Podcast Pontifications

In the eyes of search engines, podcast content is just web content. And there are no special rules for podcast search engine optimization. Google (and other search engines) evaluate the web pages we podcasters make for our episodes the same way they see every other page.

Unfortunately, following solid SEO best practices for posting podcast episodes might require a very different approach to podcast production and content creation than what you’re doing for your podcast today. 

In order to give your content -- your on-site content -- the greatest chance of earning a meaningful ranking in search engines like Google, you need to take a completely different approach to your content creation process. And you’re probably not going to like it. But here we are.

1. Topics Drool, Keywords Rule - Once you have a topic in mind, you refine that topic by doing research on the words and phrases used by people on search engines, plus analyze the current “competing” results that are already ranking for those phrases. Yes, that means using specialized tools that cost money.

2. Agonize Over Your Episode Title - You have to try lots and lots of titles -- using the info gleaned from your keyword research -- and craft a compelling -- that means click-worthy -- title. Again, this means using software to help you analyze each of the titles you come up with. 

3. Lock-In Your Angle For The Episode - With the keyword and the title of the episode now crystal clear, you probably have a good idea of how you’ll approach the topic on the episode. 

4. Now You Can Record and Produce - This is the part you know how to do. Now you’re just doing it with a good roadmap that’s materializing from the first three steps. 

5. Write 2,000 Words - If you want your episode page to have a chance at ranking for the keyword that started this whole process, you have to write a lot of words. No, 500 probably isn’t enough. 

6. Optimize Those 2,000 Words - Refine those words to make sure they’ve stayed on point, match the angle, reinforce the title, and are relevant to the keyword chosen as the focal point. 

7. Pretty Up Your Page With Pictures - The goal of this exercise is to get this podcast’s episode page to rank, and visual elements help make the page more attractive to searchers, the data show.

8. Organize The Structure Of The Page - Spending time breaking up those 2,000 words with headings and subheadings makes the page more scannable. Keep that keyword in mind as you do this crucial step. Not all text on a page is considered equal.

9. Rewrite Everything, If Necessary - Evaluate all of your words for “readability”  to make sure you're not talking over your audiences’ heads or not writing below their comprehension level. 

10. Now You Can Publish - Finally on step 10. And that’s not even counting the myriad steps and processes in the recording and editing step which I condensed into one.

11. Syndicate For Success - You spent all that time getting a great page live on your website. If you really want to win at this, you need to re-publish (syndicate) it on other sites, making sure they use canonical links that point back to the webpage you worked so hard on.

Everything I just said assumes you’ve done all of the pre-work required on your website so you can see if your efforts are paying off. All of this also assumes your website’s site architecture is conducive to getting good rankings. 

Getting podcast episode pages to rank highly in search engines is hard work. It takes energy and effort at every single stage of the process I just outlined for you. Honestly, this will take you hours of work. Per episode.

So back to my opening question: Is it worth it? That's a question you have to answer for yourself. 

Please do me a favor? It's great that you're retweeting my stuff and mentioning my show in various Facebook post comments. But those pale in comparison to you sending a personal note to one single person. It carries much, much more weight when you individually reach out to someone and tell them why they should listen to Podcast Pontifications. 

Tomorrow I’ll bring you some more stories of working podcasters like yourself who are making it through this pandemic. Yes, I still want your stories. Please record a minute or two on how the Coronavirus has impacted your podcasting routine. Put it up on Dropbox (or whatever) and send the link to me at Evo@podcastlaunch.pro.

-----

Share this with a friend: https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/podcast-seo-is-hard-is-it-worth-the-effort

Podcast Pontifications is published by Evo Terra four times a week and is aimed at the working podcaster. The purpose of this show is to make podcasting better, not just easier.

Follow Evo on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit SimplerMedia.pro to see how Simpler Media Productions can help your firm. Podcasting is our only business!

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy