the other 6 mistakes, I want you to keep this first one front and center in your brain, and give yourself a little grace if you're making one of the other mistakes.

Okay. So, mistake number 2 is not being clear. So many people wanna make their podcast name creative and fun, which I understand, and you can do that as long as you're still being clear. A potential listener needs to immediately know what your show is about and who it is for at first glance. Your cover art will help with this. That's a separate episode. But the name of your show needs to clearly identify the topic and audience. If your podcast name is boring and straightforward, you are avoiding this mistake.

Podcasting for solopreneurs is certainly not very creative or exciting, but there's no doubt what this show is about and who it's for. Right? Very clear. Along these same lines, mistake number 3 is naming the show after yourself. The exception here is if you're a celebrity, you're allowed to name the podcast after yourself. Oprah can call her podcast the Oprah Winfrey Show because most people know who she is and what type of content she delivers. Conan O'Brien can name his show Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend because people already have an idea of what they're going to get when they tune in. Oprah and Conan's reputations precede them. I can't say the same for the Julia Levine show.

If you don't already know who I am, you would have absolutely no idea that my show is about podcasting. Naming the show after yourself in 99% of cases means that it is not clear. Okay. Mistake number 4 is a pretty minor one, and that is making your podcast name longer than 5 words. You'll be saying it a lot, so you want it to easily roll off your tongue. I can say, podcasting for solopreneurs, a whole lot easier than I can say something like, podcasting tips, tricks, and growth strategies for online business owners and entrepreneurs. The more of a mouthful it is, the harder it is for a new contact to remember it when you tell them and harder for a current listener to tell their friends about your show. Keep it short and succinct.

Mistake number 5 is probably the biggest one of all, and that is not optimizing your podcast name for search. People typically discover new podcasts in one of 2 ways, a recommendation from someone else or through search. So, you want to be sure to optimize your podcast title to show up in search results. Now, there's a whole separate world of search engine optimization for Google, but I'm talking about search engine optimization for the podcast players, which is not the same technique. As of today, most podcast players are not complex search engines. In the biggest one, Apple Podcasts, the only fields that are currently searchable are your show name, artist name, and individual episode titles. Out of those, the show name field is the most heavily weighted. So, if you want to guarantee that you will show up in the search results for a specific keyword or phrase, that word or phrase must be in your title.

For example, if someone types podcasting into their search bar because they are looking for a podcast about podcasting, I want my podcast to pop up in the search results as an option for them. Therefore, I made sure to include the word podcasting in my title. I call the word or short phrase that is most relevant to your topic, your primary keyword. This is what your audience is likely typing into their search bar. You want to choose this word by thinking about your podcast's main overarching topic. Often, this is pretty easy. If you have a podcast about podcasting, podcasting is your primary keyword. If your podcast is about weight loss, then weight loss is your primary keyword.

Technically, it's a phrase, but we call it a keyword. If you're finding it difficult to choose just one because you talk about so many different things, a, you may need to scale your content back a bit and be a little bit more focused, but also b, what is going to get your ideal listener in the door? One of my students, Beth, host of the Beyond Intuitive Eating podcast, was considering rebranding because she covers so much more than just intuitive eating. And I encouraged her not to because she needed something to bring them in the door. Her ideal listener searches for a podcast about intuitive eating, and they click on hers, they will then find out that within her approach to intuitive eating underneath that umbrella of the intuitive eating topic, Beth incorporates mindset, identity work, somatic exercises, and so many other things. Those things are going to resonate with some people and not with others. But without getting them in the door by using her keyword of intuitive eating, a listener wouldn't even have the opportunity to discover her approach. Hopefully, this is all making sense. You need to pick something that is fairly broad that your ideal listener might be typing into their search bar.

And that's what you want to consider as your primary keyword and therefore incorporate into your show's name. Don't make the mistake of leaving this out. Okay, mistake number 6 is not using a subtitle. When we're talking about your podcast's name, we can think of it in 2 parts. First is the main title. That's the part that you say is the name of your show that you put on your cover art, etcetera. So, for me, my main title is podcasting for solopreneurs. The second part is a subtitle, and this is an optional almost hidden component of your podcast's official name.

You never say this subtitle. It can be included just to help your search engine optimization. It's a place for you to put some additional keywords beyond your number one primary keyword, so that you have the opportunity to show up in the search results for more terms. My subtitle is currently podcasting tips and growth strategies for online business. You probably didn't even know that because it's not there for you. It's there for the search algorithm. Go back and check out episode 66 if you want more information, all the details about adding a subtitle. And finally, mistake number 7 is choosing a name that's already taken.

Not only could you potentially face legal issues if you start a podcast with the same name as someone else, it can cause confusion for your listeners. Plus, it's just plain rude. So, how do you know if the name is already taken? Search the US Patent and Trademark Database which can be found at uspto.gov. I'll drop that link in the episode description for you as well. You want to use that site to see if a trademark has been granted, or if an application is pending for that exact name. If you are located outside the US, search your country's database too. If you find the exact name during your search, cross it off your list. You absolutely cannot use that name without legal ramifications.

If you don't find any trademark matches, then do a search for the name in both Apple Podcasts and Spotify to see if a show already exists with the name. If it does, you might not be in any legal trouble if you use it too, but I highly suggest that you don't. Imagine that you're at an event, mention the name of your podcast, and then a new potential lead goes to their podcast player, searches, and clicks on the other podcast with the same name. They might not realize their mistake, listen to the other person's content, and you've lost a potential customer. I also firmly believe in treating others how I want to be treated, and I would be pretty darn upset if someone else started a podcast with the same name. So keep your side of the street clean and keep your good karma coming back around. I had to resist singing those phrases. If you know, you know.

Anyway, there you have it, 7 mistakes to avoid when naming your new podcast or rebranding your show. Until next time, happy podcasting.