[00:00:00] Intro music
[00:00:07] Introduction and Welcome
Kayla: Hello and welcome to Routine Drama, a podcast about the somewhat mundane, but still annoying or impactful dramas of everyday life. I'm your host. My name is Kayla. And for reasons I'll explain in a minute, I'm not going to spend too much time on chitchat or really introducing myself right now. I'm just going to get into it.
[00:00:33] The Drama of Naming Your Podcast
Kayla: And so obviously this is episode one and the topic I chose for today is the drama of naming your podcast because obviously I had to come up with a name for this podcast. And it was pretty difficult.
Some of that comes down to me and my planning or lack thereof and some of it is just the fact that [00:01:00] there are so many podcasts out there right now, it is very difficult to find an original name anymore. So, I looked it up, actually: there are 4.25 million podcasts worldwide, probably even more now.
That statistic comes from a website called thesocialshepherd.com. But yeah, over 4 million podcasts out there.
Now I know podcasting has really, really taken off in the last couple of years. Even more so since when I first started listening to shows back in probably 2018, if not a little before, but there's just a lot of them, right?
[00:01:41] The Journey into Podcasting
Kayla: So, I have known for a while that I wanted to get into podcasting, in some sense at least, as a career. I have currently worked in the digital marketing and SEO space for over 10 years [00:02:00] now, I really enjoy listening to podcasts, and as I have had opportunities to do so, really enjoy being in the backend of podcasts.
So I would really love to be kind of in the background, working on a show, doing more of the production and planning and strategy and marketing for a podcast, stuff like that, but it is really, really difficult to get into that space because there's not a huge precedent for what makes someone successful in those roles right now.
And most of us who would like to be in those roles, we just don't have work experience in them because there really hasn't been much of an opportunity to get experience in that space until now.
So, here I am. Talking to you, being the host of a podcast as well, even though I would much rather be sitting in the background somewhere . But here we are.
[00:02:57] The Struggle of Choosing a Podcast Name
Kayla: So, to the point of this episode, when I was [00:03:00] trying to come up with a name for this podcast, it was incredibly difficult.
I came up with probably 30 or so various podcast ideas and different names for each one. And as soon as I would have an idea, I would be searching for it in my phone, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, just to see if that had been done before. Of course, pretty much every topic has been covered already, but just to see if the name was available.
It was really kind of disheartening because every name that I came up with that I thought, “Oh, this is at least a little bit original, I hope.” Um, no, it wasn't original. Someone had already thought of it, if not multiple people had podcasts with those names.
So, just very challenging. And that is one of the reasons why I'm kind of going into this quickly, not wasting a ton of time telling you about myself or [00:04:00] leading into anything with this first episode, because
[00:04:06] The Decision: Routine Drama
Kayla: I finally found a podcast name, Routine Drama, that has not been taken.
So I am trying to make this happen and get this out there. And at least secure the Spotify handles, Apple Podcast handles, get all of those kinds of URLs and branding things claimed so that I can then move forward with this with a little more peace of mind. Because, you know, I know that new podcasts are coming out every day.
If I thought of this, certainly someone else could think of this. So who's to say if Routine Drama will be available to claim still in another week or so. So I don't want to sit on this.
[00:04:46] The SEO Dilemma in Podcast Naming
Kayla: But, in terms of other kinds of challenges to naming your podcast other things that I think kind of convolute that process are: Do you want to go for something really unique and creative [00:05:00] and attention-grabbing? Or do you kind of want to cater to the SEO side of things more? Pick a name that is going to be a little bit more searchable, have some core keywords in it that can get you found?
And again, my background is in search engine optimization and digital marketing so I really went back and forth with this. On one hand, I think catering to SEO would be a good strategic move, but on the other hand, I think catering to SEO can be a bit more boring because you aren't really trying to grab the attention of real people. You're more or less catering to an algorithm, right?
But again, if you have like really strong keywords in your podcast title maybe you're more likely to be found. Then again, listening to podcasts, I have noticed that a lot of the podcasts I listen to… Not really anything keyword optimized about their brand names [00:06:00] or even really their episode titles ever.
It's more or less I think maybe the descriptions and things like that, where the SEO really comes into play. So ultimately I decided against going really keyword and SEO heavy for my podcast title and settled on Routine Drama because I think it does describe in a kind of tongue in cheek way what I want to do here and just talking about like, you know, kind of the random bullshit of everyday life and like the little dramas that come up in life and how we can navigate them better.
But of course I had about a million other names that I thought of calling this and just all of them were taken. Other potential names that I had in mind for the show were Everyday Bullshit. I thought that would be kind of fun. And I could name each [00:07:00] episode like ‘Naming Your Podcast is Bullshit’ and blah, blah, blah. So there could be like a kind of formula to it.
But while Everyday Bullshit wasn't taken, Everyday BS was, and I felt like that was a little toos imilar. So that one was out for me.
And then I thought maybe I could call it Everything is Bullshit and kind of riff on that. That was taken. And I was also kind of then thinking, “Well, maybe I don't want to use a swear word in the title.”
I know a lot of people like to try at least to listen to podcasts with their kids. If you're saying “bullshit” every single episode, maybe not so much. But it just kind of seemed like the cards were stacked against that one.
[00:07:53] The Final Verdict: Routine Drama
Kayla: And so when I kind of came to Routine Drama, it seemed like a good fit because for me, like [00:08:00] something I wanted was that formulaic approach that I could take with each episode.
