Podcast Discovery 101: How to Find Podcasts Easily

The growth in podcasts is significant for listeners looking for a show that appeals to their individual interests. Plus, it’s great for marketers and business owners looking for new platforms to advertise on and new audiences to reach.

While you won’t find any lack of podcasts, the sheer volume out there makes it time-consuming to slim down your choices and find appealing podcasts.

In this guide, we explore both how to find podcasts as well as how to get your own podcast discovered.

How to Find Podcasts That Interest You

If you’re overwhelmed by the number of podcasts out there, it’s not surprising. How many podcasts are there exactly? The latest research shows there are over 47 million episodes available, and the number is growing.

As an article on Pacific Content states, there are “Too many podcasts. Not enough time.”

Keeping up with new episodes and freshly-launched podcasts are tough enough, and that’s before finding time to read the backlog of podcasts we’ve got lined up.

Even if we don’t listen to a podcast, 75 percent of U.S. adults are at least aware of them, and with mobile devices, I think it’s safe to assume this number will keep growing.

With so many podcasts available, how do you find the ones you want to listen to?

1: How to Find Podcasts by Performing a Discovery Google Search

The quickest and easiest way to find podcasts is Google. Just choose your niche, and type in “business podcasts,” “health podcasts,” “relationship podcasts,” or whichever topic interests you the most. Google isn’t your only choice, though.

2: How to Find Podcasts Using the Search Bar in the Main Podcast Host Sites

There’s no shortage of podcast hosting sites. With a quick search on Google, you’ll find:

Buzzsprout
Podbean
Anchor
Riverside
Spreaker

There isn’t space to talk you through all of them, so I’ll use Spreaker as an example.

On Spreaker, go to the “listen” option at the top of the page and click. You’ll then get a list of subheads, including “staff picks,” ”crime,” and “featured,” where you’ll find plenty of podcasts to browse through.

3: How to Find Podcasts Using New and Emerging Podcast Discovery Tools

Regular podcast listeners may well be familiar with some of the newer discovery tools. These tools take the effort out of finding podcasts.

Below, I will outline some of the most prominent tools, explain how to use them, their advantages, and their main features, starting with Listen Notes.

Listen Notes

If you’re trying to find a podcast, Listen Notes calls itself “the best podcast search engine,” but it does a lot more than purely serve as a discovery tool.

To give you a better idea, you could:

spot cross-promotion opportunities with other podcasters and use them for networking
build podcast apps with Listen Notes API
find information about topics for content ideas

The site is packed with features, too: