There are a variety of ways to optimize your podcast for SEO. Some podcasts are really easy to optimize for SEO and are designed in a way that they can rank quickly in Google search simply by repurposing the existing podcast content. Meanwhile, there are others that are extremely competitive and challenging to rank in Google.
It is important to understand the purpose and audience of your podcast, so you can determine if SEO is worth investing in to grow your podcast.
Podcasts That Are Perfect For Search Engine Optimization
Below are a few types of podcasts that are easy to rank. Why? Because the content you create within your podcast can quickly be repurposed into text that will effectively answer questions and rank for specific searches in Google.
1. Topically Focused Podcasts
Podcasts that have a specific focus are excellent because they get to break down the subject more, and provide more answers to the questions people have. When people have a specific question about your topic, they will be able to search for it and your name will appear because you mentioned that specific question in your show.
2. Podcasts For A Local Audience
Podcasts with a local audience typically have much more engaged users, and the ability to quickly gain more viewers within that area. People add “…near me” or “…in xyz city” to the end of their searches, and if you focus on these particular areas, you are much more likely to appear and be trusted by people because you are near to them.
3. Educational Podcasts
Informational podcasts that focus on a topic and answer a lot of questions are easier to optimize, simply because they answer the questions that a lot of people have. Google also trusts sites that provide quality and trustworthy information. This trust takes a while to get, but can be very valuable in making your podcast rank towards the top.
4. Business Podcasts
Podcasts that are either about a specific business or about the general “world of business” are great for ranking because they have a clear focus, and provide specific, actionable information. Whether you talk about a particular strategy that a popular business uses, or provide tips for business owners to use for their own business, you are talking about real actions that people are searching for, and want to try for themselves.
Podcasts That Should Not Be/Are Difficult To SEO Optimize
The truth is, not every podcast is designed for SEO. The podcast types below are not impossible to optimize, but they are quite challenging. Simply put, these types of podcasts do not create repurposed content that can easily rank. You’ll have to understand a bit about SEO for this to make sense. Once you understand that Google is a Librarian, it makes complete sense.
The reason these types of podcasts are not optimal for SEO is that they are not creating content that would be the answer to someone’s questions. You could optimize these podcast episodes for SEO, but you would have to make entirely new written content paired with each podcast episode. Let’s look at some of the more difficult podcasts to rank:
1. Podcasts That Are Conversational (Not On A Single Topic)
Get-to-know-you interviews: Interviews can be great when you are interviewing a professional about a certain topic, or are having them explain what’s happening in their industry. However, interviews that are more story-based are not as great for SEO. If the podcast is an interview that answers questions about a topic–that’s great! You can optimize these specific episodes to the topic that they are focusing on. However, if your interview is just getting to know someone, or hearing them tell stories about their life, there is not much opportunity for SEO.
Unstructured “talk show” podcasts: With the content of these shows being quite random and unpredictable, it is especially difficult to find keywords and phrases that people would look up. While making it so that your listeners don’t know what to expect is a great way to retain them, it makes it extremely hard to gain new listeners and increase your show’s popularity.
2. Podcasts That Are Narrative/Story Focused
Fictional Story Podcasts: These types of podcasts are especially difficult for SEO because they have little to do with anything outside of the conversation itself. If the majority of the content is made up or just to entertain, then it is hard to create links to anything outside of that story. Additionally, due to the sheer amount of podcast stories that are out there, there would be a massive amount of competition to fight with for ranking, and it would take a very long time before you start to see results.
Testimonial Stories: Even if your episode has someone talking directly about their experience with a product or service, it does not automatically make it a good fit for SEO. Simply bringing up a brand or a name is not enough. It goes back to the point about being able to answer people’s questions. Unless you have lots of people asking “does xyz work?”, and your story is just about “how xyz worked for me”, people will simply become aware that it exists, and their questions about it will not be answered.
