Many podcast listening apps, namely Apple Podcasts, used to limit the number of episodes they would display from any RSS feed to 300. Simplecast set a default RSS feed limit of 600 episodes, as that is more than enough to never interrupt the majority of shows' availability to their audience.
As the medium has seen exponential growth over the last several years though, and as listening devices have evolved to be able to handle larger feeds without slowing down, those limits have expanded across most listening apps.
This article will guide you through the very simple process of modifying (increasing or decreasing) the number of episodes available in your RSS feed. But before making any changes, it will be important to understand why you might (or might not) want to change your RSS feed limit.
Why Limit the Number of Episodes in an RSS Feed?
Most people don't spend much time in their actual RSS feed, and if they're honest, don't really know what it is. They just know it's the framework for their podcast. There are some situations though where it's helpful to have a basic understanding of your RSS feed.
Your RSS feed is essentially just an XML document filled with code. Inside that code is all the necessary information the various listening apps need to identify where your audio files and show/episode artwork are located, what is included in your Episode Notes, and how it should be formatted, etc., and display it all within their specific app interface.
📌 Here's why that matters: the more information you include in your RSS feed, the larger that XML document will be. The larger that XML document is, the more resources will be required by any given listening device to ingest it. That means the larger your feed becomes, the more at risk it will be to load slowly for your listening audience.
What to Consider Before Changing Your Feed Limit
Before you make any changes to your feed limit, here are a couple things to take into consideration:
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Is it essential that a new listener start your show from the first published episode? It's very possible that a new listener would need to return to the very beginning of your feed in order to understand your show. (For example, if you produce audio fiction, or any sort of narrative show with a definite beginning, as opposed to a chat-style show or one that deals mostly with current events). If your show doesn't require that a listener start from the beginning to keep up, and you've already exceeded the default limit of 600 episodes, then it seems fairly unlikely than many new listeners would go all the way back to Episode 1.
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How much information are you adding to your feed with each new episode? Many shows are intentional about including very thorough Episode Notes with each and every published episode. Some even include full transcripts of the episode within those notes. They include a large number of keywords, episode contributors, custom artwork, etc. The more that you add to each episode you published, the larger your RSS feed will be. If you're including a significant amount of information across a large catalog of episodes, then limiting the number of episodes in your feed may be wise.
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How might limiting the number of episodes in the feed affect listening trends? There are some shows, typically shows producing daily news content, who publish frequently and do not need old episodes to remain available once a new episode is published. One creative tactic used by some of them is to limit the feed to 1, 5, 10 episodes, etc. Doing so, in theory, encourages their audience to stay up to date with the content they are publishing. Consider whether or not this would be a beneficial strategy for your show, or if it would be better to have as many episodes available as possible.
How to Modify Your RSS Feed Limit
Once you've determined whether or not you'd like to change your feed limit, the actual process for doing so is very simple.
1. Click on the GEAR ICON in the upper lefthand corner dropdown menu.
2. Select DISTRIBUTION from the lefthand side menu.
3. Click on ADVANCED SETTINGS.
4. In the section labeled RSS FEED LIMIT, input the number of episodes you'd like to include in your RSS feed.
💡 You may set this limit to any number from 1-2,000. It is very rare that an RSS feed needs to exceed a limit of 2,000 episodes. If you need a limit higher than 2,000 episodes, please reach out to support@simplecast.com for assistance.
5. Click the SAVE button in the upper righthand corner.
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​Still have questions? We'd be happy to answer them. You can reach our Support Team at support@simplecast.com!