How to Rate and Review a Podcast

Ratings and reviews are crucial for podcasts. Not only do they give listeners a voice to share their favorite shows, but also ratings and reviews are a great way to find new podcasts to listen to. Most podcast listening is done alone, so it’s always enjoyable to read reviews and connect with other people who love the same shows that you do.

In this article, we discuss: what ratings and reviews are, some podcast platforms that feature ratings and reviews, and some frequently asked questions.

Table of Contents:

• What are Podcast Ratings and Reviews?
• How Are Podcast Reviews Helpful?
• Platforms with Podcast Ratings & Reviews
• Why Podchaser is the Best Place to Rate and Review Podcasts
• How to Rate and Review Podcast Episodes Podchaser
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Get Started Rating And Reviewing!

What are Podcast Ratings and Reviews?

Some podcast platforms allow listeners to rate and review podcasts and see other listeners’ ratings and reviews. You can think of it as a shortcut for determining the quality of a podcast while browsing for something to listen to.

What are Podcast Ratings: Ratings are a judgment on a 5-star scale, 1 being “terrible” and 5 being “incredible”. To rate a podcast, click which star you’d like to rate the show.

What are Podcast Reviews: Reviews are a long-form way of expressing your opinions on a podcast. Instead of a rating scale, reviews are a few free-form sentences or paragraphs, that discuss the reviewer’s feelings about the podcast or episode.

How are Podcast Reviews Helpful?

How Podcast Reviews Help Podcasters

Podcasters often ask their listeners to review their show, and it’s easy to see why. If a potential listener is checking out two similar shows, and one has way more reviews than the other, listeners are almost always going to choose the one that appears more popular.

On listening apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, there is a common misconception (even amongst podcasters) that the more ratings a podcast has, the higher it will be on the popularity charts. But in reality, these apps base their rankings on listenership and by recent dramatic increases in listenership. Podchaser, on the other hand, does factor ratings and reviews into our chart rankings, but we’ll get more into that later.

How Podcast Reviews Help Listeners

If you’re a listener, finding a new podcast can be an overwhelming experience. If you want to listen to a new music podcast, for example, there are over a quarter million options to choose from. That’s where podcast reviews come in. While your tastes may not reflect everyone’s, there is wisdom in the crowd. Looking through ratings and reviews is a very useful way for listeners to find the best podcasts.

How Podcast Reviews Help PR Agencies

As a PR Agency, you are always striving to create a positive buzz for your client. Podcast reviews are a perfect way to accomplish this. If they have their own podcast, more reviews will bring in more listeners. And if they are guesting on other podcasts, and reviews help there as well. Podchaser presents the highest rated episodes of a podcast upfront, giving that show’s listeners an easy way to discover your client. In addition, on your client’s Podchaser creator page, we feature each episode the creator has been a part of as well as the ratings for those episodes. As an example, even if you don’t know anything about Lulu Garcia Navarro, you immediately think well of her because her most recent podcast appearances are a wall of well reviewed episodes.

Platforms with Podcast Ratings & Reviews

Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts has always been amongst the most popular places to listen to podcasts, which means it’s also popular for ratings and reviews! Many podcasters specifically ask their fans to rate and review their show on Apple Podcasts. 

How to Rate and Review Podcasts on Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Spotify is the premier music streaming service and is quickly becoming the top dog in podcast listening as well. It’s important to note that you can only rate podcasts on the Spotify app, and not on their web player.

How to Rate and Review Podcasts on Spotify

Podcast Guru

Podcast Guru is a podcast listening app on iOS and Android. Podchaser has worked extensively with them in the past (and future) and their podcast reviews are actually powered by Podchaser. That means when you review on Podcast Guru, your review is also posted on Podchaser – and vice versa.

How to Rate and Review Podcasts on Podcast Guru

Why Podchaser is the Best Place to Rate and Review Podcasts 

What is Podchaser?

