Podcast SEO: Best Practices for Easy Listener Discovery

• How to understand your audience’s search behavior
• Why you should optimize your podcast episodes with effective keywords
• Steps for utilizing blog posts for enhanced SEO results
• How to leverage YouTube to broaden your discovery landscape

Understanding Your Audience’s Search Behavior

People find out about their new favorite podcast in one of two ways: through others’ recommendations or by doing an online search. If you understand how to use search engines to your advantage, then you’re on the fast track to successfully making your brand more discoverable. You must ensure that your show title, episode titles, and the first few lines of your episode’s show notes are well-optimized – this means they should include keywords and 3-4 word phrases your ideal audience is typing into their phone or computer.

We already know that people search the web for solutions to their problems – and that can include looking for media, like podcasts, that address or solve those problems. So, you need to frame your podcast as the answer to their questions. When your potential audience is Googling around for a new show to binge, you need to make it easy for them to see:

• What issues your podcast addresses
• The benefits listeners receive
• How each episode answers their problems

As a podcast host, make it clear what your listeners can expect from you by integrating this information into the titles and descriptions of your podcast episodes. When you do this, you’ll accelerate up the search rankings and become easily found by potential listeners as they conduct their online searches.

Optimizing Your Podcast Episodes with Keywords

The internet is a busy place! There is so much information out there; to stand out and make yourself heard over the noise, a visibility strategy is a MUST. One of the best ways to accomplish that is by publishing keyword-rich show notes alongside every episode.

Show notes are short summaries of your podcast episodes that appear on your podcast platform and (hopefully, your website, too!). Think of your show notes (AKA episode descriptions) as your elevator pitch – they’re what listeners read before deciding to press play.

But why are keywords important? Well, they act like hooks that get your content discovered on search engines. When you sprinkle relevant keywords (which also happen to be phrases your listeners say, think, and feel) throughout your show notes, search engines are more likely to match your episode with the terms people are searching for. This increases your show’s online visibility and helps attract a targeted audience.

This is why focusing on your show notes’ first few lines is key. They play a massive part in shaping your viewer’s expectations AND search algorithms crawl them to understand what your episode is about. It’s prime real estate! Remember to prioritize the top paragraph of the show notes by incorporating relevant keywords and phrases – this could be the difference between getting discovered and getting overlooked.

I personally recommend a Google Chrome plugin called Keywords Everywhere. It’s an excellent tool for SEO as it helps you find relevant keywords and shows you how often they’re searched for. With this plugin, you can take the guesswork out of your SEO strategy and create show notes that are both engaging and search engine-friendly.

Harnessing the SEO Power of Blog Posts

There’s another way that will help you boost your podcast’s visibility using search engine optimization, and that’s by creating keyword-rich blog posts. They are a powerful tool in optimizing your podcast for search engines.

Every episode of your podcast provides an excellent opportunity to create a related blog post. These blog posts can target relevant keywords for your show and provide details about the specific episode. With careful keyword research, you can uncover phrases and terms that your target audience is actively searching for. Once you find them, sprinkle these keywords strategically throughout your blog post. The name of the game is providing value to your readers and listeners, so always aim for relevance and coherence in your content, and don’t keyword stuff.

When you’re writing the blog post, don’t forget to use your focus keywords in key parts of your content, namely the title, headers, and first few lines of your text. This enables search engines to grasp the topic of your content faster and more accurately, and improves the chances of your blog post showing up in relevant search results.

You also need to keep in mind that Google and other search engines favor unique and high-quality content. So while it’s important to have your keywords, also ensure that your blog post is well-written, structured, and provides insightful information that would be valuable to your audience. Planning your thoughts out, creating a post that genuinely helps solve a problem, and providing actionable takeaways can position you as an authority in your niche and keep your audience coming back for more.

Leveraging YouTube for Further Reach

As the saying goes, don’t put all your eggs in one basket! When it comes to getting more eyes on your podcast, branching out beyond traditional podcast directories can be a key to success. Even though it’s primarily known as a video-sharing platform, YouTube has become one of the top platforms for podcast discovery.

Posting your podcast episodes on YouTube can considerably expand your reach and attract new listeners. Not only does it tap into YouTube’s massive user base, but it also offers additional SEO benefits. Just as with your blog posts, optimizing your YouTube video descriptions with keywords relevant to your podcast and audience is crucial.

YouTube’s auto-transcription feature also allows search engines to crawl and index your podcast audio making auto-captions another valuable asset for your SEO strategy. But, always review and edit the auto-captions to ensure their accuracy, as YouTube’s transcription algorithm is imperfect.

When you post your podcast episodes on YouTube, it’s important to include a call to action in your video description. Asking viewers to like the video, subscribe to your channel, or leave a comment will improve your YouTube algorithm ranking and also help attract more listeners into your world.

YouTube SEO sounds way more complicated than it really is. The key thing to remember is that your goal is to provide valuable and engaging content to your audience. The algorithm follows the audience, so focus on meeting your listeners’ needs, and the rest will follow.

The Power of SEO for Podcasts

SEO is a crucial tool in increasing your podcast’s visibility and reach. Because one of the top discovery methods for podcasts is a simple online search, it’s crucial to make your podcast discoverable by using relevant keywords in your show title, episode titles, and show notes.

Conducting detailed keyword research and writing well-planned blog posts to accompany each podcast episode can significantly amplify your podcast’s visibility in search. Lastly, YouTube is an amazing place to expand your audience as long as you remember to optimize your video description with your chosen keywords for increased visibility. By following the strategies and tips in this guide, you should see a noticeable increase in your podcast’s visibility and reach – ultimately leading to more listens, downloads, and followers.

SEO for Podcasts FAQs

What do we mean by SEO in the context of podcasts?

SEO is the process of optimizing your podcast’s content, description, title, and related text so it’s more visible and easily discoverable through search engines. The goal is to increase your organic rankings on search result pages, to attract a larger audience.

Why is keyword research important for podcasts?

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing terms that people enter into search engines, and it’s incredibly important because they represent exactly what people are searching for. By integrating relevant keywords in your podcast’s title, episode titles, and show notes, you dramatically improve the chances of potential listeners’ discovery of your content.

How can a blog post enhance the SEO of my podcast?

Writing a keyword-rich blog post related to your podcast episode can greatly enhance your SEO. Search engines crawl and index this text content. If well-optimized, it can rank in search results and thus drive more traffic to your podcast.

Why should I consider posting my podcast on YouTube?

YouTube is the second-largest search engine and a major platform for podcast discovery. By uploading your podcast episodes to YouTube, with optimized descriptions containing relevant keywords, you tap into a massive audience pool and bolster your podcast’s visibility.