In case your podcast makes use of seasons, you’ve gotten a number of choices for tips on how to show them. Here is some steerage that will help you determine!
Seasons share many similarities with episode numbers, so please learn or hearken to my earlier episode, “Should You Include Episode Numbers in Episode Titles?” That offers you the additional context upon which this episode will construct. However we will be grateful that seasons are not as sophisticated as episode numbers!
Do you even want seasons?
I made an episode again in 2015, “Should You Podcast in Seasons?” that I believe solutions the query in nice element (possibly even exhausting element). So please return to learn or hearken to that for extra data. And this is a concise and up to date abstract of my ideas about seasons.
Just like whether or not you need to use episode numbers, I problem you to query whether or not seasons will matter to your viewers, particularly in the event that they hear a yr from now.
I like to recommend you utilize seasons solely when every season follows a selected theme or arc. For instance, every season of Serial instructed a very completely different story, every season (and typically half season) of serial TV reveals has a separate story arc, and I’ve heard different podcasts comply with completely different codecs in several seasons (like a “instruments” season, a “prime 10” season, a “shopper tales” season, and newbie/intermediate/superior seasons).
Put one other method, the viewers can simply affiliate a theme or arc with the season as a result of the seasons really make sense and serve an apparent function.
However in case you are pondering of utilizing seasons merely in your schedule, then I do not suppose you need to use seasons. In the event you want a deliberate hiatus, then merely announce and take the deliberate hiatus! There is no want to make use of seasons in case you solely want a break. Your present and future viewers probably will not care about these “seasons,” they usually will not even make sense to your future viewers.
In case your viewers is not going to discover any massive content material modifications progressing instantly from one season to the subsequent, then the seasons are most likely not vital.
However with the belief that your present does want seasons, let’s take into account tips on how to finest show them along with your episodes.
Use the season RSS tags
Each the Apple “iTunes Namespace” and Podcasting 2.0 “Podcast Namespace” provide RSS tags for indicating seasons.
For Apple Podcasts, the season tag is <itunes:season>, which permits solely a non-zero quantity. For Podcasting 2.0, the tag is <podcast:season>. However, after all, the Podcasting 2.0 season tag offers more by letting you give every season a reputation as a substitute of solely a quantity. So the primary season might be labeled “Getting Began,” the second season might be “Rising,” and the third season might be “Enhancing.” Use each tags in addition to you’ll be able to till all apps improve to the fashionable Podcasting 2.0 customary.
Whenever you use these season tags, trendy podcast apps can extra intelligently show the season data in applicable contexts and presumably group your episodes by season. It may possibly even trigger a whole season to obtain or begin enjoying at the start of the newest season if you mix this with the “serial” podcast kind.
Apple began providing this season tag with the discharge of iOS 11 again in 2017. Pocket Casts supported it shortly, too. Each Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts present good examples of how the seasons is likely to be displayed.
First, neither app (and possibly no different podcast app on the market) will put the season quantity within the episode title, like Apple Podcasts sometimes does with episode numbers.
In case your podcast kind is “episodic” or not indicated (which defaults to “episodic”), Apple Podcasts doesn’t show the season quantity within the episode itemizing or participant, however solely within the meta data if you open an episode.
In case your podcast kind is “serial,” Apple Podcasts teams episodes by season, permits you to filter by season or all episodes, and reveals the season quantity within the meta data each when opening and enjoying an episode.
Pocket Casts, nevertheless, doesn’t appear to show “episodic” or “serial” podcast varieties any in a different way. In Pocket Casts, the season quantity is proven with different episode meta data within the episode itemizing, however apparently not anyplace else.
Podcasting 2.0 apps normally assist the <podcast:season> tag and show the season identify, if current. Some apps would possibly group episodes underneath their seasons, like Apple Podcasts does for “serial” podcast varieties; and different apps would possibly merely present the season with different meta data within the episode itemizing, like Pocket Casts.
As you’ll be able to inform, that is a lot less complicated and fewer distinguished than episode numbers. And this is smart as a result of seasons are a a lot bigger context and are extra vital in making teams of episodes than indicating particular person episodes.
Use your webpage discipline and teams, if accessible
You may need your podcast web site out of your podcast-hosting supplier (like Captivate), on WordPress with an incredible podcast theme like SecondLine Themes, or with a third-party software like Podpage or Podcastpage. (I’ll have a future episode about how to select from these choices.)
Every of those website-management strategies would possibly provide a season discipline that, just like the RSS tag, permits the web site to show the season quantity in higher locations. However because the season data just isn’t crucial to particular person episodes, any form of show will most likely be solely within the episode meta data and possibly with separate collections for every season.
Even when your content-management system (CMS) would not assist podcast seasons, you simply group episodes of a season collectively by giving them the identical tag or class. Then, your web site most likely permits you to make a web page, episode record, or participant that comprises solely that season’s episodes (based mostly on the shared tag or class), similar to you can make a set of episodes based mostly on some other tag or class.
Seasons in titles
Seasons are less complicated than episode numbers, and I could not discover any CMS or podcast app that robotically places the season quantity contained in the episode titles.
