Episode Introduction - How To Make People Binge Your Podcast
Most podcasters struggle with a familiar problem: people sample one episode and drift away. Discovery is hard, attention is scarce, and your back catalog gets lonely. This episode shows a practical system to turn casual listeners into loyal fans by encouraging binge listening — using smart interlinking, tight teasers, and deliberate “previous/next” navigation in your show notes and audio. When your episodes point cleanly to each other, you increase downloads, session time, and retention without spending a cent on ads.
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Summary
We reverse-engineer streaming platforms to make podcasts binge-worthy. Start with show-note architecture: add a clear “Previous Episode” and “Next Episode” link on every episode, then backfill as new episodes launch. Include a short “Related Episodes” block to surface 3–5 contextually similar episodes. In your audio, reference what listeners just learned last episode and tease what’s coming next — “leave them wanting more” works in touring and it works in podcasting. Search engines and AI assistants follow these internal links and begin surfacing more of your catalog, improving discoverability over time. Even if Apple renders fewer active links than Spotify, most apps (and your website) do, so keep the HTML links in your notes. Over time, this creates a chain reaction: listeners hop backward to catch up, forward to stay current, and sideways to explore related topics. That’s the essence of binge design for podcasts.
Sample Transcript
“Tell people in the next episode, this is what we’re going to be talking about — and then stick with that. You’ll get your audience to come back over and over, and download or listen to those episodes. Add ‘previous’ and ‘next’ links in your show notes so every episode points to the others. It turns your catalog into a chain reaction.”
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About Bruce Chamoff
Bruce Chamoff is a podcaster, musician, entrepreneur, and public speaker. He founded the Long Island Podcast Network in 2005 and rebranded it to the World Podcast Network in 2023. Bruce has taught at WordCamps across the U.S. and Canada, presents at Podcast Movement, and helps creators grow audiences, strengthen authority, and monetize smarter.
