SEO For Podcasts

If you’re a podcaster, SEO is probably not at the forefront of your mind. When you’re focussed on getting the sound quality right, editing each episode and plotting future episodes, getting your podcast into the ears of more people can slip your mind. As well as more obvious marketing methods to reach more listeners, like forums, social media and booking big guests, SEO can be a very important tool for a podcaster. But how can you harness that all important search engine traffic to gain more podcast listeners? 

Remember that for podcasts, SEO can also boost your rankings on podcast listening services, like iTunes, as well as in traditional search engines. Ranking well on both is very important. Within your podcast service, you want to make sure you show up when a user searches for something relevant, and appears in lists like ‘New and Noteworthy’.

What’s In A Name?

The name of your podcast is the ideal first place to optimise. Choose something simple, with a relevant keyword. This helps podcast services and search engines deliver your podcast into relevant search results, and helps a potential listener decide what your podcast is about. You can use keywords in a ‘tagline’ within the title too, such as ‘Podcast Name – a video game podcast’. 

Your individual episodes need good names too. Try and resist coming up with something clever or funny in favour of something descriptive. As with your podcast name, this is better for SEO and for the listener to decide whether or not they want to hit play on your latest episode. 

Use Tags

Categories and tags help list services decide what your podcast is about. When you set up your podcast on a service, make sure you choose the most relevant category for it so the right people find it. 

If your service offers you a space to put in tags for episodes, use them. Use those tags for relevant keywords that people might be searching for, for both your episode and overall podcast theme. 

Get Subscribers

Some directories, like iTunes, look at your subscriber count to decide whether to give you a push up the rankings. A podcast with a high number of subscribers, and that is continually attracting good numbers of new subscribers tend to rank better. 

Your total numbers of plays and downloads can help you too. Solid marketing strategy in other areas can help you to get those initial plays that you need to get the directories to notice you. Push new episodes on social media, bully your friends and family into listening and advertise your podcast on relevant forums; whatever it takes to get those first listens. 

Ratings and Reviews

Getting good reviews and ratings left by listeners can also help you appear in podcast directory lists. To get more ratings, remind listeners at the end of every episode to leave you a rating. You could run a competition to encourage them to leave a review. 

Check your reviews regularly and make sure you address any issues that are mentioned, such as sound quality problems. 

Make Use Of Your Website

A podcast might be an audio format, but there’s a real benefit to leveraging written content on a website too. Wherever you host your podcast, a dedicated website can be a great way to boost your listenership. 

You could use your site purely to share your episodes, or you could also write other blog posts about relevant subjects. At the least, you should share your latest episodes with an episode guide. Write a good description of the content of the episode, as this is another great place to pack in those all important keywords to help you move up the search rankings. 

You could consider writing up a transcript for each episode too. Again, this helps with the keywords, but it’s also a great way to make your podcast more accessible. For those with hearing problems, being able to read along as they listen can make a huge difference to their ability to enjoy your content. 

Standard website SEO for content should also be applied. Make good use of titles, headlines, alt tags and proper keyword strategy. Make sure your site is functional on devices too, so you don’t get hit by Google’s mobile first index. 

The right content on your site can also help your podcast build trust and authority. Quality content will attract back links and shares, and that’s great for search rankings. Drive listeners to your website to keep all that traffic. Offering something extra within your episode guides, such as transcripts, links to articles you discussed in the episode or accompanying worksheets to go with skills you’ve been talking about. 

Make Use Of YouTube

YouTube is one of the most visited sites on the web, but many podcasters overlook it. Even though you’re creating audio, you can use the video site to help you. 

There are lots of tools available to convert audio content into video. You could upload this just as it is, so while there won’t be much to look at, listeners will be able to listen to your podcast on YouTube. If you wanted to get more adventurous though, why not set up a camera in your recording space and sync that footage up to your audio? As they listen, your subscribers will also be able to see you, which helps create more of a bond with you. 

You could also create video that shows off some of that supporting content you’ve created for your website, such as charts, episode artwork or images that pair with topics you’ve discussed. 

Video adds even more value to your content and provides yet another way for people to find you. 

Build Links

Google likes to see that people are linking to your content. One of the easiest ways to get links is to have good guests on your podcast. After their episode has gone live, send them an email to say thank you, and include the link to their episode. They can use this to put onto their own websites, share on social media, or include in their newsletters.