How to Choose a Name For Your Podcast
Choosing the right name for your podcast can be intimidating. You want it to perfectly describe what your podcast is about but in a way that is fun and will catch people’s attention.
In this blog post, we’ll run through some questions and a few guidelines that will help you pick the best name for your podcast.
What is Your Podcast About?
How do you respond when somebody asks what your podcast is about? What is the first thing you tell them to describe your podcast? If you find yourself rambling or are unsure of how to answer, this is the first thing you’ll need to nail down.
When you can confidently describe what your podcast is about, coming up with the right name will be significantly easier.
Here are three questions you should be able to answer when talking about your podcast:
1. Who is your podcast for?
What kind of person is most likely to subscribe and listen to your podcast? Who does your podcast content appeal to? Do you know who your ideal listener is?
Being able to describe who your podcast is for will help you land on a name those people will recognize and respond to.
“Everyone” is not the correct answer. As much as podcasters would love to have millions of listeners, creating a podcast for a generic audience will actually prevent your podcast from growing. Podcast are great because they are unique, and creating unique content means that it won’t work for everybody.
2. What’s the main subject of your podcast?
If someone else were to describe your podcast, what would they say? What is the main topic you discuss? What is the theme that runs through all of your episodes?
In essence, what does someone expect to hear when they listen to one of your episodes?
Being able to clearly communicate that your podcast is about this and not about that will help you come up with the right name.
3. What makes it different than other podcasts?
What sets your podcast apart and makes it unique? Do you have a particular approach to your subject matter that you can’t find anywhere else? Are you an expert in the area you’re covering in your podcast?
When you’re first starting out it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes your podcast special, but taking the time to identify what makes your podcast unique will help you choose a name that reflects that uniqueness.
If you can answer these 3 questions about your podcast, you’re already most of the way there! Here are some tips to help you cross the finish line and land on a name that you love.
Your Name Should Reflect the Content
When someone sees your podcast name they should immediately know what to expect when they start listening. Too often podcasters try to get “cute” and come up with a name that’s a bit off the wall, but that only serves to confuse potential listeners. Here are some examples of great podcast names:
Just by reading the names of each of these podcasts you know what they’re about: Star Wars!
Each of these podcasts chose a name that would be easy to identify by their ideal listeners (Star Wars fans) and that is related to the Star Wars movies.
If you’re a Star Wars fan looking for a podcast about Star Wars, these podcasts stand a good chance of gaining your subscription.
If you’re in the online marketing space, these podcast names are designed to grab your attention.
By emphasizing that online marketing doesn’t have to be super complicated (Online Marketing Made Easy), that you can master the Shopify platform (Shopify Masters), and that harnessing paid traffic to promote your website is a viable solution (The Art of Paid Traffic), these podcasts have set themselves apart from their competitors.
What if you have a podcast for your church? Your name should be precisely what you expect people to type in when they’re looking for you. Each of these churches does exactly that so their fans and members can easily find their podcast.
If you’re creating a podcast to promote yourself or your personal brand, make sure that your name is in the title. Each of these podcasts revolve around the host, so including their name in the podcast name makes it easy for people to identify that this is their podcast.
Your Name Should Reflect the Tone
In addition to making sure your podcast name accurately describes the content of your show, you also want to communicate the tone listeners should expect. Here are some good examples of both fun and professional podcast names.
These podcasts are known for not taking themselves too seriously. Just by reading the podcast name you can tell right away you’re in for a good time!
If your show is designed to promote your business or takes on a more professional tone, you’ll want your podcast name to support that.
Each of these podcasts inspire and educate their listeners and you know that you’re in for some high-quality content before you even hit play.
Your Name Should Be Unique
This last guideline goes without saying, but you don’t want to choose a name that someone else has already chosen.
Not only will it confuse your listeners (who might listen to the other podcast instead), but you can also run afoul of the dreaded “cease and desist” letter or be unable to secure the social media handles you want for your podcast.
Here are three things we recommend you do to make sure your name hasn’t been snatched up already:
1. Check if the website and Social Media accounts are available
Name Checkr is a great resource where you can check to see if the domain and social media handles are available for your potential podcast name. Just type in the name and it will check all the relevant accounts for you.
2. Google the podcast name
Doing a quick Google search should turn up anything that already exists. Make sure to try different variations of the search like adding the word “podcast” into the search terms to cover your bases.
3. Search in Apple Podcasts or Spotify
If someone has already created a podcast with your name, chances are it will be listened in one of these podcast directories. Do a quick search in these apps to verify that a podcast doesn’t already exist with your name.
The tips and examples in this blog should help you narrow down your ideas and come up with a podcast name that you love and that your ideal listeners can easily find and identify.
Want more tips on how to start your podcast? Subscribe to How to Start a Podcast presented by Buzzsprout, a new podcast where you learn everything you need to know to create a podcast from scratch.
Originally published at www.buzzsprout.com.
