Leah Bryant [00:00:00 - 00:01:13]:
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to The Podcasting Problem Solver. [00:00:06] I'm Leah Bryant, your go-to podcast growth strategist, and I'm here to help you stop treating your podcast like a hobby and start using it as the strategic lead gen tool it should be. [00:00:19] I'd love to know if this sounds like you. [00:00:22] You have done everything you were supposed to do. [00:00:25] Published consistently, picked a niche, optimized your titles, or at least you tried to, and still felt like your podcast was essentially whispering into these internet streets? [00:00:39] Like the effort and intention are there, but the results, well, they are not matching. [00:00:47] And if this is you, I want you to stick around for this one because today We're talking about something that doesn't get nearly enough attention in this space, which is the attraction gaps. [00:01:00] Those small, specific, fixable mistakes that quietly block your discoverability, even when your overall strategy is solid. [00:01:10] And here's what I want you to hold onto throughout this episode.
Are You Sending the Right Signals With Your Podcast?
Leah Bryant [00:01:14 - 00:02:05]:
[00:01:14] You can have the right idea and still be sending the wrong signals. [00:01:18] And that's what we are unpacking today. [00:01:21] So before we begin, let's set the scene, shall we? [00:01:25] You've got a podcast, doing the things and showing up. [00:01:30] You've probably heard the advice about consistency and niching down and SEO. [00:01:37] Maybe you've even implemented some of it, but search isn't surfacing you. [00:01:42] New listeners aren't finding you. [00:01:44] Aren't finding you and your downloads feel like they've plateaued somewhere between my mom and 3 strangers. [00:01:54] And the frustrating part is that you cannot figure out what's missing because nothing feels obviously wrong, right? [00:02:02] It's not like you skipped the episode title.
The Real Problem: Misalignment, Not Absence
Leah Bryant [00:02:05 - 00:02:37]:
[00:02:05] You have episode descriptions and you picked a category. [00:02:09] This is the trickiest kind of problem to solve. [00:02:12] Because the issue isn't necessarily absence. [00:02:17] Nope. [00:02:17] It's a misalignment. [00:02:19] The signals you're sending don't really match up to what search platforms and your listeners need to find to choose your show. [00:02:28] And that is what we are fixing today. [00:02:31] We're going into attraction, the A in my Seamless Podcast Framework, and we're getting specific.
What is Podcast Attraction and Why Does It Matter?
Leah Bryant [00:02:38 - 00:03:29]:
[00:02:38] Because attraction is all about getting found by the right people organically, and there are 4 quiet gaps that get in the way of that more than almost anything else. [00:02:50] So let me walk you through the 4 most common attraction mistakes that I see, and these aren't necessarily dramatic failures you might think, but they're quiet ones that compound. [00:03:02] All right, so gap 1. [00:03:04] Episode titles that confuse search instead of clarifying it. [00:03:09] So your episode title has one job in the eyes of the search algorithm. [00:03:15] Be clear about who this is for and what they will get. [00:03:19] That's it. [00:03:20] Easy, right? [00:03:21] But what a lot of podcasters do, and I get it because it sounds good, is lead with being clever.
Gap #1: Episode Titles That Confuse Instead of Clarify
Leah Bryant [00:03:29 - 00:04:18]:
[00:03:29] Yep. [00:03:30] Clever episode titles are fun. [00:03:33] I will give you that. [00:03:34] They are great for your existing audience who already knows you and trusts you, but there's always a but, right? [00:03:42] For someone who has never heard of you and is typing something into a podcast app, well, that clever will not convert. [00:03:52] Let's say I have an episode that is about recovering from podcast burnout. [00:03:57] And I title it Breathing Room. [00:04:01] That title means diddly to the algorithm and very little to any cold listener that's just scrolling through. [00:04:10] But if I switch that and named it How to Recover from Podcast Burnout Without Quitting Your Show, well, that title works.
Leah Bryant [00:04:19 - 00:04:54]:
[00:04:19] It tells the listener exactly what's in it for them and gives those robots something to index. [00:04:25] And I want you to hear me when I say this, please. [00:04:29] Your title is a signal, not a vibe. [00:04:35] Throw the vibes into the spoken content of your podcast. [00:04:39] Okay. [00:04:40] Gap number 2, episode descriptions that exist but don't work. [00:04:46] And I want to make sure that we are talking about the right thing here. [00:04:50] Because there are two different assets and they do two different jobs.
Gap #2: Episode Descriptions That Fail to Drive Discoverability
Leah Bryant [00:04:54 - 00:05:42]:
[00:04:54] So first you have your show notes, and these are the ones that live on your website, and those matter to Google SEO and for converting someone who's already found you. [00:05:05] But your episode description, this is the copy that lives right inside the podcast apps, you know, in Apple and Spotify, wherever your listeners are finding you. [00:05:16] That's the one we're talking about right now, and it's the one doing the heavy lifting for discoverability. [00:05:21] And here's what I see day in and day out. [00:05:25] Podcasters have a description, but it's not working. [00:05:30] Having one is not the same as having one that functions strategically. [00:05:34] Okay? [00:05:35] So podcast platforms look at that description. [00:05:39] They use it to understand what your episode is about.
