Here’s the truth…
99% of podcasters are making a HUGE mistake with their podcast. 🎙
So, for the last six months or so, I’ve been digging (DIGGING) to prove wrong a theory that I have.
And I can’t find a single example that proves it wrong.
My theory?
Part 1: Podcast show notes are dead. 💀
The common advice given to podcasters of, “Do show notes for SEO” is completely wrong.
Turns out, show notes do NOTHING for SEO because a short page of notes (or even a blog post talking about an episode) only matches the search intent of people looking for that episode.
If all you’re doing for your podcast is making a show notes page for each episode, you are missing out on the biggest growth channel out there for podcasters: search engines.
And I don’t just mean Google!
Part 2: How to use SEO to grow your podcast in 2021
While we keep hoping for better podcast discoverability, we have to admit right now it’s terrible.
If you want to grow your podcast in 2021, stop repurposing audio for social media and start harnessing organic search engines like:
- Google 📈
- YouTube 📹
- Pinterest 📌
- Amazon 💰
📈 For Google, do your research ahead of time into what topics people are searching for that you, or your guest, can speak on and tailor episodes around specific topics. Specific topics matched directly to the search intent around that topic.
You’re literally getting your guests to write articles for you based on their expertise. It’s blogging on easy mode. For real.
Example: I just edited an episode of 100 Days of SEO that includes 13 separate topics that will become 13 blog posts (more on that below) and I’ve worked with Podreacher on all of the blog posts for 100 Days of SEO.
Here are the results so far:
Not too bad considering I haven’t published any new episodes in a few months.
Want a shortcut? Work with Podreacher and have them turn all of your episodes into blog posts!
📹For YouTube, make sure to record all of your interviews on Zoom OR if solo, set up a DSLR/phone and let it run as you record. Do your research ahead of time and already have the video titles in mind before recording. This is KEY for asking guests the right questions.
For example, I took this conversation with Bill King:
and turned it into 13 separate videos that are PERFECTLY matches to search intent for various things on YouTube:
📌 For Pinterest, turn every powerful quote into an image, as well as checklists and key takeaways from each episode. Link from Pinterest to a landing page on your site or even directly to the episode in Apple Podcasts, etc.
💰 On Amazon, use your podcast content to create free books on Amazon. Using the podcast to drive people to Amazon (to drive up rank) and Amazon to drive new people who discover them to the show. Leverage Publisher Rocket to create better titles and descriptions. AND as you record more episodes, you can update your books!
I really do believe that if you start looking at these four different types of SEO (YouTube, Pinterest and Amazon ARE search engines), you’ll start to attract new listeners to your podcast at a really rapid pace.