If your podcast titles look like "Episode 42: Interview with John Smith," you are invisible. Unless your guest is a celebrity, their name means nothing to a potential listener scrolling through Spotify. Your title has one job: to sell the click. If it doesn't spark curiosity or promise a solution to a specific problem, the listener will keep scrolling. In this episode, we audit your title strategy. Mark introduces the "Hook + Context" naming convention—a formula designed to maximize Click-Through Rate (CTR) and capture search traffic from people who don't know you yet.

Show Notes

The "Stranger Test": Would someone who doesn't know you or your guest click this title? If the answer is no, the title is failed.

The "Hook + Context" Formula:

Bad: "Ep 12: Chatting with Sarah Jones."

Good: "How to Cure Insomnia (with Sleep Expert Sarah Jones)."

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Treat Spotify and Apple Podcasts like Google. People search for problems ("Marketing tips," "Weight loss," "Real estate investing"), not names.

Format Rules:

Remove episode numbers from the title (metadata handles this).

Remove the word "Interview" or "Podcast" (redundant).

Front-load the value proposition (put the "Gold" in the first 30 characters).

Action Step: Rename your last 3 episodes. Move the guest's name to the end and put the most shocking or helpful takeaway at the very front.

Mark at onpodium.com

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