What Are Podcasts, Again? And How Does SEO Work For Them?

Podcasts are a series of digital audio files that a person is able to listen to by downloading to their device or streaming through an online platform. Because Podcasts are in audio format, it’s not common to think that they can also have anything to do with SEO rankings- many people think SEO only applies to your website. But if your company has a podcast, it can also be optimized to do better in search engine rankings.

Audio content hasn’t always been picked up by Google’s bots. But now that Google is actively scanning for audio content as well as displaying podcasts on the SERP, it is important to make sure that your podcasts are optimized for them. This means being clear and concise during your episode, as well as putting the work into your title’s and descriptions to make them easily searchable.

Optimizing Podcasts With Keywords

As with all SEO, the best way to optimize your podcast is through keywords. Keywords are specific, targeted words or phrases that describe the topic your podcast will be talking about. For example, if your podcast is about restaurants in Cincinnati and you are recording an episode about coffee shops, the keyword you might use to describe the podcast is “Best Local Coffee Shops in Cincinnati”. You need to optimize both the podcast itself and each individual episode to target specific keywords. Figure out which keywords people interested in your business are searching for and build the podcast around those.

Where do the keywords go in the podcast?

The keywords your podcast as a whole is targeting should go both in the podcast title and in the podcast’s description. So for the example of a podcast on restaurants in Cincinnati, the title might be “Exploring Hidden Gems: Restaurants in Cincinnati”. Then in the description would discuss further what the podcast episodes will be about, and include the keyword “Restaurants in Cincinnati”.

Each individual podcast episode should also be recorded to target specific keywords, and those keywords need to be in a few locations.

• The Title: For the podcast episode on local coffee shops, it might be specifically targeting coffee shops with female owners in the area. In that case, the title could be something along the lines of “Women-Owned Coffee Shops in the Queen City”, with “women-owned coffee shops” being the keyword. You also want to be sure to put the keyword as close to the beginning of the title as you can.
• The Description: As with the podcast as a whole, the description of the podcast’s episode should target the same keyword as the episode title, while further expanding on the topic and giving potential listeners an idea of what the podcast will discuss.
• The Audio: Starting in 2019, Google became able to index audio. This means that what you say in your podcast can have an effect on how that podcast ranks in the SERP. Be sure to mention your specific keyword during your episode, and clearly enunciate it.

Additional ways to boost Podcast SEO

Blog Post

Another way you can boost your Podcast’s SEO is by posting a blog to your website for each episode. Give a little teaser on the podcast’s content, and then link to the episode on iTunes, Spotify, your podcast website, or a direct download. This will drive traffic to it and help increase your viewership as well as rankings.

Website metadata and URL

If you end up posting blogs for your podcasts, be sure to optimize the website’s page metadata and URL to target the keyword that the episode is targeting. For example, the coffee shop episode would probably look something like:
www.bestrestaurantscincy.com/blog/podcast-women-owned-coffee-shops
“Check out our latest podcast highlighting some of the best women-owned coffee shops in Cincinnati!

Social/ Shareability

As always, ensure that your blog post and podcast are both able to be shared. This helps listeners who love your work to share it with their friends and colleagues, which increases traffic to your podcast.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to improve all of your content marketing to boost your SEO, we would love to talk with you! Reach out to the team at webFEAT Complete for more insight on how your company can achieve success online. Contact us today for more information! And be sure to check out our own Digital Marketing Podcast– available on 8 platforms.
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