What are the advantages of Direct Downloads For Your Podcast?
Some metrics are public including your views and direct downloads. This document explains how direct downloads are measured on our podcast network. When people visit the podcast network, we offer several different options for them to interact with your podcast. We are always collecting data on the interaction between all podcasts and the people who visit out podcast network. We are also always looking for the best ways to push your podcast to the people who are interested most in the subject matter. With hundreds of podcasts on our podcast network, it is important for us to know which podcasts are receiving the most qualified traffic based on the data that we collect.
The advantages of direct downloads is that people can listen to your podcast without having to have their phone online. This is perfect for situations where there may be no internet or wifi. Direct downloads do not rely on online services except for the initial download. Our podcast network records this interaction for your analytics.
Direct downloads are the links to your direct MP3s (enclosures). Any sound file of your episodes are usually published in the MP3 or WAV formats. These MP3s come from your podcast hosting platform which may be Anchor, Buzzsprout, PodBean, Libsyn and a host of others.
Each one of your podcast hosting platforms includes a direct links to each of your sound files. Our podcast network presents these links for download as “Download Directly” followed by exact download link. Depending on the person’s web browser version and setup, clicking on these links will either 1) open the link in a new browser tab or 2) download the link directly onto your computer for playback. Either way, our podcast network records these clicks and presents them in the “Direct Downloads” metric. We do not differentiate between browser tabs and downloads onto a personal computer since we cannot control what happens on the local environment.
Why Not All Podcast Hosting Platforms Record Interaction Equally
It is also important to note that not all podcast hosting platforms record traffic the same way. Each has its own method of collecting data and presenting you with their own brand of analytics. Most interactions on our podcast network are recorded correctly on most hosting platforms and some record them inaccurately as some data may be missed by the podcast platforms. Buzzsprout in particular does not record all interaction. If your podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout, you will have a more accurate number of downloads on your dedicated podcast page of our podcast network instead. Other podcasting platforms due to IAB standards may record interaction once per day from your podcast or once every 12 hours. Every podcast hosting platform is different.
Also, Spotify, owner of Anchor.FM may show your analytics differently for podcasts hosted on Anchor than on another platform such as Buzzsprout or Libsyn.
What is the Downloads To Views Ratio For Your Podcast
This metric is only available with your private podcast analytics which we provide all podcasters after one month of being on our platform. This is a simple percentage of direct downloads of podcast episode over all of your views. Since not all people will actually download your episodes, we offer this percentage as a guide on structuring your episode titles at they will be the overall way of getting people to click your episodes either to download or play (our podcast player).
What is an average and acceptable Direct Downloads percentage for your podcast?
The most acceptable AND average percentage is 5%. If your podcast has a higher percentage, that is great. 5% is basically, 1 download for every 20 views. We present that in your podcast’s analytics as the downloads-to-view ratio. We have seen podcasts with over 30% downloads-to-view ratios. If your podcast is nowhere this number, here are suggestions we can make to improve it:
Put the podcast guest’s name in the episode description instead of the title.
People do not usually search for a podcast with the guest’s name. It is better to put the guest in the episode description. Instead, the episode title should have more generic keywords that are more searched on Google. The best suggestion I can make to raise your numbers is put more relevant keywords into your podcast episode title so it can be found on Google.
Tell People In Your Previous Episodes What the Next Podcast Episode Will Be About
You want people binge listening your podcast. You don’t want them to listen to one podcast episode and never come back to it. It is always a good idea to give your audience an idea what the next episode will be. It gives them something to look forward to. If you do not, people may never know you have more episodes coming and they may move onto another podcast. We always say “leave them wanting more” in show business. Well, your podcast puts you in show business. Make sure your podcast never has an end or what your audience perceives as the last episode.
