Need More Podcast Reviews? Try This...

I went to the dentist today and noticed a small sign at the checkout area asking for patients to leave a review on Google.

Within a couple of hours, I received this email:

Here’s how this simple ask is working for him:

Compare this to another dentist I went to years ago, who has been in business 20 years longer, and isn’t asking for reviews:

Now compare these results to your podcast and look at what you’re doing to get the reviews you want.

How to Get More Reviews for Your Podcast

There are several things you can do to get more reviews for your podcast. In general, you want to consider these common-sense rules.

  1. Make it easy for listeners to review your podcast. This is the number one thing you can do to increase reviews of your podcast. An example of this is a direct link via a followup email, such as the one I received, which takes listeners directly to somewhere they can submit a review.
  2. Give listeners a reason to leave a positive review. A good experience with you helps. For example, a helpful (or entertaining) podcast. People want to look smart, so they’ll be more likely to share what you’re doing if they can send somebody to a podcast that makes them appear this way.
  3. Offer incentives and discounts for reviews. This one is against the terms of service of most sites with reviews, including Amazon, but it does work and plenty of people overlook this rule in order to increase their review numbers. I’m not a Sunday School teacher, so I’m not going to judge you for doing this, but note that it’s something that can backfire if you get caught. These headphone companies are a great example of this.

Here’s what’s really important though, regardless of your specific approach and foundation... If you want reviews, you need to ask for them.

People are busy. They’re also uneducated about the importance of reviews, especially for a podcast.

You have listeners who want to help you and see your podcast grow, but they don’t know how to do this. So let them know what you want and make it easy for them to do it.

Need a place to start? Follow the template my dentist used and send a similar email or post your request via social media.

Good luck!