How to Increase Podcast Downloads in 14 Simple Ways

• Diana Aghumyan
• May 25, 2023
• 10 min read

Podcasting is more than merely creating content. Once you successfully launch your podcast, you should start thinking about how to generate interest among your target audience and boost downloads.

Downloads are important to your podcasting career’s success. The more people download your podcasts, the more listeners you will gain, which will help your show gain traction and become highly popular. Moreover, you will gain more income opportunities once you manage to build a loyal audience!

Based on the latest study by Buzzsprout, the top 1% of podcasts get 3994+ downloads in the first seven days of release on average.

While increasing downloads for your podcast might seem daunting, it is not impossible. You can try many actionable tips to promote your show and attract more people to your podcast.

With clever podcast marketing strategies, you will be able to turn your show into a success! The effort you make to increase downloads will never go in vain.

So, if you’ve recently started a podcast but you are not sure about how to get more download traffic, you are in the right place. Below you will find ten useful and actionable tips to help you receive more downloads than ever before!

Podcast Downloads Vs. Listens

Podcast download refers to the number of people who downloaded your podcasts to their devices.

Many people confuse podcast downloads with podcast listens. However, they are not the same.

Podcast listens refer only to people who have listened to your podcasts. This number can be lower than the number of downloads, but it usually gives you a more precise representation of your true audience.

How Many Podcasts is a Good Number?

Well, it is difficult to say  how many podcast downloads is good.

The number of podcast downloads considered “good” can vary depending on various factors, such as the podcast’s niche, target audience, episode frequency, and overall goals.

There is no specific threshold that determines what constitutes a “good” number of podcast downloads.

14 Actionable Ways to Boost Podcast Downloads

Now that you know what podcast downloads are, how they differ from podcast listens, and why they matter, it is time to jump into the main part of today’s article. Below you will find fourteen simple yet powerful ways to boost the number of downloads for your podcasts.

1. Create Content Regularly

Publishing more podcast content is the first and essential step to boosting your podcast downloads! The more episodes you make, the more content users will have to interact with.

By making new episodes, you can target your existing listeners, who will download your content with great pleasure. However, if you consistently publish more podcast episodes, you will be able to attract wider audiences and grow your listenership.

2. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

This tip might seem obvious, but it’s critically essential. Nobody likes listening to an episode with poor audio quality or content. Even your most loyal fans will tune out of your show if you stop giving thought to the production process and your quality starts decreasing.

This is why you need to edit your podcast and ensure it is perfect before publishing. Try to find and get rid of strange sounds, long pauses, and other things that can possibly harm your podcast quality. You can also ask someone else to listen to your final podcast before you release it. It could be your friends, relatives, family, and other people. They can give you useful feedback and help you detect any critical problems you might have overlooked.

3. Invite Popular Guests

Another great way to boost your podcast downloads is inviting famous guests to your show and creating some buzz before publishing your podcast episode. Since they have large audiences on different social media platforms, you can ask them to promote your show on their pages. If your guests have no ideas about what to share, you can provide them with content materials, including audio, video snippets, and so on. This way, you will be able to reach a whole new audience and significantly increase your podcast download rate.

4. Design An Eye-Catchy Cover

Having a visually compelling cover that stands out is crucial when your show competes with thousands of others. Your podcast cover is the first thing your potential listeners will see when they come across your podcast show. As first impressions are very important, you need to come up with a simple but appealing design that will instantly grab the attention of both new and new potential listeners.

5. Join Podcast Directories

There are many famous podcast directories and streaming services. So, join as many as you can, as it will allow you to find new fans for your show.

You can start with some famous streaming services like Apple Podcasts. You can learn how to start a podcast on Apple podcasts by reading a few guides. Other than Apple Podcasts, you can also use Spotify to boost your podcast downloads. Make sure to do proper research and find as many other options as possible. The more platforms you join, the wider audiences you will be able to attract to your show.

6. Ask Your Audience For Reviews

Reviews are powerful when it comes to promoting your podcast! Getting reviews and ratings for your podcast can help improve its reputation and persuade new people to tune in and learn more about your podcast show.

So, ask your current podcast audience to share their honest opinion about your podcast. Ask them to tell what exactly they like about your podcast. When others see your listener’s positive feedback, they will feel more motivated to listen to your podcasts. As a result, your podcast downloads will increase.

7. Share Your Podcasts On Social Media

Social media is an important and effective tool for all business owners and digital creators. By using social media platforms to promote your show, you can grow your audience and increase downloads.

Use your social media channels to advertise your podcast show as frequently as you can. Regularly post quality content to keep your audience engaged. For the best results, you need to try different marketing strategies and share content on a few different social media platforms.

8. Leverage the Power of SEO

If you want your podcast to be easily discoverable, you need to leverage the power of SEO. Choosing target keywords could help you reach whole new audiences!

Every time you publish new podcast content, make sure to take advantage of SEO opportunities. Try to include relevant keywords in your podcast title or description. Good SEO strategies will result in high conversion, including podcast downloads!

9. Work With Other Podcasters

Collaborating with other podcasters is an actionable way to build your audience while also enhancing your content skills and expanding your horizons. Collabs can bring mutual benefits, as you both can attract new audiences!

So, make sure to find relevant podcasters in your niche to start a collaboration with them and record new podcasts together. You two can make engaging content that appeals to wider audiences.

10. Build an Email List

Communication is essential when it comes to promoting your podcast episodes. It’s a great idea to interact with your audience more frequently. Starting an email list enables you to let your fans know about new content once you publish.

Find the email addresses of your listeners to build an email list. Every time you release new episodes, send an email to let everyone know! You can also use this email list to keep people updated about other launches, such as new merch.

11. Repurpose Your Content

To boost podcast downloads, you can also repurpose your content. Many successful podcasters repurpose podcast content into videos and other visual content, including social media posts and infographics. You can also try other content formats as long as they are appealing to your audience.

12. Create a Compelling Title

Each podcast episode should have a title. You need to keep it simple, short, and catchy. In other words, you need to come up with something that will attract your audience and make it clear to them what to expect from your show. The title should also be optimized for search engines. So, make sure to use SEO keywords so that your website ranks higher on search engines.

13. Transcribe Your Episodes

If you transcribe podcasts and make these transcriptions available for your audience, you can greatly boost SEO efforts, traffic, and downloads.

Every time you release new podcast content, take time to transcribe podcasts and post them on your website. This will allow people who don’t have time to listen to your podcasts to read them. Moreover, your search ranking will improve, and traffic and downloads will increase.

14. Ask for Feedback

If you’re still not sure how to get more podcast downloads, getting feedback on your content may be useful. This will help you determine what’s working well and what needs to be improved.

Ask for advice from your audience or podcast experts. They can share helpful comments and viewpoints. This way, you will be able to improve your podcast content.

Summary

Increasing your podcast downloads doesn’t happen overnight. It can take a few months to boost downloads. There’s no shortcut to fame. You need to be patient and persistent to achieve your goal.

Even though podcast downloads are an important metric allowing you to measure your podcast’s success, you should not forget about creating quality content. Focus on publishing engaging podcasts that will educate your listeners and make them become loyal fans of your show.

So, we hope the above-mentioned tips will be helpful, and you will be able to boost your podcast downloads and take your podcasting career to the next level.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

SEO Content Writer

Diana Aghumyan

Diana is an experienced creative SEO content writer at SayNine. She is passionate about writing and giving value to people with her articles. Her blogs revolve around advertising, digital marketing, and other similar topics.