Does writing podcast show notes feel like a drag? Do you question if they’re actually doing anything for your podcast and if you really need them?
Trust me, I’ve been there, and my clients have been there too. However, I figured out how to hack podcast show notes to make them simple and beneficial for my business. If you’re questioning whether or not you need podcast show notes, this guide is for you.
Keep reading to learn about the different types of podcast show notes, their benefits, and how to make SEO podcast show notes draw more listeners to your show.
Types of Podcast Show Notes
There are several ways you can approach podcast show notes, and which type you decide to use depends on your podcast and your goals.
Here are your options:
- Description only: your show notes give a brief overview of what happened on each episode of your podcast
- Show notes with time stamps: along with a description, you pull quotes from the episode and provide timestamps for each topic that was discussed in the episode
- SEO show notes: your show notes are in blog format and optimized with keywords, headings, and other SEO features to help them show up in search engines when people are looking for resources about your topic
My opinion is that if you’re producing evergreen content in your business and you’re going to take the time to publish podcast show notes, you should get the most out of them and optimize them for search engines. Plus, once you get into the habit of it, writing show notes does not take that much time. With optimized show notes, you can also track the pages and see how they are performing.
The benefits also outweigh the effort you put in. Optimized show notes direct more people to your podcast and grows your audience. No one is going to magically find your podcast or your website. Instead, your ideal audience is searching for topics that are important to them, and you want to be the one that shows up.
For example, if your podcast is about healthy living and you have an episode about creating sleep habits, you want podcast show notes that are optimized around that keyword. Then, when a health-conscious person is searching for resources about sleep habits, they’ll find your podcast show notes and then go to your podcast from there.
Optimized podcast show notes are also great for your current listeners. If they heard something on the episode that they want to go back to, they can go to the show notes to get a brief overview. They can also access any links to resources that you mentioned in the episode.
The better you optimize your show notes, the more people you can funnel from your website to your podcast.
SEO Podcast Show Notes Example
Optimizing your podcast isn’t all about choosing the right keywords and throwing them on a webpage. You need to provide your website visitors with value so that it makes them want to learn more about your podcast.
To see how SEO podcast show notes work, check out the show notes for one of my recent podcast episodes: Being a Great Podcast Guest with Christina Lenkowski.
I introduce the podcast episode topic with a great hook and then introduce my guest. You can usually ask guests to send you their bios, which makes things easier.
Next, I dive into the meat of the episode. I summarized our conversation and turned the most important parts into a few paragraphs. I used subheadings to break up the sections, and then at the end of the show notes, I give the time stamps for each part of the conversation.
I also included any links to resources we mentioned in the podcast, as well as the link to the actual episode and where to follow my guest on social media. Of course, I always end my podcast show notes with a call to action.
Call-to-action examples include:
- Listen to the podcast episode
- Follow me on social media
- Check out my online course
- Check out my membership program
- Sign up for my newsletter
Essentially, whatever you are promoting at the moment, you can drive readers there from your podcast show notes (another benefit!)
Writing up this page didn’t take me or my team much time, but it’s full of valuable resources for both current listeners and new potential listeners who find the show notes on a search engine.
Do All Podcasts Need Show Notes?
The short answer is no, not all podcasts need show notes. The strategy that I use is designed for podcasts that want to include an SEO marketing strategy in their growth plan.
I could argue that most podcasts could use SEO strategies to grow their audience, but if for some reason that doesn’t fit your show, that’s okay too.
I tell my clients to work smarter, not harder, which is why I recommend optimized show notes as part of my content repurposing strategy. For example, once you’ve written show notes, you can also turn that content into social media posts, newsletter content, and more.
Again, it’s okay if this kind of strategy isn’t for you. However, I’ve seen my clients have amazing success using this method because it gets their podcasts in front of new listeners across several online channels.
Learn More About SEO for Podcasters Inside Mic Check Society
Want more examples, templates, and training on crafting great optimized podcast show notes? Enroll in Mic Check Society, my membership program where I guide you on every aspect of the podcast industry. You’ll get access to our exclusive training, “Optimizing Your Podcast Show Notes for Search Engines: Your Podcast SEO Strategy.” With a Mic Check Society membership, you can get started on your SEO strategy right away. You’ll also have access to training by me and my amazing guest coaches.
