Elk Grove News Makes a 'Top 100' Podcast List — Is It an Honor, or Just Good SEO?

Every so often, something lands in the Elk Grove News inbox that causes us to pause, scratch our heads, and wonder whether we should feel honored or suspicious.

This week's example came from a company called MillionPodcasts, which informed us that Elk Grove News Podcasts had been named one of the Top 100 California News Podcasts. Better yet, we also cracked their Top 10 Elk Grove Podcasts list, which was even ahead of the city of Elk Grove's official propaganda program.

To which our first reaction was simple: Really?

Our second reaction was to investigate before announcing to the world that we'd apparently become podcast royalty.

As it turns out, MillionPodcasts appears to be a legitimate business. It maintains a large podcast directory, publishes countless "Top Podcasts" lists covering nearly every conceivable subject and location, and reaches out to podcasters who make those lists. There doesn't appear to be anything deceptive about the company itself.

The rankings, however, should be viewed for what they are: editorial lists assembled by a private company, not independently audited measurements of audience size, downloads, or journalistic excellence. In other words, this isn't quite the podcast equivalent of winning a Pulitzer Prize or even the Silver Sow Award or Buckeye Newshawk Award bestowed on famed radio broadcaster Les Nessman.

It also appears there may be another motivation at work.

When websites proudly announce they were included in a "Top 100" list and link back to it, those backlinks help improve the ranking company's own search engine optimization. That's a common digital marketing strategy, and frankly, it's a clever one. Compliment enough websites, and many of them will happily return the favor with a link.

So yes, there may be a bit of mutual admiration going on here.

Of course, if MillionPodcasts' real objective was improving its SEO (search engine optimization), we can't help but wonder if it selected the wrong publication.

Years ago, a former Elk Grove City Council member confidently declared that Elk Grove News had "about a dozen readers." Since elected officials are universally recognized as possessing nearly supernatural insight into all things—including website analytics—we've adopted that estimate as our official circulation figure whenever anyone asks.

"About twelve."

Sometimes thirteen if somebody accidentally refreshes the page.

Perhaps those twelve loyal readers can generate enough web traffic to propel MillionPodcasts to the top of Google's search results. Stranger things have happened.

Then again, maybe our little podcast really did deserve a spot on the list. We have interviewed elected officials, political candidates, covered city government, explored local history, examined public policy, and occasionally wandered into topics that probably made listeners wonder whether we'd consumed too many magic mushrooms before pressing the record button.

Either way, we'll graciously accept the compliment while maintaining a healthy sense of perspective.

As for the former council member's readership estimate, we'll continue to embrace it with pride. If only a dozen people are reading Elk Grove News, they apparently possess extraordinary influence. After all, those twelve readers seem to include an impressive number of current and former elected officials.

Then again, perhaps City Council members aren't always all-knowing.

Maybe they're simply... know-it-alls.

We'll let our dozen readers decide.