Are Podcast Chapters a good thing?

Most people would say "Of course they are".

Steve has reservations, mostly because chapters help listeners more easily skip ads, and that's not a good thing for clients who have ads in their show. However, Podcast Chapters are useful. And very cool...especially when you hear about what can be done with Chapter Images (see chapter #11 of this episode)!

In our conversation with Daniel J. Lewis, we talk through all the ins and outs of podcast chapters, their benefits, and how they can transform your client's show into a more interactive experience for your audience.

Key takeaways:

1. Podcast chapters enhance navigation and engagement
2. They allow for additional multimedia elements, enriching the listener experience
3. Properly structured chapters can improve retention and manage ad placements effectively

Key Moments (aka: Chapters):

(00:00) Daniel J. Lewis Explains the Technical Side of Podcast Chapters

(02:44) Are Chapters a Good Thing?

(04:58) Making Ads More Actionable with Chapters

(08:43) Making Ads More Engaging

(10:16) Hiding Chapters in the Table of Contents

(12:17) Media Hosts and Adding Chapters

(16:08) Should Spotify and Apple Podcasts make our Chapters?

(21:02) The Lazy Benefit of Automated Chapters

(23:08) Formatting Chapters for Optimal Performance

(28:02) What about Chapter Images?

(34:09) GIFs as Chapter Images! Really!

(34:53) Guidelines for Chapter Images

(40:53) PodChapters.com

Resources:

1. Daniel's Podcast Chapters tool: https://PodChapters.com
2. Episode about how to use Chapters on The Audacity to Podcast: https://theaudacitytopodcast.com/why-and-how-to-use-podcast-chapters
3. JSON chapters: https://podcasting2.org/docs/podcast-namespace/tags/chapters
4. Daniel's Subscribe and Follow plugin for WordPress: *https://SteveStewart.me/subscribeandfollow
5. Daniel's Podgagement service for tracking podcast chart rankings and reviews *https://SteveStewart.me/podgagement

About Daniel J. Lewis (2026)

As Hall of Fame podcasting educator, advocate, and innovator, Daniel gives you the guts and teaches you the tools to start and grow your own podcasts for passion and P.R.O.F.I.T.

Daniel has been podcasting since 2007 and has created numerous resources for podcasting, such as hosting award-winning The Audacity to Podcast, he created the Podgagement service to help podcasters supercharge their podcast engagement, and co-founded International Podcast Day. Most recently, he created PodChapters.com for quick transcribing & chaptering podcast episodes. He's also deeply involved in helping innovate the podcasting industry through Podcasting 2.0.

Daniel has also hosted multiple award-nominated podcasts covering clean comedy, Christian critical thinking, and the #1 unofficial podcast for ABC's previous hit drama Once Upon a Time, and he continues as a cohost on The Future of Podcasting.

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Tools we used:*Riverside.fm to RECORD

We used Riverside to record and to create video shorts.

PodChapters.com for Chapters (of course)

You didn't think I was going to use anything else for those awesome chapters, did you?

*Captivate.fm for our podcast MEDIA HOST

We use Captivate to host the podcast. Captivate offers amazing features for a low monthly price, including full control of dynamic insertion, embedded chapters, and Blocks/Shortcodes to quickly add content to show notes (either static or dynamically!)

*Use of the above affiliate links may earn us a commission, which is used to support the efforts of this show. Thank you in advance for your support!

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Mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Editor Academy

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy