Descriptions¶
Stage: Package
Descriptions are the second packaging decision after titles. They appear in RSS feeds, podcast apps, YouTube, social posts, and website show notes. A strong description helps the audience decide whether to invest their time.
Description Styles¶
| Style | Best For | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Problem-Credibility-Takeaway | Expert interviews with clear outcomes | 5 |
| Big Question Summary | Thought leadership, exploratory episodes | 4 |
| Audience Pain Breakdown | Tactical, solution-oriented episodes | 4 |
| Guest Story Arc | Narrative-driven interviews | 4 |
| Thesis-Takeaways-CTA | Concise, high-signal episodes | 4 |
| Credential-Context-Learn | High-authority guests, explicit value promise (DOAC style) | 5 |
Quality Bar¶
A strong description should:
- Open with a sentence that earns the second sentence
- Establish guest credibility or topic relevance quickly
- Tell the listener what they will learn — specifically
- Include key takeaways, timestamps, or chapter markers where appropriate
- End with a clear CTA (subscribe, visit, follow)
- Work within platform truncation limits (first 120 chars matter most)
Platform Constraints¶
Hard limits and truncation behavior for episode descriptions.
| Platform | Max Length | Visible Before Truncation | Format Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Podcasts | 4,000 chars | ~120 chars before "more" | Supports basic line breaks, no HTML |
| Spotify | 4,000 chars | ~150 chars in episode view | Limited formatting |
| YouTube | 5,000 chars | ~100-150 chars before "Show more" | Supports links, timestamps, hashtags |
| Google Podcasts | 4,000 chars | ~120 chars | Plain text |
| Amazon Music | 4,000 chars | ~100 chars | Plain text |
| Pocket Casts | 4,000 chars | ~200 chars | Supports basic HTML in some views |
| Overcast | 4,000 chars | ~200 chars | Supports show notes links |
| RSS (standard) | No hard limit | Varies by reader | CDATA sections support HTML |
| Website/Blog | No limit | Full page | Full HTML, SEO structured data |
Recommended Defaults¶
- First sentence: Must stand alone — this is all most people see (~120 chars)
- Total length: 150-300 words (covers all platforms without hitting limits)
- YouTube: Include timestamps for chapter markers
- RSS: Include links in full description for apps that render them
Last verified: May 2026.