Guide for podcasters
How to name podcast clips so people find them in search
Most podcast clips are found by being shown to someone who was scrolling. Some are found because someone typed a question into YouTube or TikTok and your clip answered it. Those viewers are worth more, because they came looking. Whether you get them depends almost entirely on what you call the clip.
The short answer
Give every clip two titles. The one on screen can be intriguing, because the viewer is already watching. The one in the post should say the subject in the words a stranger would search for, with the important words first and your show name last. Then make the first line of the description say the same thing in a full sentence.
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People mix these up all the time, including in the podcasting threads where they ask about titles:
“Are your tittles on-screen text or do you mean in the post wording?”
The answer is that they are different things, with different readers:
| Name | Who reads it | Its job |
|---|---|---|
| The hook title on screen | Someone who is already watching | Make them stay for the next few seconds |
| The post title (YouTube) or first line (TikTok, Reels) | Search, and people browsing results | Say what the clip is about, plainly |
| The description and hashtags | Search, and anyone who taps “more” | Add the words around the subject |
The hook can be a riddle. The post title should not be. Our guide to writing the first line of a clip is about the first kind. This one is about the other two.
What YouTube says about titles
YouTube’s own title advice splits titles into two kinds, and the first kind is exactly what a podcast clip’s post title should be:
“Searchable titles that clearly outline what to expect so you can easily reach viewers searching for similar content.”
The second kind, intriguing titles, is what your hook title already is. On where to put the show name, the same page is direct:
“Save episode numbers and branding for the end.”
For the description, its tip is the one most clip posts ignore:
“Consider using the first few lines of your description to describe your video because it’s what viewers will see first.”
TikTok works from different signals. In its explanation of how it recommends videos, the information it reads about the content itself is listed as sounds, hashtags, number of views and the country it was published in. The words you write still decide what a viewer expects, and what someone searching sees in the results.
Four real clips, renamed for search
These are the four clips Slice found in a 20-minute stretch of The Impodcast, Episode 1 (CC BY 4.0). The first column is the title it gave each one, which it also puts on screen as the hook, unchanged. The other two columns are examples we wrote for this page, to show what a searchable title and first line would look like for the same clip.
| Title Slice gave it | Searchable post title (example) | First line of the description (example) |
|---|---|---|
| “How do you hit a goal you never named?” | Why you need to name a goal before you can reach it | The Impodcast | Most people skip the step of saying what the goal actually is. |
| “That one guy in the group who isn’t happy for you” | What to do when a friend isn’t happy for your success | The Impodcast | Two hosts on the one person in every group who goes quiet when you win. |
| “You can’t compare yourself to 7 billion people” | How to stop comparing yourself to people online | The Impodcast | On likes, followers and why the comparison never ends. |
| “You didn’t even know Wi-Fi existed 30 minutes ago” | Why losing something new feels worse than never having it | The Impodcast | A comedy bit about plane Wi-Fi, and what it says about wanting things. |
A few things to notice:
- The subject comes first. “How to stop comparing yourself to people online” is something people type. “You can’t compare yourself to 7 billion people” is not, but it is a much better thing to read on screen.
- The show name is at the end, after a separator, where it costs nothing if the title is cut short.
- The Wi-Fi clip is the hard one. Its hook is a joke, and nobody searches for the joke. The searchable title has to name the idea underneath it.
- The description says it again in a sentence, for the people who read more than the title and for search.
Finding the words people search for
YouTube suggests a simple test for the description, and it works for titles too:
“Pretend you're searching for your video, what would you type into the search bar?”
A few ways to answer that question without guessing:
- Type the subject into the search box of each app and read what it suggests as you type. Those suggestions are real searches.
- Use the question your guest was answering. If the host asked “how do you deal with a friend who’s jealous?”, that question is often the searchable title.
- Look at the search terms that already found you. YouTube Analytics shows the search terms viewers used to find your videos. Use those words on the next clip on the same subject.
- Say it the way a listener would, not the way a host would. Hosts say “accountability”. Listeners search “how to stick to a goal”.
The fourth name: the file
It sounds minor, but a clip saved as “IMG_4821.mp4” or “final-final-v3.mp4” is a clip you will lose track of. In Slice an export is saved under the clip’s name, so if you rename the clip first, the file already says what it is when you upload it or send it to a co-host.
Titles that keep clips from being found
- “Ep. 112 highlights.” Nobody searches for your episode number.
- Only the guest’s name, unless the guest is famous enough that people search for them.
- The hook title copied into the post. It does one job well and the other badly.
- A wall of hashtags. Three that name the subject say more than twenty general ones.
- A title the clip doesn’t deliver. Searchers leave fast when the clip is not what the title said, and that is the signal you least want.
Naming clips for search in Slice, step by step
- Keep the hook title for the screen
The title Slice puts across the top of the clip is written to stop the scroll. Leave it there, or sharpen it under Hook.
- Write a second, searchable title for the post
Say the subject in the words a stranger would type into a search box. Put the subject first and the show name last.
- Rename the clip before you export
The exported file is saved under the clip’s name, so a clear name travels with the file instead of a camera number.
- Use Copy post text for the description
In Export, Copy post text writes a caption and hashtags from what is said in the clip, in the clip’s own language. Edit the first line so it says what the clip is about.
- Check the search terms that found you
After a week, look at the search terms in each app’s analytics and use the words people actually typed on the next clip.
For the text under the post more generally, including how long it should be on each app, see our podcast captions guide.
Questions
Should the on-screen title and the post title be the same?
Usually not. The one on screen is read in a second by someone who is already watching, so it can be intriguing. The post title is what search and the people browsing results see, so it should say plainly what the clip is about.
Do I put the podcast name in a clip title?
Yes, at the end. YouTube’s own advice is to save episode numbers and branding for the end, because people may only see the start of a title.
Do hashtags help podcast clips get found?
TikTok lists hashtags among the things it reads about a video. A few that name the subject help more than a long list of general ones. On YouTube the title and description matter most.
Does the file name of a clip matter?
It is a small thing, but a file called “how-to-stop-comparing-yourself.mp4” tells you and anyone you send it to what it is Slice saves each export under the clip’s name.
How long should a YouTube Shorts title be?
Short enough that the important words are at the start, because viewers may only see part of it. A plain sentence of six to ten words that names the subject is a good default.