So, you know, ‘The Drama of Naming Your Podcast,’and kind of work that into each episode title, just as sort of a branding tool and for some like fun consistency throughout each episode. And when I did my search on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and saw that there was no Routine Drama podcast yet, I was like, “Oh, okay.”
Like, “That's it. Got to jump on this.” Because again, like there could be a podcast with this name tomorrow. I don't know.
So got the name picked out. And then once that core, like Routine Drama title was settled on for me, then I wanted to make the decision: Do I name it Routine Drama? Do I name it Routine Drama Podcast? Do I name it The Routine Drama Podcast?
And so I did a [00:09:00] little bit of research into that kind of naming convention as well and actually looked up Apple's list of the top podcasts in all of 2023. And for pretty much every podcast, the majority of them do not use the word “podcast” in the show name.
You know, listeners and consumers just seem to know that the show is a podcast. They don't need that in the title. And it doesn't seem like adding “podcast” to the title really has any like SEO benefit, that's getting shows ranked higher than other shows or encouraging people to listen in any way.
So, for example, according to Apple Podcasts, the top shows for 2023, were Crime Junkie, The Daily, Dateline NBC, SmartLess, This American Life, Morbid, Up First, Huberman Lab, Hidden Brain, and Stuff You Should Know.
Not [00:10:00] one of those shows uses the word podcast in the show title. So to me that made at least that decision pretty easy. And I was like, “Okay, not going to add that to the name. This is just going to be Routine Drama.” So that is how I got over that part of the naming hurdle.
[00:10:23] Advice for Aspiring Podcasters
Kayla: And yeah, I guess, just some kind of other thoughts I had about podcast naming as I was doing this: I think if you have a specific topic or very niche theme in mind for your podcast that's going to make naming it at least a little bit easier, I think, because I assumed that would help you kind of hone in on the specific category or topic you want to focus on and then you have a little more guidance as to like how you can get creative with that.
Whereas, me in my infinite wisdom, I was like, “I don't [00:11:00] really plan on talking about one thing in particular. I think it's going to be all over the place. So I just need to come up with a name that gets that across in a way.”
Which is far too broad. I think it's not helpful to not have the semantic restriction on that. It, if anything, just gave me way too many options and it made it difficult to find a place to start.
So I think if you have a specific theme in mind, it can help with that naming convention a little bit. For example, like just in my research, as I was looking at top shows on Spotify, I saw one that was called ‘Dungeons and Daddies.’ Which I haven't listened to, but I love it already. Obviously it's going to be about Dungeons and Dragons and there are probably fathers hosting it.
It tells you everything you need to know. It's creative, it's catchy. Like, what more could you want? So I think there are opportunities to do things like that [00:12:00] that are exciting, and also just like helpful in terms of naming your show.
[00:12:08] Conclusion and Future Plans
Kayla: But so, in conclusion today in this very short introductory episode, as far as kind of getting through the drama of picking your podcast name and committing to it, as a recap, I would say my advice based on this experience is to not be afraid to get creative and don't overthink the SEO and keyword strategy aspect of it too much.
I know there's a lot of advice out there. Some of which I think says, you know, don't worry too much about it. Other advice is that I should be a little bit strategic with it, it could help. I just think there's so many podcasts out there right now. I think it is going to matter more what you do with your show than what the name is. So don't be afraid to get creative.
As far as just settling on the name, my recommendation is do some brainstorming, come up with a [00:13:00] bunch of potential names, crosscheck them in Spotify or Apple Podcasts just to make sure that those names aren't already taken.
I don't know the legality of having the same podcast name as another podcast. I'm not sure how seriously that would impact you, but if the other podcast is really successful or it becomes really successful and you have the same name, you're probably going to have to change that name or face maybe like some copyright issues. And that aside, it's just not a good branding strategy too: Having the same name as another show, if you are already aware that that exists.
So just try to avoid that at all costs and just in case come up with a few alternatives. Just in case as you are going through making your first episode, maybe someone does come out with a podcast with that name also, have a couple of standbys up your sleeve that you can [00:14:00] hopefully switch out at the last minute and still get those URLs and get those branding pieces in place.
Also my recommendation is to not sit on your idea too long. As I said, new podcasts come out every day. If you’ve thought of an idea, someone else could too. So when you have that show named down, start getting the pieces in place, make your first recording, even if it's nothing special.
Get it out there, get it online so that you can claim some of the branding pieces like the URLs, the Spotify and Apple Podcast handles, things like that. Make it happen just so that you have those in place. And then if you really hate the first episode you put out, you can usually go back and re-record later, if you're using a hosting platform like Buzzsprout or something like that, you can upload new audio later.
And kind of along with that, don't wait for your podcast to be perfect before you decide to get it [00:15:00] out there. Again, timing is kind of critical to claiming your podcast name and brand. So when you have that idea, start making it happen. And if you're just recording with a random cheap headset, you bought, whatever. Just get it done and view that as opportunities for growth later in future episodes.
So that is where I'm going to close for this episode. I really appreciate you joining me, especially if you made it through this whole episode. I have a lot of ideas for future episodes of the show, other kinds of little routines, everyday dramas that I think a lot of people deal with and find either frustrating or that are just impacting their lives and I can't wait to talk about them.
So if you liked even this first episode, please subscribe, rate the show. It will obviously [00:16:00] help a lot as I continue making new episodes. It'll really help other people to find this.
And if you ever have an idea for a topic you want covered on the show, please feel free to email me at routinedramapod@gmail.com.
Thank you so much and I'll see you next time.
[00:16:00] Outro music