3. Podcasts That Are Theatrical/Purely Entertainment
Comedy Podcasts: Unless you are having long monologues about types of comedy and topical jokes, your comedy podcast will have challenges showing up in the search results. A workaround would be doing a podcast episode on Dad jokes, or an episode on Political jokes (there is probably a lot of competition around that). Maybe a podcast episode fully focused on jokes about a political person. When people are searching for comedy on that specific topic, they would find yours. But frankly, if you create comedy podcasts like this, I would not return for a second episode. That is why comedy podcasts do not make sense for search engine optimization.
Theatrical Podcasts: There isn’t an easy way to SEO optimize the content of a theatrical podcast. This is very similar to fictional story podcasts. The most you can do is create content describing the podcast with words people would search for, looking for your specific type of podcast. One way you can increase rankings and appearance of your theatrical podcast is by having thorough bios of each of your voice actors. This will help your episodes rank for each of the voice actors.
How To SEO Optimize Your Podcast
While the SEO strategy will largely depend on your specific podcast’s focus, here are a few actions that all podcast owners should implement:
1. Name Your Podcast For SEO
There has been a trend towards making podcast titles vague and strange. While that can be fun, and it can reflect your personality, it won’t be as effective at ranking. The truth of the matter is, if I am looking for a marketing podcast, I am going to search “marketing podcast”. If I am looking for a new SEO podcast, I am going to search “SEO Podcast”. Don’t be afraid to be straightforward about the name of your podcast.
2. Have A Partner Blog Post With Your Podcast Episode
A blog post partnered with a podcast episode is one of the most effective ways to develop a podcast and continually grow your following. If you create an SEO optimized blog post that answers specific questions that are answered with context in the podcast episode, you will have a thorough and dynamic piece of marketing. From your video footage to the audio material and written content combined, you will have a high-quality and dynamic piece of marketing to help promote your podcast and help promote your business.
3. Create Thorough Bio Pages For Each Of The Podcast Guests
When you have guests featured on your podcast, creating biographies will greatly increase your traffic. When you do this you allow people from your guest’s network to be connected to your show, and by mentioning specifics about what your guest focuses on or the area they work in, people from those fields will also come across your site and be more likely to trust your platform.
4. Name Your Podcast Episodes For SEO
Rather than naming your episodes weird and long names that sound cool or reference a moment in the episode, name them based on the specific topic. For example, instead of, “The Podcast Whisperer Divulges Their Secrets On SEO”, name the podcast episode “Wesley Gehman Shares How To Optimize Your Podcast For SEO”. While this might not be as fun, it is more effective, and it is likely that people will listen to your show. They know what to expect so they will want to listen to it.
5. Add Your Podcast Transcript To Your Blog Post
While search engines are unable to hear your podcast, they can definitely read it. By providing a transcript of your episodes, you not only have a conversational and keyword-rich description for Google to read, but you also make your show accessible to people who are hearing-impaired or hard of hearing. While this can be done on your own, there are also many online tools that can automatically generate transcriptions for you.
6. Engage With Other Podcasts and Podcasters
When you are featured on other podcasts, websites, or blogs, you become seen by a whole new audience and greatly increase your presence. Connect with trusted creators, even ones that are not in your industry or genre, to become visible to a whole new group of listeners
7. Have Your Podcast On Your Website
Like we previously mentioned, having a website for your podcast allows you to have much greater control over your podcast’s image and presence, and gives you way more ability to customize how you appear to your listeners. Having a website also allows more people to search for you, greatly improving your accessibility.
8. Optimize Podcast Meta Data With Schema Markup
On the podcast’s blog post page, make sure you have the metadata and schema markup for your podcast episode. This schema markup will help Google to organize the information on the page and understand the big picture of your podcast, the podcast episode ,and more.
Ready To Take Your Podcast To The Next Level? Choose Podcast SEO from Wes Web
If you are looking to take the next step and begin optimizing your podcasts, Wes Web is here to help. We will work closely with you to develop a strategy tailored to your podcast, and develop you presence in a way that will take you to brand new heights. Ready to take the plunge? Contact us today to set up a free consultation for podcast SEO!