In the world of digital content and podcasting, the competition is on its peak in this industry. There are over a million active podcasts out there on social media, so, it is easy to get down the podcast among these 2 million top class podcasts. But, overall in this scenario many podcasts have managed to rise to the top which builds organic fan following and achieved success. So, the question arises what makes these podcasts great? What makes a good podcast, and how can the podcaster make a podcast that engages and resonates with the audience?
Understanding what makes a good podcast is crucial to success whether you are a beginner or professional podcaster. A good podcast requires careful planning, execution, and consistency because it just does not demand a clear theme or ideas. It requires a deep understanding of the audience, their needs, and their preferences as well. After comprehensive research, this blog provides the best ideas and key concepts regarding the topic that makes a good podcast that resonates to get it on top among the various podcasts.
1. Topic and Niche Selection
The first tip to make a good podcast is while starting a podcast, choose a perfect topic and niche. The topic selection played an important role to hit a podcast. The niche and topic selection is considered about what you’re passionate about and what you’re knowledgeable in. The topic can be Chosen in which the host is passionate about and can speak on for a long time. Additionally, the topic should be unique and relevant to the interest of the audience.
2. Make a Content Calendar
Making a content calendar is an innovative way to get the podcast on top by notifying about the content and theme to the targeted audience. Making a calendar provides a structure for the podcaster and audience. Do separate the content into categories and themes. For example H3 Podcast by Ethan and Hila Klein, upload the podcast episodes three times per week from each of their different video podcast categories, themes or “series”. They have built their content calendar in a way that the audience knows what comes next. The content series includes:
- The Frenemies series: This explores the historically explosive friendship and trending social media topics.
- The H3 podcast series: This explores the reaction videos, sketches, and guest interviews.
- The H3 After dark series: It deals with the live show on YouTube which tackle the Taboo subjects.
The various themes and setups includes:
- Interviews
- Reaction videos
- Discussion
- Latest news
- Storytelling
- Giving tips and hacks.
3. Engagement of the Audience
Check the analytics and understand what brings in engagement of the audience and apply the best tips into every episode that is about to be published. For example on The Nathan Barry Show, Nathan interviews experienced founders and exciting people in tech, starting each episode with a hook of their conversation to highlight the discussion topic. He then cuts to eight seconds of introduction music to give the viewer a chance to reflect on what they have heard and quickly re-engages them with a breakdown of what the episode will cover.
The Nathan Barry show implement some principles to keep viewers engaged which includes:
- Add topics to the content calendar that bring in the most views.
- Make your video’s title explanatory and concise.
- Keep video length over 10 minutes. YouTube supports showing long-form content.
- Be conversational and authentic.
- Give the viewers a preview of what is to come at the beginning of your podcast.
- Keep introducing hooks throughout, especially at the beginning, middle, and end.
- Use HD quality. The podcaster has no excuse for audio or video quality.
4. Focus on the targeted Audience
Identifying and understanding the target audience is critical for the success of a podcast and is a fundamental step to growing your podcast audience. The podcaster needs to research and determine the organic viewer’s interests. This involves looking at demographics, behavior patterns, and engagement trends. The better thing is to understand the audience’s interest and make content according to their interest. It causes the organic growth of the podcast audience.
5. Consistency
Consistency is the key to producing good podcasting. Stay consistent as possible with your podcasting style and schedule to get success. Consistency means that the podcaster stays on topic that helps the viewers to expect from new podcast episodes. Such as, maintaining a consistent posting schedule helps the audiences to predict when new content will be available.
6. Attractive Thumbnails
Thumbnails are the small images that represent the videos and help viewers decide whether to click and watch. Thumbnails are a crucial aspect of YouTube video podcasts because they serve as the first impression for organic viewers and can greatly impact click-through rates. Here are a few tips to make eye-catching thumbnails to grow a YouTube video podcast channel. For example, choose images that accurately represent the context of the podcast. Use high-quality visual images that grab the attention of the viewers. Include text on thumbnail highlighting the episode’s main topic, and use bold and easy-to-read fonts that suit the background. Keep concise and attractive phrases to arouse curiosity because it looks creative and attracts the viewers towards the video podcast.
- On True Geordie’s video podcast, you will see a very consistent pattern to his podcast thumbnails:
- They always include his face, and if the episode involves an interview, those of his guests.
- They offer a preview of his subject material, e.g. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
- All the videos in his podcast series such as “True News” and “The Kick Off”, share the same thumbnail template.
7. Prioritize Quality
Make sure the podcast prioritizes the quality over quantity. Because high-quality podcasts always help to set the podcaster up for success. That includes everything from the topic itself to the video content. It also shows the audience how much the podcaster is serious about producing great podcasts that are easy and enjoyable to watch.
8. Promote Podcast
The last tip is to promote the podcast by creating a podcast website. Blogging about new episodes and related topics. It is a great way to engage new podcast viewers and improve the search engine optimization, or SEO. SEO helps position your website on search results pages and is one of the best tools to get new subscribers.