Type here to search
Search
Plan & launch
Produce & edit
Present
Grow & monetise

iTunes/Apple Podcast Rankings: How Do They Work?

article featured image

 

Summary: How Do The iTunes/Apple Podcasts Rankings & Charts Work?

  • The vast majority of podcast listening takes place via Apple and iOS
  • Many listeners believe being listed or featured in Apple’s podcast rankings is a great way to grow their show
  • Whilst ranking in podcast charts won’t do you any harm, the results are often less spectacular than you’d maybe think
  • Here’s how we believe the iTunes/Apple Podcast rankings work. And also our take on the most effective ways to promote and grow your podcast.
  • Read on to find out…

Virtually every podcaster goes through a stage of obsessing over their iTunes/Apple Podcast rankings.

iTunes is a directory that has been around for as long as there has been podcasts. The Apple listening platform is still comfortably the biggest place podcasts are consumed, and the stats don’t show that changing anytime soon. This is why so many podcasters fixate on the iTunes podcast rankings.

Inside iTunes there are many different places to be listed, featured, discovered, or “ranked”.

So what’s the deal with it all, and does any of it even matter?

iTunes Podcast Rankings: A Guessing Game?

First off, let’s be clear about one key factor: Apple don’t publicly disclose a lot of information about how their podcast rankings work.

That makes sense, because if they did, many podcasters (and marketers who sell to podcasters) would try to “game” the system, which would devalue the entire thing.

We’re not completely in the dark, though. Apple’s podcasting team have liaised with some of the medium’s top and long-serving media hosts for many years now.

One trusted and credible source who’s had a lot of discussions with Apple over the years is Rob Walch of Libsyn, (find him podcasting on Libsyn’s The Feed, and Today in iOS).

Rob has appeared on many other podcasts too, often being asked about the iTunes rankings, New & Noteworthy, and the myths and misinformation out there that surround them.

I’ve also talked with him myself on a few occasions, and he’ll be our main expert in this article as we look to establish what we think we know so far about the way podcasts are “ranked” inside iTunes.

itunes-desktop-mobile

Desktop Vs Mobile

There’s a running joke that the only people you’ll find browsing New & Noteworthy subcategories are podcasters looking to see if their own show is listed anywhere.

That might not be too far from the truth, though.

Yes, we’ve established that the vast majority of podcast listening takes place via Apple. But according to Libsyn’s February 2020 data, mobile downloads were at an all time high of 87.7%. This means that most of the iTunes listening is taking place via the Podcasts app on iOS, not on the desktop.

It seems like the days of downloading podcasts in the iTunes desktop app and manually syncing them onto an iPod are long gone for the majority of people.

So, with most of your listeners coming through the Podcasts app, here’s what they’ll see along the menu at the bottom.

  • Listen Now – A queue of ‘next up’ podcast episodes you’ve downloaded.
  • Library – Podcasts you’re subscribed to, or have listened to recently. They’re broken down into “Shows”, “Episodes”, and “Downloaded Episodes”.
  • Browse – Where you can access current featured collections, as well as the front page of ‘New & Noteworthy‘. You can access the full list of categories from this page too.
  • Search – The Apple Podcasts search engine.

I’ve mentioned “featured collections”, and “New & Noteworthy”. Let’s find out a bit more about exactly what they are, and how they might work.

itunes podcast rankings

iTunes/Apple Podcasts Lists

There are a few different places inside iTunes where a podcast can be found. So what are they? And what do we know about them?

New & Noteworthy

This section is where podcasts can be featured for being, as it says in the name, either “new” (less than 8 weeks old) or “noteworthy” (iTunes has handpicked them to be listed here).

So, how do you get featured as “new” in New & Noteworthy in that first 8 week period?

Before Apple’s 2019 category update, there were New & Noteworthy sections for each one, as well as an overall front page list. With the category N&Ns, it seemed like iTunes calculated these podcast rankings with an algorithm based on new subscribers, ratings, and reviews. These smaller category New & Noteworthy lists rarely (if ever) now seem to appear in either the Desktop or Mobile app.

On top of that, back in episode 54 of The Feed, Rob Walch said that these algorithms do not apply to the front page of New & Noteworthy. Rob states that these lists are “100% hand-curated by Apple” and that you can’t “game” the system to be featured there.

Whether that’s still the case of not after last year’s category overhaul remains to be seen. But it’s likely.

These ‘themed’ collections are compiled by Apple.

They might be based on what’s topical or newsworthy, or purely on what type of podcast is popular at that given period.

Currently, inside my Podcasts app, they have Women’s History Month, Comedy Favourites, and We Mean Business on the front page.

There’s also other features such as Scary Stories, True Crime, and Modern Radio Drama.

To get listed in collections such as these, it seems that Apple would need to hand-pick your show.

It is possible to contact Apple to draw their attention to your podcast if you feel it merits a place in a particular collection. But being successful would still depend on them checking out that show and thinking that it would further enhance the collection in question.

Apple Podcasts Top Episodes

This feature is only available in the desktop app.

