Podcast SEO: Optimizing for the Humans with Daniel J.Lewis
We all want to make it as easy as possible for people to discover our podcasts. So how can we make sure the search engines find us? How can we “optimize our podcasts?”
Daniel J. Lewis, host of the Audacity to Podcast, says that when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), we should be less concerned about the robots and more focused on people.
Subscribe to Podcasting Step by Step for free to hear my discussion with Daniel about how we can integrate SEO tactics into our content in a human-centric way to serve and grow our podcast audiences.
If you’re unsure what SEO tactics are, no worries, we break this down for you on the podcast. But essentially, SEO when done right, increases your visibility and gets your content in front of the right people.
What is podcast SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. When we ‘do’ SEO, we’re optimizing our content so that it’s searchable, meaning we’re using keywords that human beings are typing into Google to find an answer to their problems. The critical phrase here is human beings.
“Think of it like an H-S-E-O approach, optimizing for humans who use search engines,” Daniel says. “Because these search engines are becoming more human-like in their behaviors and are prioritizing what humans prioritize.”
Back in the AOL ’90s, Daniel says people tried to rank for a single word like ‘podcast.’
“Well, that's the way a machine thinks, that's not the way a human thinks. A human would think, ‘I want to know how to podcast’ or ‘I want a podcast about this topic’ or a ‘discussion about this.’ Or they might not even know they want a podcast. They just know they want a particular topic. It's becoming less robotic in how people are using search engines.”
Daniel J. Lewis…
founded the online course SEO for Podcasters, as well as the online community Podcaster’s Society, which is open to all podcasters after they’ve published their first episode. Photo courtesy of Daniel.
How to make your content findable for humans who use search engines
You don’t need to overcomplicate things here. Think like a human! This all goes back to knowing who your ideal listener is and what they are interested in. What are their biggest pain points? Type these queries into Google to find podcast episode ideas. Tools like Ahrefs can help, too.
Keep your episodes focussed on one thing. Don’t try to share everything you know about a topic in one episode. Break down the content by theme and topic. Not only is this less overwhelming for your listener and blog reader, it also makes it easier to find your content when it is so specific and you’re using relevant keywords.
What is searchable in podcast apps?
Podcast apps approach search in different ways. Some podcast players search your show-level description but most are only searchable by show title, episode title, and author. And you’ll only be found if your keyword phrases match exactly. There is no smart guessing for misspellings.
So be obvious in your episode titles, in addition to being interesting and relevant to your ideal listener. Create titles are descriptive and compelling.
ID3 tags don’t matter for SEO.
SEO photo by Merakist.
The future of podcast SEO is changing
Podcast apps are starting to index what we say.
“So, even if something doesn't exist in written form, your podcast might be findable for it because you said it in your podcast,” Daniel says, “and where this intentionality comes in is that you need to remember to say those kinds of things that you want to be found for.”
Obviously, you don’t want to sound like a spam robot that repeats the same keywords over and over again. That would turn off any listener. But you can weave these words throughout your audio content just like you would your written content.
“Let's say we’re doing a movie review podcast, and you want to be found for that movie. What I tend to hear happen a lot in podcasts is they'll start the conversation saying something like this, ‘Today we’re going to talk about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And then the rest of the episode, they just keep saying the movie, the movie, the movie,” Daniel says.
“That doesn’t help with your search engine ranking very well either in written form or in spoken form, but you also don't want to go the other side where you're like a news broadcaster and constantly saying the proper nouns every single time.”
In this scenario, Daniel recommends a balance. Refer to the proper noun every few minutes to reset the context.
“For the search engines, but also for the humans who are listening. They just get that subtle reminder of what you’re talking about...They can get distracted every now and then and they might be listening or they might pause an episode and resume it later and then they might forget what movie are we talking about?”
Right now, this podcast app transcription is all being done behind the scenes. Daniel predicts that eventually we’ll be able to verify and correct the accuracy of these show notes, and that when people search for a specific question our podcast addresses, podcast apps will jump right to the place in our podcast where we give that answer.
How to write SEO-friendly show notes for your podcast
Do not upload your podcast transcript to your website and call it a day. This is a poor user experience, and Google factors that in when it comes to page rankings. And it looks lazy.
Write your show notes like an article. Quality matters more than quantity, but aim for at least 500 words.
Make sure your article is readable and easy to skim. Use subheads, bullets, and images.
Use keywords where they are relevant, including in your url and photo description and alternative text.
Internal and external links are important to SEO. Link to your own pages on your website, and get other people to link to you. One way to do this is by getting on other podcasts and having the hosts link back to you. Also guest blogging.
When you do hyperlink, hyperlink the keywords and not words like ‘click here.’
Google values a good user experience, and so should we, as podcasters. Three cheers for H-S-E-O!
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