Podchaser is the world’s most comprehensive podcast database with ratings, reviews, credits, creator profiles, curated lists, ranking charts, and more! We’re proud to have been called the IMDb of podcasts. 

Why Rate and Review on Podchaser?

Your Review is Seen in Several Apps: There are dozens of places where people listen to podcasts. On almost all listening apps, when you post a rating or review, it’s stuck in that app. So if you want to spread the word about your favorite show, you have to review a podcast with dozens of apps. When you rate or review on Podchaser, your review automatically is posted on our partnered apps – giving your review a wider audience.

Easily Search Podchaser by Podcast Rankings: Podchaser is easily searchable in many ways, but especially because of ratings and reviews. You can filter to only find podcasts of a certain rating, and find the highest-rated podcasts of the week, month, year, or all time. 

Podcasters Can Reply to Your Review: A unique feature to Podchaser is that podcasters can reply to their podcast’s reviews. So when you post a review of a podcast or episode, you’re actually starting a conversation with your favorite creator!

Your Reviews Contribute to Podcast Rankings: Unlike other podcast listening platforms, reviews directly affect rankings on Podchaser. That means when you post a review, your voice is heard! People searching for top podcasts will discover your favorite shows because of your contributions.

Review Episodes, not Just Shows: Podchaser allows you to review a podcast’s episodes, not just the show in general. It’s fun to share your detailed thoughts about individual episodes with other listeners, and episode reviews are useful for keeping track of your favorite episodes!

Reviews are Effortlessly Shared: Once you’ve posted your review, the next step is to share it with the world! Your review will automatically be shared with your Podchaser followers on their timelines, but there are more ways to share as well. Once you’ve posted your review, there will be a small arrow icon in the top right hand corner of the text box. Click on that and several options will appear where you can share the review.

No App Necessary: Unlike many podcast reviewing platforms, Podchaser is accessible on any device at any time with no app necessary. That being said, if you’d like to use Podchaser like an app, you can download our Progressive Web App on your mobile or desktop browser for a very app-like experience.

Quick to Review: It only takes a few seconds to rate and review a podcast on Podchaser. That means it only takes a few minutes to review all your favorite shows and episodes! 

How to Rate and Review Podcast Episodes Podchaser

All you need to do:

1. Go to a podcast’s Podchaser page 
2. Click the rate button or Podchaser stars
3. Then type your review into the text box.

For a full tutorial on how to rate and review podcasts and episodes on Podchaser, check out our support article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you rate and review a podcast episode?

Yes and only on Podchaser! As discussed above, reviewing episodes adds a new dimension for sharing your thoughts, and is useful for keeping track of your favorite episodes!

Do you need an app to rate and review a podcast?

It depends! Certain apps, like Apple Podcasts and Spotify require the app to rate and review, but Podchaser doesn’t. On Podchaser, you can rate and review podcasts on any device – no app necessary.

How to Leave a review on Google Podcasts

Unfortunately, there is no way to leave reviews on Google Podcasts.

Do Podcast Reviews Affect Podcast Ranking Charts?

Contrary to popular belief, on many apps the number of ratings and reviews do not effect on their “Top Podcasts” charts. Their ranking charts are based on the number of subscribers and the podcast’s growth rate.

Podchaser, on the other hand, does factor ratings and reviews in our ranking charts. That means that your Podchaser reviews support your favorite creators in growing their shows.

Get Started Rating And Reviewing!

With so many platforms and differences between platforms, ratings and reviews can seem more complicated than they really are. In essence, all you need to do is click your rating on a 5-star scale, and write a sentence or two describing your feelings in more detail.

Podchaser is a great place to write reviews because your reviews are visible on multiple apps, you can review episodes as well, reviews influence Podchaser’s rankings, and you don’t need an app! Just spending a few seconds rating and reviewing on Podchaser affects so much more than you’d expect at first glance!

To get started reviewing, create your Podchaser account!