Top Episodes is a “Top 200” chart and, according to Rob (The Feed, 54), “is affected by where people are consuming the latest episode”

Just like the Popularity bar beside each episode in a podcast’s feed, it’s thought that these may be influenced by external websites sending traffic to specific episodes within iTunes.

podcast rankings - top podcasts

Apple Podcasts Top Shows

Top Podcasts is another example of a “Top 200” chart (although in the Podcasts app it only displays the top 150).

These charts, according to Rob, are all “100% about the total number of new subscribers in the past 7 days, with a weighted average for the last 24, 48, and 72 hours”.

In episode 66 of Today in Podcasting, Rob went in to some more detail about this algorithm. Based on some previous experimentation, he’s sure that the algorithm works like this.

  1. Number of new subscribers on day 1 multiplied by 4
  2. Number of new subscribers on day 2 multiplied by 3
  3. Number of new subscribers on day 3 multiplied by 2
  4. Add number of new subscribers on day 4
  5. Add number of new subscribers on day 5
  6. Add number of new subscribers on day 6
  7. Add number of new subscribers on day 7
  8. Divide total number by 13

So, it seems that new subscribers are the key to increasing your podcast rankings on this type of list.

According to Rob (The Feed, 54) “a couple of hundred in one day will get you to the top of most categories”.

He also revealed on episode 59 of the Podcasters’ Roundtable that he’d experimented to find out how many new subscribers it would take to get in the overall top 100 chart. The answer? 244 within a 4-hour period.

Rob added that he hasn’t seen any evidence to suggest that ratings and reviews play a role in the top 200 lists.

Catching Apple’s Eye

Being featured in iTunes at any level, which will noticeably impact your downloads, seems to largely depend on being handpicked by Apple.

So what sort of things do we think Apple looks for in a podcast?

  • Cover art is apparently one of the most important factors. This is a subject in its own right, but opt for a clean design with a clearly visible title. Your cover art should work just as well as a thumbnail as it does when viewed at full size.
  • Appropriately titled shows. It’s well documented that Apple hate keyword spamming in titles and are actively cracking down on podcasters who do this. Keep your title under 50 characters if possible.
  • This is a real shocker, but they are probably looking for good content. Incredible, I know. More on this later though…
itunes search

We’ve established by now that there are many different ways to be found inside iTunes.

In spite of all these different types of podcast rankings, lists and collections however, the most common and effective way to be discovered is through search.

It isn’t an outrageous conclusion to draw. People are actively seeking out content they want to consume far more than they’re looking for an app to suggest a bunch of shows to them.

Being found in an iTunes search will have a lot to do with the quality and relevance of your podcast’s name, as well as your individual episode titles.

Search results inside iTunes are also ranked, and these, according to Rob (The Feed, 54) are “based on the total number of subscribers of all time to your show”.

How to Check Your Show in Apple Podcast Rankings & Podcast Charts

There are so many different podcast charts and lists inside Apple Podcasts, and they vary from country to country. If you’d like to monitor your own show’s performance in the Apple Podcast rankings, there are a few options available.

3rd party podcast analytics like Podcharts can keep you up-to-date on this front. You can see, at a glance, each time your show appears in a podcast chart, from Fiction in Finland, to True Crime in Turkmenistan!

iTunes/Apple Podcasts Rankings: So What Now?

In summary, there does seem to be a few different ways that you can “game” the iTunes podcast rankings to be featured in certain lists, that might have a moderate impact on your download numbers.

However, every minute you spend doing that is a minute taken away from creating a great podcast series and looking after the listeners who’re already subscribed to your show.

What’s the point in spending all that time trying to get featured somewhere if your podcast actually suffers because of it?

You might get a few listeners who spot you in a podcast chart somewhere, but will they stick around if you’re not working hard to make your podcast the best it can possibly be?

Spend Your Time Doing the Stuff That Matters

Don’t get too distracted by things like iTunes/Apple Podcast rankings or charts.

This stuff is definitely useful, and good to know. But most people don’t discover new podcasts in New & Noteworthy, or any other iTunes chart or list for that matter. Certainly not the lists that we can have any influence over.

Here’s some hard data on how listeners discover new podcasts

And instead of fixating on all those people who haven’t yet discovered your show, focus on those who have – your listeners, your subscribers.

You already have their attention, and if you keep serving up good content to them, they’ll share it and tell others about it anyway. That’s a much more effective way of growing your audience in the long run.

Of course, you should still dedicate some time towards promoting your show. But we want to make sure you’re spending that time doing something that moves the needle.

And if you’d like more tailored help with your show, check out Podcraft Academy. In there, we can work directly with you through our weekly live Q&A sessions, and you’ll find video courses on everything from launching and editing, to monetisation and promotion. It would be great to see you in there!

From idea to legendary podcast...

Plan & launch

From idea to recording

Explore

Produce & edit

Gear, software & tips

Explore

Presenting

Be the best show host

Explore

Grow & monetise

Promote and earn

Explore

We’ve got every step covered.