Leah Bryant [00:05:43 - 00:06:24]:
[00:05:43] And who to surface it to. [00:05:45] Now, most podcast apps will truncate it, meaning like if you pull up in Apple, like for my podcast, if you pull it up, you're going to maybe see the first 2 or 3 lines before you actually have to tap the episode for more, which means those first 2 to 3 sentences carry the most weight of anything you write. [00:06:06] So if your description opens with, welcome back to another episode. [00:06:11] Or a vague summary you typed out in 5 minutes before you hit publish. [00:06:16] That is not a signal. [00:06:18] No. [00:06:19] That, my friend, is a missed opportunity. [00:06:21] Your description needs to open with specificity.
Leah Bryant [00:06:24 - 00:06:58]:
[00:06:24] Who is this episode for? [00:06:26] What they're going to learn, and ideally, the language they'd use to search for that topic. [00:06:31] I have a great episode about this. [00:06:33] I will link it below so you can go listen. [00:06:37] When this is not happening, your episode title might be pulling its weight, but that description is leaving the follow-through on the table. [00:06:47] Yes. [00:06:48] All right. [00:06:49] Gap number 3: category and tag choices that limit your reach. [00:06:56] Now, this one surprises people.
Gap #3: Poor Category and Tag Choices Limit Podcast Growth
Leah Bryant [00:06:58 - 00:07:44]:
[00:06:58] When you set up your podcast, you choose a category. [00:07:02] And sometimes you can choose all three. [00:07:04] Maybe you've never revisited it. [00:07:07] Maybe you chose something super broad like business because it seemed and felt safe. [00:07:13] But the problem with this safe is that categories signal to the platforms where to place you and who to recommend you to. [00:07:24] So let's say you're a business coach who specifically helps service providers. [00:07:29] Sitting in the broad quote unquote business category puts you in direct competition with every business podcast in existence. [00:07:38] But if there's a subcategory that more precisely describes your audience, that is where you want to be.
Leah Bryant [00:07:44 - 00:08:19]:
[00:07:44] Less competition and more relevant placement. [00:07:48] Tags work the same way. [00:07:50] They are additional signals. [00:07:52] So using a generic tag is like putting food on a restaurant sign instead of wood-fired pizza. [00:08:01] One attracts everyone and converts no one. [00:08:05] The other attracts exactly the right person who is already hungry for what you're making. [00:08:11] Yes, some of that wood-fired pizza. [00:08:14] All right, gap number 4: why consistency alone doesn't fix any of this.
Gap #4: Why Consistency Alone Won’t Fix Podcast Discoverability
Leah Bryant [00:08:20 - 00:09:10]:
[00:08:20] And I need to say this out loud because it is so deeply embedded in podcasting culture. [00:08:26] And I talk about this too, right? [00:08:27] That consistency is important, but consistency is not a strategy. [00:08:32] Okay. [00:08:33] It is a habit and a good one to have, but I say a lot of buts in this episode, don't I? [00:08:41] Consistently publishing episodes with misaligned titles or underdeveloped episode descriptions And wrong category. [00:08:49] Goodness, that just means you're consistently sending the wrong signals at a reliable cadence. [00:08:56] Consistency accelerates results, yes, but only when your attraction layer underneath is working. [00:09:04] If it's not, you're just compounding the problem faster. [00:09:08] So let me tell you about a client.
Case Study: How Fixing Attraction Gaps Empowers Podcast Growth
Leah Bryant [00:09:10 - 00:09:35]:
[00:09:10] I'll keep the details vague to protect her privacy, But the pattern here is very real. [00:09:15] She came to me frustrated. [00:09:18] She'd been podcasting for a couple of years, publishing weekly, and her downloads had barely moved in 6 months. [00:09:24] She was doing all the things she'd been told to do. [00:09:28] She was consistent, check. [00:09:29] Niche, check. [00:09:31] Professional audio, check. [00:09:33] She genuinely could not figure out what was wrong.
Leah Bryant [00:09:36 - 00:10:08]:
[00:09:36] During her Get Found audit, I discovered her strategy to be fantastic. [00:09:41] I was impressed. [00:09:42] Her topic selections were solid. [00:09:46] Her content was genuinely helpful. [00:09:49] She was like A++. [00:09:51] But her execution layer had 4 quiet misalignments that were stacking on top of each other, right? [00:09:58] Her titles were very clever but not clear. [00:10:01] Like, they were inside language that her existing listeners loved. [00:10:05] That meant nothing to to like cold search traffic.
Leah Bryant [00:10:09 - 00:10:54]:
[00:10:09] Her episode descriptions were essentially just like the intro of her transcript, which meant they weren't doing really any strategic heavy lifting. [00:10:18] And she was in the wrong subcategory for her actual audience. [00:10:22] And now that I think of it, she never even set up her tags when she launched. [00:10:27] None of these are catastrophic on their own, but together They created a discoverability ceiling she kept bumping into no matter how consistent she was publishing. [00:10:41] So we fixed the attraction layer. [00:10:44] I updated her title formula. [00:10:46] We restructured her episode descriptions, made her a template. [00:10:50] We moved her into a different subcategory and I gave her tags.
Leah Bryant [00:10:54 - 00:11:28]:
[00:10:54] And within 6 weeks, her organic downloads started climbing. [00:10:59] And the episodes that she'd already published, that backlog, started getting found more often, not just the new episodes. [00:11:07] And that last part, it really matters. [00:11:10] Because when your attraction signals are working, your back catalog works for you. [00:11:18] Again, previous episode, I will link that below. [00:11:21] Your past episodes don't just sit there. [00:11:24] No. [00:11:25] They become ongoing discoverability assets.
The Compounding Power of Optimized Attraction
Leah Bryant [00:11:28 - 00:12:05]:
[00:11:28] I love it so much. [00:11:30] And that is the compounding effect that I'm always talking about. [00:11:34] So here's what I want you to walk away with today. [00:11:38] Attraction is not just about promotion or posting on social media. [00:11:44] At its foundation, it's sending the right signals so the right people can find you. [00:11:50] Inside the apps through search organically over time. [00:11:54] And that is what the optimized attraction phase of my Seamless Podcast Framework is all about. [00:12:01] Strategy tells you who you're trying to reach and what you're building.
Leah Bryant [00:12:05 - 00:12:37]:
[00:12:05] Attraction determines whether the platforms and the listeners can find it. [00:12:12] If there's a gap between those two things, more effort alone will not close that gap. [00:12:19] But there's good news. [00:12:20] Hooray! [00:12:21] Attraction gaps are fixable. [00:12:24] They're not personality flaws or issues with content quality. [00:12:28] They are structural. [00:12:31] And structure can be adjusted. [00:12:33] So here's a quick gut check that you can do right now, this second.
Take Action: Gut Check Your Podcast Attraction
Leah Bryant [00:12:38 - 00:13:50]:
[00:12:38] I want you to go look at your 3 most recent episode titles and ask yourself, if someone who has never heard of me searched for this topic, Would this title tell them exactly what they'd get? [00:12:52] If the answer is, eh, maybe, maybe not, well, that's your starting point. [00:12:58] Then I want you to look at your episode descriptions in your podcast host. [00:13:02] Are the first two sentences doing the real work? [00:13:06] Like, are they specific? [00:13:08] Do they include language your ideal listener would really search for? [00:13:12] And when's the last time that you looked at your category? [00:13:15] And your tags? [00:13:16] If the answer is, when I set up the show, it might be time to revisit those. [00:13:23] Now, here's the thing about attraction gaps, and this is where my investigative background comes in handy. [00:13:30] These gaps are almost never random, and they're almost never isolated. [00:13:35] They show up in patterns, and the fix for one often reveals something in another area that needs your attention. [00:13:44] That's why I don't approach this kind of work as a checklist. [00:13:47] In a Get Found audit, I look at how everything is working together.
How a Get Found Audit Helps Your Podcast Grow
Leah Bryant [00:13:50 - 00:14:38]:
[00:13:50] Your titles, your episode descriptions, your category, your metadata, the analytics, all of it. [00:13:57] To understand what's really blocking your discoverability and what the strategic fix looks like for your show specifically. [00:14:05] If you've been doing all the things and the results still don't match the effort, A Get Found audit is probably the most efficient thing you can do right now. [00:14:14] It's a targeted analysis into exactly what's working, what's not, and what to fix first. [00:14:21] But don't take my word for it. [00:14:22] Cindy had this to say about her audit. [00:14:26] I went from guessing and tweaking to having a clear strategy that I can stick to. [00:14:30] Now I know exactly what to optimize, category, title, keywords, descriptions, and I have a 90-day plan to implement it consistently.
Next Steps: Connect, Recap, and Power Up Your Podcast Growth
Leah Bryant [00:14:39 - 00:15:21]:
[00:14:39] The link is below so you can book yours. [00:14:42] Take a look to see if this feels like the right next step for you. [00:14:44] And if it doesn't and you want to chat, then find me on Instagram, send me a DM, find me on Threads, send me a DM, and we can have a chat about this. [00:14:52] I love talking to podcasters in my DMs and I do it every day. [00:14:56] All right. [00:14:57] So quick recap before I let you go. [00:14:59] The 4 attraction gaps we covered today are titles that are clever when they actually need to be clear, episode descriptions that exist but don't work strategically, category and tag choices that limit your reach, and the myth that consistency alone will solve any of this. [00:15:17] You can have a great podcast and still be sending the wrong signals.
Leah Bryant [00:15:22 - 00:15:53]:
[00:15:22] But the moment that you fix these signals, well, the work you've already done starts working harder. [00:15:28] And that is the whole point of the optimized attraction phase in my Seamless Podcast Framework. [00:15:34] Getting your existing effort to land with the right people. [00:15:37] If this episode was helpful, share it with a podcaster friend who's in that doing everything but not seeing results season. [00:15:43] They might need to hear this exact thing today. [00:15:46] And remember, keep your podcast purposeful, optimize your attraction, and keep your growth seamless, and I'll see you next time.
