by | Nov 2, 2019 | Podcasting | 0 comments

Podcast and SEO Tips and Tricks

Record a teaser / intro podcast.

 

The reason for this is to help with planning the timing of launching your podcast. 

Apple and some other platforms won’t publish a podcast until it actually has a current episode already included. That is, you can’t future date your first podcast and publish it in Apple. They way around this is to do a one minute intro ‘Hey there, I’m Penny and welcome to the Penny Talks Money podcast, where we talk all things money!’

Then you can future date the in depth, full length legit podcast episodes. 

If you want your podcast to drop everywhere at the same time on a predicted date, you can future date the first full episode after the teaser has appeared in all the various platforms. 

Podcasts and SEO

Audio is exploding. This is affecting SEO.  People now search using their voice, for example ‘Alexa, how do I grow tomatoes?’. ‘Siri, how can I be more productive with my time?’

Answers are given back in audio, as this may be most useful to someone asking verbally. In the future, the voice answering may actually be the recorded podcast (hopefully yours!)

SEO doesn’t just mean Google, it means Stitcher, Apple, Spotify and the like. 

The expected future will be for Google to transcribe the audio from podcasts to help with search engine searches. So speak clearly, folks!

Show Title

Think about your consumer. Unless you are a major celebrity, assume the reason people will listen is to do with the problem you can solve for them. So put the problem you solve ahead of your name. 

Think about who you are for. What are their problems? What do they need help with? Let listeners know what your show is about and why they should listen. What is the BENEFIT for them?

The title should have a keyword in it that your ideal listener is likely to search. 

Also, be mindful of people for whom English is not their first language. Will they understand slang or acronyms? 

The more concise you can be, the better. People won’t be able to read long titles on many devices.  The shorter the better. The most popular show titles are around 20 characters long. Actually, the median length of all podcast titles in general is 20 characters. 

Sub Title

The sub title can be more playful. It can be an opportunity to clarify what you do and who you are for. 

Podcast Episode

Have a clear purpose for the podcast episode. That will lead you to have a clear title, clear show notes and, when Google transcribes your podcast, it will hear you saying words consistent with the topic. This is all SEO gold. 

Should you put episode numbers in your title? It’s a personal preference, and there are successful podcasts that do. 

However, Apple prefer that you don’t. Also, it takes up precious title ‘real estate’. So if you don’t care either way, then leave them out. 

Put the topic / problem that you solve / benefit you offer at the beginning of the episode title, ahead of people’s names, unless you are interviewing Oprah. 

Some good ideas are to write words like ‘how to’ or ‘5 Top tips for xyz’. 

People’s time is their most precious asset. Don’t expect people to listen to your podcast episode without clearly letting the know what it’s about. Show respect to your listener by making it clear, and this will also reward you by attracting the right people and optimising your SEO. 

Again, the shorter the episode name, the better. 

Some podcasting articles have stated 60 characters as being how many can be used in a podcast title. However, scanning my own Apple podcast app and counting the characters I found a podcast episode title cut off at 40 characters (including spaces)….so I would aim for less than that. Less than 30 is ideal, in my opinion.

Have a Website (and what link to use to share your podcast)

If this is going to be a stumbling block that stops you from getting started and taking action, then know that it’s not compulsory. You can always create a website later. 

However, having your podcast featured on your website blog section can help your website rank better and give you more opportunity to capitalise on people landing on your real estate. 

Your website is place where you can showcase what you offer and sell products or generate leads. Your website can help build your brand and position you as an expert. 

You must Include the various platform links such as Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and Google. Then share your podcast from your website when sharing on social media, so that you send people to your website and so they can click through to their preferred podcast platform. 

On that point, if you don’t have a website and want to share your podcast on social media, you can use sites such as gopod.me or pod.link which shows your podcast with links to all the major podcast platforms on the one page

You can also include social media share buttons to encourage social sharing. 

Recruit your friends, family and fans

Put a call out on social media or message any supportive friends who would be willing to support your podcast launch. The moment it is published, ask them to hop over to Apple, subscribe, rate and review the show. 

Show Notes ( And do I need a transcript? )

Yes. No. Maybe. Probably not. It depends. 

I don’t think it’s necessary for most podcasts. When I started podcasting, I used to pay Rev to transcribe my podcasts.  Even though Rev is the more premium option to Temi and others, I still found I’d have to spend a fair bit of time fixing it up before publishing. 

Although listening to the natural flow of a conversation can be pleasant, reading every joke and laugh and conversational aside doesn’t necessarily work as well. I find my earlier blog posts that are straight transcripts are not enticing to read. I would prefer it condensed down to the main points. 

However, if you have people listening for whom English is not their first language, it can be a huge help for them, so that is a consideration. 

For most of my clients, I include an introduction, a stand out quote, and the main points that were covered, which is enough to give the reader and the SEO bots the information they need. 

Give enough information for a listener to decide the episode is worth investing their time listening to. 

And make sure you include relevant links to what you offer and links for any podcast guests! 

Hook them in at the start!

You know when you’re scanning web pages to find the information you are looking for? You want to find that information out in seconds, not minutes. 

Same applies to people listening to the beginning of a podcast. Don’t make them listen to your super cool music for a couple of minutes before you get to the point. 

So start straight away with your VOICE. Say who you are, what the podcast is about, what the episode is about today and the benefit/problem solving factor, then music, then do another short intro  after the music. 

Hook them at the end!

Pop a call to action at the end to ask for what you want. Ask them to subscribe, rate, review and share your podcast. 

Until recently, I would have said, ‘If you’re listening in Apple, please rate, review and share this podcast as it will help others find it’. 

However, I have noticed that Stitcher also allows for ratings and reviews, so now I would just say ‘in your podcast platform’ or something similar. 

Summary

  • Record a short teaser episode to help you control the timing of your podcast launch
  • Keep your podcast title and episode titles as short as you can, with the benefit you offer at the beginning 
  • Give an overview of of the episode on your show notes. Include benefits and links and social share buttons
  • Preferably have a website and use that to share podcast. If not use a platform such as gopod.me
  • Hook your listeners at the start by getting to the point IMMEDIATELY and not making them wait to find out what it’s all about
  • Ask listeners to rate, review and subscribe on their favourite platform at the end

This is what I’ve learned from experience, from asking questions, researching and reading up on the subject, and listening to podcasts on the topic!  You never stop learning and changing. 

Do you have a podcast or would like to start one? If you have any questions or comments, pop them in the comments below.