The Headliner Podcast Discoverability Grader will help you ensure your show is set up to be found by the most listeners possible by pointing out areas you could improve upon including performance, visuals, social, directories, and a special extra credit metric.

All you need to get started is your podcast feed or iTunes URL. Once you provide that, we do the rest. Your results will be shown in an overall score (with a possible 110 points) and then be broken down into different metrics so you can zero in on what could be improved to make your podcast more discoverable.

In this post, I’m going to break down each metric of the Podcast Discoverability Grader, and share a little bit about the importance of each to your podcast.

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Performance: 20 Points

Catalog

This metric takes a look at the number of podcast episodes you’ve published. Obviously, if your podcast is brand new, you may not have that many episodes, but your goal should be to keep creating, which will continue to improve your catalog score.

Having a healthy and active catalog signals to the listener that you’re creating content regularly and they will be more likely to subscribe and invest in your show.

Feed Speed

Most podcast distribution apps check podcast feeds once an hour to ensure they’re pulling in the most recent content. As you create more episodes, your feed becomes longer, and a longer feed equals a longer load time. This load time could slow down the listeners download speed. It’s important to keep your feed speed in mind as you start to have a large catalog of episodes.

Check out this extremely helpful article from The Audacity To Podcast outlining five ways to reduce the size of your RSS feed.

Episode Recency

The most successful podcasts have a strict and regular publishing schedule. Everyone likes a routine, and the world of podcasting is no different. If you publish new episodes of your podcast on Wednesday mornings and then suddenly it doesn’t appear in your listeners’ feed, it’s liable to affect your brand trust. Publishing regularly also helps you build your catalog more quickly, which is key to podcast discoverability.

Trailers

Do you have a trailer for your show? If you don’t, we think you should definitely create one. It’s the perfect opportunity to ease someone into your podcast style, story, or topic. Are there other podcasts in your genre that you’d like to promote and vice versa? Trailers are also the perfect piece of content to use when fulfilling promotional trades. If you want to take trailers to the next level, you can also create them as teasers for each new episode of your podcast.

Visuals: 10 Points

This metric grades your podcast and episode art. It’s important to ensure that your podcast art meets requirements by iTunes. According to Apple, your podcast art should be square and a minimum 1400 x 1400 pixels, and maximum 3000 x 3000 pixels.

Apple’s Podcast Art Best Practices

  • Make your artwork simple and easily recognizable for search results.
  • Include your podcast title.
  • Use clear, large fonts and relevant imagery.
  • Use the maximum resolution of 3000 x 3000 pixels.
  • Avoid including logos of sponsors or ad groups.
  • Avoid putting artwork elements at the bottom of your image as they may be obscured by play progress indicators.
  • Be mindful of Dark Mode.

Social: 40 Points

Here we take a look at social media profiles being used to promote your podcast including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. While we know there are more out there, we feel these are the most common. Social is a no-brainer when it comes to reaching your current subscribers and new listeners, which is why each platform is worth 10 points.

Directories: 30 Points

Have you submitted your podcast to multiple directories? While there is a growing number of directories, here we look to make sure your podcast is being indexed by three of the main players: Apple, Google, and Spotify. If you need help submitting your podcast to these directories, you can find that info on our blog:

Extra Credit: 10 Points

At this point, your podcast could have scored a perfect 100 points, however, there are 10 extra credit points up for grabs. Here we check to see if your podcast hosting platform is a Headliner integration partner, meaning you can make Headliner videos directly within your hosting platform.

While you can always head right to Headliner to make your content, we try to make it as easy as possible for you by partnering with the most popular podcast hosting services.

Use the Podcast Discoverability Grader to see how your podcast stacks up to the competition.

Get Your Score!