What Metrics ACTUALLY Affect Podcast Rankings with Rob Walch

The Business of Podcasting Podcast

Resource Links:

• Valher Media Website (https://www.valhermedia.com/)
• Valher Media Resources (https://www.valhermedia.com/resources)
• A helpful guide to growing & monetising your podcast (https://www.valhermedia.com/podcasters-edge/)
• podCast411 Website (https://www.podcast411.com)
• The Feed Podcast (https://thefeed.libsyn.com/)
• Check out Libsyn (https://www.libsyn.com)
• Today in iOS Podcast (https://tii.libsyn.com)

Podcasting is growing in popularity, and more people have decided they too wanted to have their own show.

Most of them start for the fun of it, while others plan on monetising them through ads & sponsorships…

And they buy into the idea that ratings, reviews, and episode length factor into their rankings.

Well guess what - they don’t!

Today’s episode features Rob Walch, 2016 Podcasting Hall of Famer and the VP of Podcaster Relations for Libsyn. It is packed with priceless insights, tips, and strategies (that you’ll most likely not hear from anyone else).

It’s definitely time to debunk some of those podcasting myths, learn how to choose your host site better, accurately interpret your data, and figure out what metrics ACTUALLY affect your podcast ranking!

There’s so much gold in this episode so tune in and take notes!

Episode Highlights:

1. Podcast statistics, Libsyn, and the Spotify vs Apple podcast ‘war’ [02:41]
2. People overplay how big Spotify is (compared to Apple Podcasts) [04:02]
3. The plight of podcasts in the Youtube space [06:20]
4. Optimising your show to have bigger reach on Apple Podcasts [08:13]
5. Ratings and reviews have no bearing on the charts [09:18]
6. Choosing where to host your podcast is CRUCIAL (for very important reasons) [11:53]
7. Privacy concerns with podcast hosting sites sharing your information [17:33]
8. Do the hosting companies know about the audience tracking concern? [20:18]
9. Good and bad applications of tracking audience data (in relation to ads) [22:07]
10. Check your hosting’s policy on data and data sharing [25:56]
11. How is Overcast bringing light to a host’s privacy policies & tracking? [27:49]
12. Most brand sponsors pull back from partnerships due to privacy concerns [29:26]
13. Can having numerous devices contribute to downloads & plays statistics on a single show or episode? [31:20]
14. What qualifies as a new ‘play’ session and is it added to the statistics? [34:08]
15. Defining “downloads” and comparing data with the number of unique IPs [35:37]
16. The ‘preload’ feature inflates podcast download numbers [38:16]
17. Paying ‘click farms’ can get you kicked out of Apple Podcasts [41:28]
18. Debunking some wives’ tales about podcast statistics [42:48]
19. Episode length does nothing to boost your show’s popularity [47:28]
20. How can you measure a show’s success? [49:15]
21. Adapt a hybrid model to monetise your show (if you have a sizeable audience) [53:49]
22. The future of podcasting is mobile... and Google Podcasts’ native app on Android phones [54:32]

About our guest

Rob Walch was inducted into the Podcasting Hall of Fame in 2016 and is the VP of Podcaster Relations for Libsyn. He is Co-Author of “Tricks of the Podcasting Masters”Que 2006, an editor’s pick as a Top10 Reference book for 2006 by Amazon. Rob started podcasting in 2004 as host of the award winning podCast411 podcast, where he interviewed guests such as Quincy Jones, Walt Mossberg & Larry Kudlow. He has consulted on podcasting for Jack Welch, Tim Ferriss, and eBay to name just a few.

• Follow Rob on Twitter: https://twitter.com/podcast411
• Send him an email at: [e-mail]

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