Podcast show notes are one of those tasks that you KNOW is essential, but you can never bring yourself to doing it, or doing it properly. This may be, and probably is, because you’ve never been told how important they are to using the power of Google.
Podcast show notes are nothing more than a blog post with an audio file attached.
And they’re also so much more than that.
Show Notes Serve Three Main Purposes
The first two serve existing listeners:
1 – To offer a summary of the episode’s content – to persuade someone to listen, to remind a previous listener what was covered, and to offer easy reminders about what the episode is about to share with their friends, your potential new listeners.
2 – To offer links to resources, people or products that were mentioned.
The last serves you, and those who have yet to listen:
3 – To attract new listeners through search traffic.
That last one is the one most podcasters neglect, and is the most important part of creating great show notes.
Many podcasters write up show notes that are nothing more than a very quick introduction paragraph, and then a list of the resources that were mentioned.
That just serves your listener, covering #1 and #2.
But, if that’s all you do, you’re missing an opportunity to grow your audience.
A good set of show notes can attract potential new listeners when they appear in search results.
How do you do that?
Write A Blog Post That Covers The Same Topic As The Podcast
That blog post is a written version of the show. Not necessarily a direct transcript, but something created to be read. A transcript can be used to help write the blog, to help find specific details or “pull quotes” you need to include in the blog.
It contains the same valuable information as the podcast, and encourages readers: “If you liked this, then listen to the podcast episode for even more.”
Some people just can’t find the time to do full blog-post style show notes every week.
An alternative is to keep them short and forget about the search engine benefits. Just do a 50 word intro paragraph and then some resource links and related descriptions.
Keep in mind, the long blog-post style format offers a lot more value in terms of content marketing.
The show notes, acting like blog articles, will start to gain traffic. They’re much more likely to be found and indexed in search results. As I like to say, you’re giving each episode as much “Google juice” as you can.
Can Transcripts Make Great Show Notes?
If you’re short on time, it’s worth considering transcriptions. You can pay around $1 per minute to have a full transcription done of any show. Some transcription services to consider are Happy Scribe, Sonix and Trint.
As a bonus, they provide search engine friendly content for your website with little extra time effort. Just a bit of cost.
Beware though, the spoken word, especially unscripted or without an outline, often doesn’t transcribe well. Unedited transcriptions can often be long and rambling.
Most transcription services offer an additional charge to “clean” up your transcription so it’s in better shape to use, or edit further for your own use as you see fit.
If you don’t have the time, or simply don’t want to do your own podcast show notes, then you might want to outsource them altogether. If that’s the case, then we recommend DSW Transcription.
Recorded in Studio C at Channel 511, in the Brewery District, downtown Columbus, OH.
Brett Johnson is the owner and lead consultant at Circle270Media Podcast Consultants. With over 35+ years of experience in Marketing, Content Creation, Audio Production/Recording and Broadcasting, the podcast consultants at Circle270Media strategically bring these strengths together for their business Podcast clients.
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