Is there room for more than one podcast with the same name?
So, you’ve been waiting for your brain to come up with the perfect name for your podcast. And now it has you realise there’s a show out there already with the same name. Booooo!
Can you pretend you didn’t see it and release your show anyway? Or do you need to come up with a different podcast name?
Why you don’t want your podcast to have the same name as another show
The simple reason is it’s confusing.
If you tell people about the show you want them to be able to find it if they’re googling or searching in their podcast app.
If there are multiple podcasts with the same name you’re not only competing with other podcasters for SEO but once a potential listener finds your show it can be hard to work out which one is yours.
Of course, if you’ve got your face on the logo that can make things easier but it assumes people know what you look like, which they often won’t.
That means you’ve set up a bunch of hoops for someone to jump through before they can get to your podcast.
When people lose interest so quickly online the more difficult you make it the more likely they’ll give up the search and you don’t want that.
Does that mean you can’t name your show the same as another podcast?
Podcast names don’t work the same as domain names so technically you can have multiple podcasts out there with the same name but it’s not a smart strategy if you want to grow your audience.
If there are multiple podcasts with identical names you’re not only making it confusing and competing on search you’re making it less likely you’ll be able to get the domain name and social media handles associated with your podcast.
Ideally, as you’re building your show brand you want to have ownership of those platforms so it might be worth changing your name slightly so you can own it online.
What about if a show exists with the same name but it’s no longer producing episodes?
Again, the best-case scenario is to have a show name no one else has but if you find another show with the same name that’s podfaded out this might be a situation where having the same name is ok.
It depends on a lot of factors like how long ago the podcast stopped producing episodes and how popular it was at the time.
It’s also worth contacting the creator to see if they’ve got plans to bring it back because if they do decide to reignite the show you’ll have competition on your hands.
If your competitor has gone to podsleep and they’ve got access to the domain name and social handles it’s worth asking if they’d be open to transferring them across to you.
Just be mindful that when someone finds out you’re interested in buying a domain name the price usually goes up significantly so that can sometimes motivate you to come up with something else.
What if you have to go back to the drawing board?
Sometimes these creative roadblocks can feel like a pain in the butt at the time but can actually lead to creative improvements.
If your brain has come up with one great creative idea I guarantee it’s capable of coming up with more and sometimes these moments are exactly what you need to think outside the box.
Start playing around with synonym websites to see if there’s a different way to say the same thing and you might find you end up with a show name that’s even better than the original.
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Want to start your own podcast but need a little help? Download my “How To Start A Podcast” guide or sign up for my online podcasting course, PodSchool.
Got some time on your hands? Read the full episode transcript
Welcome to the show. Today I'm gonna be talking about podcast names and whether if you’ve picked one you like and you find out it already exists, if you have to choose another one. Technically you can have multiple podcasts with the same name because podcast names don't work like domain names where there’s only one version and if you’re first in you get to keep it until you want to give it up. So the question isn’t can you do it, it’s should you? If you want your podcast to grow and it’s got the same name as another show that can lead to confusion when people are searching for your podcast. If you tell people the show name and there are multiple versions how are they gonna know unless your pretty face is on the cover. And even then, they might not know what you look like so if it becomes hard for new listeners to find you you’re increasing the chance they’ll lose interest and won’t listen to your show. You want it to be really simple to find your show, really simple to listen and subscribe, and sometimes confusion can make it tough. The exception is probably if there is a show that exists with the name you want that’s podfaded out so they’re not releasing new episodes. If that’s the case you can get away with using the same name but ideally you want your show name to be unique. If they’ve stopped producing new episodes it’s a good idea to see when they stopped because they might still have a decent amount of search juice if they were a popular show. Also, if they’ve got the social media handles and website for the name you might want to ask if they’d be open to passing them onto you because you’d want to have those things for your show. If you love your show name so much you think there’s no other name for it, I would say… that's not always true. Not being able to use the name you wanted can often force you to get more creative and you might come up with a better title than the original. Put the words from your title into synonym websites and see what comes up and you might find a better more creative way to say the same thing. I hope that’s helped you if you’re in a conundrum about your show name. The good thing is that if your brain has come up with one creative idea it’s definitely capable of coming up with more so all is not lost. If you want a little bit more help with your show, my online podcasting course PodSchool is currently open for enrolment and doors shut on the 10th of July. The course is a step by step guide through everything from coming up with an idea all the way through to getting your show recorded in a really high quality way, editing so that it sounds professional, growing your audience and turning your show into a business. You can find out all the details at podschool.com.au, and I’d love to see you inside the course so I can help you get your podcast started. I'll see you next week, and until then, happy podcasting!
