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Apple seems to have backed down on Episode Numbers in Episode Titles.  Here is a partial quote from the email they sent out…

We’ve received a lot of questions about metadata best practices on Apple Podcasts. We want to provide more details and clarification as you think about improving your show’s metadata.

Your Show Won’t Be Removed for Having Episode Numbers in Episode Titles

Starting with iOS 11 in September 2017, we introduced modern RSS tags to improve podcast metadata. These tags include support for seasons, trailers, and episode numbers. The new tags help us present your show to your listeners on Apple Podcasts and present listening data to you in Podcast Analytics.

Be sure to listen to Episode 117 for the first part of this story…

Here is a list of the apps/directories that are using the Apple Tags and not using the Apple tags.

Apple Podcasts – iTunes title (of course)
Itunes desktop – main title ‽
Blubrry – main title
Google Podcasts – main title
Pocket Casts – iTunes title
Podcast Addict – main title
BeyondPod – Stripped out the number but uses the main title ??
Spotify – main Title
Tunein – main title
Stitcher – Not updating 🙁
Overcast – iTunes Title
Himalaya – iTunes Title

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:57 — 15.6MB)

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Apple sent a letter to podcasters today (It was a bulk email NOT just to you). The big takeaway is that you need to remove episode numbers from your titles. I have a way of doing that and keeping them in your blog titles (as you can see above) and Keep Apple happy.

Here is what they sent:

Dear Podcast Provider,

To improve your experience with Apple Podcasts, we want to share the following information and updates.

Optimize Your Show’s Metadata

The metadata of your show is your product packaging. It includes all of the details about your show — such as title, author name, description — that potential listeners will see on Apple Podcasts. High-quality metadata can help your show be discovered and grow your audience, as it ultimately determines whether it appears in relevant user searches.

Conversely, poor-quality podcast metadata may affect new submissions as well as active shows to ensure our platform meets Apple’s quality standards.

Here are some things to avoid:

Including placeholder text from your hosting provider. For example, descriptions such as “Podcast by [author name],” “New podcast weblog,” “Cover art photo provided by [name],” or “Description goes here.”
Verbatim repetition of the title or author name in the description. For example, “The Very Hungry Tourists by Dr. María Sánchez and John Appleseed.”
Incorporating irrelevant content or spam. For example, show titles like “The Very Hungry Tourists | Travel | Explore | Learn” or author names like “Dr. María Sánchez, coach and travel enthusiast.”
Adding episode numbers in titles. For example, show titles like “The Very Hungry Tourists Episode 01” or episode titles like “01 Broken Heirloom.”

These practices could result in your show being rejected or removed from Apple Podcasts.

Review the resources below to learn more:

Podcasts Partner Search
Podcasts Connect Help
Apple Podcasts Marketing Best Practices

Resubmit RSS Feeds in Podcasts Connect

Users now have the ability to resubmit rejected feeds.

Should your show fail our review process or be removed from our catalog for the reasons described above, review your RSS fields to ensure compliance. Then, revalidate the feed and resubmit it via Podcasts Connect.

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Is all Podcast advice applicable to your goals in podcasting?  Be careful about who you are getting your advice from. Do they have an agenda? (most do) Do they match YOUR goals in podcasting?    Not everyone wants advertisers.  A lot of advice given on the Facebook groups is not applicable to the person sitting next to the water heater in a basement studio.

This is my little rant/brain dump on the subject of advice.

Be sure to listen to the last episode with Paul Culligan as well.

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Paul Colligan is a Podcast Pioneer, Marketing guy, Podcaster, Author and Speaker who was around in the early days of Podcasting. Paul sat down with me and we talked about, you guessed it, Podcasting (duh!).

Paul’s Links:

• PaulColligan.com
• The Podcast Report
• Paul’s Twitter
• Paul’s Facebook
• Paul’s books

Thanks for listening.  Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an Episode!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:51 — 15.6MB)

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What does this accusition mean to the average independent Podcaster? Not much is my guess.

This is just me doing a bit of a brain-dump about the big news of yesterday. Is it good for Podcasting in General? Is it Good/Bad for Indy podcasters? Who knows? We will see how it shakes out.

Also, I talk about a new App called Himalaya You can go over there and claim your show. I’m testing it out as a listening app. I will let you know what I think in a future episode.

In the show I couldn’t remember the domain I used for PHD News 🙂 You can get there by either going to PodcastHelpDesknews.com or adding it to your Alexa flash briefing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:21 — 29.7MB)

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Elise Escobar stopped by the Podcast Help Desk a while back and we had a great conversation about podcasting (what else?) and what she is doing in podcasting.

Elsie is a Hall of Famer, Podcaster and Social Media at Libsyn – The Feed and She Podcasts. 

I also talk about Podcast Help Desk News Alexa skill (and now REAL podcast).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:27 — 23.4MB)

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1. Never Promote something you do not own.   Send people to your website and then give them all the choices you can reasonably.

1. Apple 🍎
2. Google Podcasts
 (notice I didn’t say Google PLAY‽) 💻
3. RSS
 🖥
4. Tunein
 📻
5. Spotify
 💩
6. Android
 📱
7. Stitcher
 🎧

2. Having your RSS feed come from your website with YOUR domain in it will help you in Google search.

3. “Write your show notes for Google Search.  Make your show audio for your listeners.” – Todd Cochrane 🚒

4. Don’t try to game the system.  The more you try to game the system, the more likely it is you will get removed from some directories for whatever rule violation.  Just make good content and repeat often. There is no shortcut.

5. Ratings and reviews DO NOTHING to promote your show.  Period.

6. Being in the top XX list on Apple Podcasts will not help you much if at all.

Please use the promo code HELPDESK at checkout at Blubrry.com to support Podcast Help Desk!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:10 — 45.0MB)

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I got to chat with my old friend and podcast pioneer, Evo Terra. We talk a bit about the good old days of podcasting and some about what is going on now.  Just a couple of old guys chatting it up.

Some of the things Evo is doing or has done:

• Co-author of the first versions of Podcasting for Dummies
• Host of ShEvo vs. The First World 
• Former Co-host of The Bangkok Podcast
• He owns Simpler Media at https://podcastlaunch.pro
• Also, make sure watch his facebook for Podcast Pontifications, a video series that is NOT a podcast about Podcasting.

Be sure to come to PodcastHelpDesk.com and push the appropriate button to subscribe so you don’t miss a show!