203. Should I Wait Until Next Week If I Miss My Podcast Release Day? | Podcasting Tips and Strategies

FAQ Friday answering the podcasting question of "Should I Wait Until Next Week If I Miss My Podcast Release Day?"

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Transcript

Welcome to Podcasting for Solopreneurs and FAQ Friday, where I answer a podcasting question in 5 minutes or less. Today's question is, if I typically release my podcast on Wednesday, but fall behind and miss that day, should I wait until the following Wednesday or publish the episode as soon as it's ready? This question comes from Heather, host of the Speculative Fiction Writing Made Simple podcast. Hey Heather, thanks so much for being a fan of the show. This is a really common question, and the short answer is that it's better to publish the episode as soon as it's ready rather than waiting an entire week. Now, consistency does matter, and I encourage you to strive for the same day each week because consistent schedules create trust, showing up when you say you will, and consistency deepens the relationship over time. But life happens and we all get behind from time to time. Your listeners are human too, and they'll understand that. Publishing a day or two late shows that you are still committed to them even though there was a slight delay.

The longer that delay, the more they might start to think that you don't care about getting content to them, they're not a priority, and then trust can begin to fade. Releasing an episode only a day or two late is also better for the algorithm because platforms like Apple and Spotify are not necessarily tracking whether you released on Wednesday at the same time every week, but they are tracking how long it's been since your last episode, the recency. So making it 8 days since your last episode instead of 7 isn't nearly as noticeable as if it's been 12 or 13 days since your last episode. And a longer period of time is going to have a more negative impact on the algorithm. Now, of course, recency is only one metric that goes into the algorithm, Listener engagement, downloads, follower growth, and how much of your episode people actually listen to are also important factors, but those are things for another day. The other thing to think about relevant to this question is momentum. When you release the episode as soon as it's ready, you keep your content moving forward. Waiting until the following Wednesday creates a longer gap between episodes, and that slows your overall momentum.

One final tip here. When you do release an episode a little bit late, don't make a huge deal out of it. People often listen days or even weeks after something is released. And so instead of opening the episode with a long apology, simply ignore it. Don't say anything. Or if you really feel the need to acknowledge it, say something quick like, today's episode is coming out a day later than usual. But I'm excited to share it with you. And then go ahead and move right into your content.

Overall momentum and long-term consistency matter more than perfect timing every single week. So get your episode out there as soon as you can. If you have a podcasting question, click the Send Me Your Question link in the episode description and I'll answer it in an upcoming episode. Until next time, happy podcasting.