How to build a profitable podcast.
In this post, we will be talking about podcast ratings... what they are and how to find and then grow them.
The podcasting world is an interesting one, with a lot of fun, hard work, and creativity.
The aim of combining all of these elements is to get more listeners...
A crucial part of this process is getting people to give you feedback about your show in the form of a podcast rating. Not only does this help you create better audio content, but it also helps your show rank higher in directories.
They increase your podcast’s chance of being discovered. A podcast with higher ratings is more likely to be found by new people and therefore grow faster.
If your podcast ranks well on Apple podcasts, this is great social proof... you get there through having high ratings.
Many newbie podcasters do not know how to find their podcast ratings. It is vital to understand and monitor your podcast ratings. This will help you understand how well your audience enjoys your content and how to get better.
There are a few ways to find your podcast ratings... let's get into it.
People rate Apple Podcasts highly; therefore, it is the platform I would advise you to consider the most. Your podcast rating on Apple Podcasts is one of two elements that affect how well people discover your podcast. This other one is your podcast reviews... more details on these and your podcast ranking in this post: how to find your podcast ranking.
Both of these elements are essential, and they work together to help your podcast get discovered. Let’s get into the difference.
A rating is how many stars listeners give your show out of five stars. For ratings to work well, you need a high number of listeners to rate your show.
A review is what listeners write about your podcast. It affects how your podcast ranks overall and is a stronger signal than just a rating.
Both of these factors combine to determine your ranking within your selected category... the more rating and reviews... the higher the ranking.
Castbox is a mobile app that also has a web player. Castbox shows your podcast ratings and the number of subscribers. You will also see the number of downloads your show gets.
Castbox helps you discover the average number of listens your show gets per subscriber. It helps with rankings if your show generates a significantly higher amount of downloads vs subscribers; this will increase your rating.
Chartable adds a snippet of code to the front of your RSS feed and then can help you track all of your podcast ratings overall directories. It does this by getting your show's reviews, ratings, and ranking on Apple podcasts, before making it into a simple chart. Chartable also gets stats from Podcast Addict and Stitcher.
Podcasts with a solid number of high ratings have a higher chance of being discovered on the Apple Podcasts charts: the podcast player with the most users. Listeners often check the top podcasts in a category when they want to find new shows – this is why you need to get your listeners to rate your show highly.
There are several ways to check for your Apple ratings.
Podcast shows with plenty of listeners can quickly check how well the show rates on Apple Podcasts’ chart through manual checking. To do this, simply go to the URL of your show and look below your show's title, this is how many ratings you have in that geography.
Apple splits their podcasts by geography, so to see your number of ratings in other geographies you simply need to change the country code in the URL, here is an example:
You can do this for each country... but it may take a while!
Chartable is a tool that monitors and records podcast rankings on Apple Podcasts. You will find your podcast under its main category and subcategories.
Chartable displays your show’s ratings in the country and region you have selected. You then have to go under your podcasts' main category and subcategories to see how well your show rates against others.
Chartable highlights your current ratings and signifies if it has performed better or worse from the last time. The green arrow shows improvement while the red arrow has dropped in rankings.
Podcharts operate like Chartable. It also shows you how well your show has performed over time. There are two ways of using Podcharts. The first is checking the charts to track your performance in the category listed.
The second method is to create an account on Podcharts and add your podcast to your dashboard for monitoring. It makes it easier to check your podcast whenever you wish.
Ratings are essential to how well your show ranks. If you want more listeners for your show, you have to get your ratings up.
Here are five ways to get your podcast ratings high on several platforms, especially on Apple Podcasts.
Great content will always get you to the top. Even if you do follow the best practices for promoting your show, it will have little effect if you don't put out great content. Listeners give good ratings to good content; they also recommend it to other listeners. As they do this, it will improve your rankings as the listens will increase. Great content begets good ratings.
For example, when publishing an episode on Apple Podcasts, you can input up to twelve keywords – this is why you need to know the SEO-friendly keywords to use for your niche. Research the best keywords and maximize them for your show’s visibility.
You can get the best keywords for your show category by browsing through keyword tools such as SEMRush.
You can put out great content for your listeners to enjoy... but if you don't ask them, a number of them won't rate you. I shout out anyone that leaves a rating or review for the show... this incentivizes them to do so :)
Even if your show has great content, you will still miss out on ratings if people can't find it. Listeners want to know what a show is about before listening. A great audio performance by yourself or your guests with a poor title is like good food with insufficient packaging. Make your title short and easily discoverable in the search bar.
Consistency is vital in everyday life, especially podcasting. When your listeners are sure that they will get your show at a set time, they will trust you. Once they trust you, they will be more willing to give your show a rating.
Having a good rating for your show is awesome, but do not forget that your main job is to create awesome audio that improves the lives of your listeners. If you focus on putting out great content and promoting your show, you will get good ratings. To improve your podcast ratings 2021, you need to start putting in the work right now ;)
And that is everything you need to know about podcast ratings... so get out there and make sure you ASK for a rating and ideally a review in your next episode!
Where you learn how to start and grow a profitable podcast.