So must you?
Whereas I already suppose your viewers most likely doesn’t want episode numbers, I believe they want season numbers even much less. So for that reason, I recommend not together with the seasons in your titles, with a few exceptions.
Embody the season within the title in case your episode is about a season, like “Season 2 trailer,” “Behind the scenes of season 3,” or “Season 1 bloopers.”
In case your podcast is about different content material that has seasons, like a TV aftershow podcast, you would possibly need to embrace the TV present’s season and episode numbers within the titles, however not the podcast’s personal season and episode numbers, which might be completely different. For instance, my retired podcast about the Once Upon a Time TV show would have 2–3 episodes per week whereas the TV present would have only one episode per week. It’s because we’d normally have an “preliminary reactions” episode the evening of the TV episode, a “full dialogue” episode midway between TV episodes, and typically a “spoilers” episode shortly after that (or included on the finish of the “full dialogue” episode). So by the point the entire TV sequence ended, we had printed greater than 350 episodes, and our episode numbers wouldn’t align in any respect with the TV present’s. However we did align our seasons, and would point out the TV present’s season and episode quantity we have been speaking about inside our episode titles since some individuals would possibly really seek for content material concerning the TV present by its season and episode numbers.
And that is it! These identical pointers can most likely apply to all the opposite contexts and that full record of 6 locations the place you can have separate titles:
- The RSS feed merchandise’s future
<podcast:title>tag from the Podcasting 2.0 namespace (when this tag is finalized), which is the title Podcasting 2.0 apps will use - The RSS feed merchandise’s
<itunes:title>tag from the “iTunes” namespace, which is the title Apple Podcasts and some different apps will use first - The RSS feed merchandise’s
<title>tag, which is the fallback if #1 and #2 are lacking or unsupported - The webpage’s HTML metadata titles for social networks, which present in embedded previews when the publish is shared on some social networks
- The webpage’s HTML
<title>tag, which reveals within the tab bar, bookmarks, search-engine previews, and is the default message textual content for social-sharing - The publish title/heading (normally in an
<h1>HTML tag), which reveals prominently on the webpage
If you’d (not possible) want the season in one among these titles, you may most definitely want it in all of them, in contrast to episode numbers.
And in case you embrace seasons in your titles, please do not make the season and episode quantity the solely issues in your titles!
Put seasons on all episodes, if doable
In the event you begin utilizing seasons, take into account enhancing even all of your outdated episodes in order that they comprise the related season data. If in case you have some episodes with seasons and a few with out, Apple Podcasts will group all of the non-season episodes into “Unknown season.” They used to do this for any podcast with seasons, however it appears they’ve now restricted that habits to solely podcasts with the “serial” podcast kind.
And do not forget that seasons will probably have an effect on groupings, too. So in case your web site has separate lists for episodes from every season, any episode marked for season 1 shall be listed in season 1, regardless of when it is printed. This is similar method Apple Podcasts works with “serial” kind podcasts. And it’ll play all of a season’s episodes so as with this podcast kind. However different apps most definitely play and show episodes by printed date.
Find out how to write the seasons
If you are going to embrace seasons in your titles, or confer with episodes by their season and episode quantity, I believe there are solely two in style conventions for it:
- Uppercase S, season quantity, area, uppercase E, episode quantity (with out main zeros), like “S2 E7″—That is how Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts will abbreviate season and episode numbers. I’ve additionally seen variations with out the area, with lowercase letters, and with main zeros. However I like to recommend the capitalized and spaced model.
- Much less in style: Season quantity, lowercase X or × (multiplication signal), episode quantity (presumably with one or two main zeros for readability), like “2×07″—WordPress will most likely robotically change the letter x on this format to the multiplication signal.
Both of those can be in locations the place you are referring to solely a single episode. However do not comply with this format for whole-season content material, like “Season 1 trailer” and such.
Whether or not you write “season 1” or “first season” is as much as you. “Season 1” appears to be simpler to learn, however “first season” is extra formal and it is also how most TV reveals write it. I believe this would possibly merely be a matter of what sounds or appears finest in its context. However when in an episode title, resembling for a trailer, I believe the “season 1” format is healthier as a result of it is shorter and the quantity is obvious.
Are seasons price it?
We do not face the identical issues with season numbers (and season names in Podcasting 2.0!) as we face with episode numbers. You are additionally most likely even much less prone to want seasons except they make sense to your viewers past a schedule.
So the technical “value” of utilizing seasons is far lower than episode numbers. And their usefulness is much less, too (aside from serial-type podcasts).
To determine whether or not seasons are price it and the way you need to embrace them in your titles and meta data ought to come all the way down to what makes essentially the most sense in your viewers and truly enhances their expertise. If it would not improve your viewers’s expertise, then it is most likely not definitely worth the small further effort.
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Disclosure
This publish could comprise hyperlinks to services or products with which I’ve an affiliate relationship. I’ll obtain compensation out of your actions via such hyperlinks. Nevertheless, I do not let that corrupt my perspective and I do not suggest solely associates.
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