By Airon Rodrigues
Should podcasting be part of your content marketing strategy? Yes.
Do most online companies have a podcast series? No.
Is podcasting beneficial for SEO? Yes, let me explain…
When we think about SEO, we generally think about keywords, search queries and on-page optimization, such as written content generated through the traditional blog. Something that doesn’t come to mind however, is podcasting. Like any other form of content, podcasting demonstrates the ability to provide quality content to users and potential customers.
Like SEO, podcasting is a skill that needs to be developed, cared for, and honed down. This reason alone is why podcasting is not the go-to method for producing content. The good news is, podcasting can be a great addition to your content marketing strategy in creating more content for SEO.
But wait, what is a podcast?
Before we dive into the benefits of podcasting, it’s important to know exactly what a podcast is. At its core, a podcast is a digital audio file, which is available for download on the internet. Whether downloaded by mobile, a computer or a tablet, a podcast is generally available as a series containing episodes that can be received by subscribers automatically. With this in mind, lets discuss how podcasting impacts SEO.
Can Podcasting Directly Impact SEO?
The first interesting, yet obvious, component that makes up podcasting is that it’s audio. While listeners can’t read your words as they hear them, they can read your words as you write them. Meaning, the audio alone won’t help with SEO, but the overall content surrounding the audio will.
This includes implementing an optimised title, meta description and URL for each episode and including a written introduction on the podcast page. The content surrounding the introduction can include keywords and themes related to the subject you’re discussing. Thankfully for SEO’s, your podcasts can be converted into text (transcripts) which can then be used as blog posts, downloadable PDFs, eBook’s, and guest posts. As seen below, Podomatic are a great example on how to correctly optimize a podcast page.
Transcriptions will not only help with SEO, but it gives your audio content the opportunity to be converted into written and downloadable products. Anything which increases user interaction on your site helps with SEO as Google is always analysing the time spent on site by visitors.
Benefits of Podcasting For SEO
In today’s modern age of SEO, content marketing is the name of the game. In its entirety, content marketing comes down to using every available channel to effectively distribute content in a way that grows an audience of targeted content consumers. As mentioned before, podcasting is one of many methods in doing so.
Ultimately, the goal of content marketing is getting consumers to return to your website to learn more, in the intention of buying a product or service. With this in mind, let’s discuss the benefits of including podcasting as part of your content marketing strategy.
Before proceeding, something to consider is that Google can’t yet index audio sources, which means, none of your podcast audio content is visible to search engines. Basically, if you don’t have a transcription of your episode, your podcast content will not be visible in the SERP’s.
One way to get your audio transcribed is to pop on those headphones and start typing, at least you’ll learn how to type faster. Or, transcription services such as WayWithWords or Rev can get the job done.
Now, onto the benefits!
Keyword Rich Content
Transcriptions from a podcast will be full of keywords relevant to the topic. The more keyword rich content you have, the better your chances of being ranked higher in searches are. This is one of the key ways transcripts can benefit SEO.
An audio transcript will translate all that keyword-rich content into text that bots can read. Publishing your audio transcripts along with your audio files will significantly increase your web traffic.
Long Tail Search Traffic
Long tail keywords are those three and four keyword phrases that are very specific in describing your products or service. These long and obscure keyword phrases now have potential to appear in a transcribed podcast, making them visible to Google.
As a result, these keyword phrases will become easier to rank for, as they are included on your site as content through a transcription and in addition are relevant and specific to your online presence. When a user now searches for these terms, your website will receive the boost it needs, increasing it’s visibly for a given search query.
Additional Quality Content
In addition to including targeted keywords, a transcribed podcast can also generate quality content. After a series of episodes have been published, an online library of knowledge will start to accumulate, which can then later be used to create additional content pieces such as courses, eBooks and comprehensive blog posts.
Valuable takeaways and insights can be extracted from each transcript and combined to create a master piece of the overall theme and key learning points from the podcast.
Authoritative Quotes
A podcast where you include recognized guests in your industry will provide many quotes. Furthermore, the benefits derive from these expert quotes from an authoritative voice in the industry. From these quotes, tips and strategy outlines can be created in reference from these recognised figures.
Conclusion
Starting a podcast can be a daunting and challenging. Though, if done right, a podcast can positively impact or even drive your content marketing strategy, thus benefiting SEO. The content surrounding the audio is the key.
