Should Your Podcast Have Seasons?

Breaking your podcast into seasons is something that can make sense for a lot of businesses and content creators. It’s a way to make a show more manageable and helps to reduce some of the pressure you may feel when needing to constantly produce new episodes.

But do you actually need seasons?

Creating Seasons

Seasons make a lot of sense for certain types of shows. Think of stories that have a specific arc. The entirety of the story is broken into episodes to create a single season. Each season can be a unique story. This can create a podcast with rich content.

Seasons can also be very useful when you are a business or professional and tackling certain subject matter. If you are focused on providing tax advice for the upcoming tax filing season. You could create a season, where each episode is one specific facet or tip to make the everyday person’s tax experience easier.

When you are using seasons, use them as a way to plan out your content. Decide how many episodes you want in a season. Outline the topics for each episode and ensure that the overall season is connected. Avoid creating a series of disjointed episodes that have no relation to one another.

Do Seasons Matter?

Typically, when this question is asked, it’s in regard to Apple Podcasts. If you are looking at the description data for a show, it will note the number of seasons and episodes in Apple Podcasts. It’s not always accurate. What has recently changed is that search isn’t allowing you to perform a search by season, but only by keyword.

In my opinion, seasons matter more from the perspective of you as the podcaster. I think it is easier to plan for a season of fifteen or so episodes, set up recording sessions, plan your marketing, and enjoy a break between seasons. The alternative is endless recording. If you can keep the pace, go for it!

Skipping Seasons

If you decide to forego seasons and create one ongoing podcast, good for you! But watch out for a few things that may sneak up on you.

When you have no defined season, you can become burnout and fall into the world of podfade. This means you abruptly stop recording and releasing episodes.

Without seasons you can also experience Pod Block and feel uninspired. This can lead to less than stellar content. You may also find yourself recording episodes just to get a new episode out. Your listeners will hear your disinterest and you may lose them.

Whether you decide to have seasons or go all in on a mega-podcast, be sure you are setting yourself up for success. Pick an option that supports your goals, allows you to plan out your episodes in an easy to manage way, and be sure you don’t over commit yourself.