Optimizing Your Podcast for Discoverability: Sarah's Top 3 SEO Tips
In this week's episode, I'm chatting with my friend Sarah McDowell, SEO Manager at Captivate and podcaster!
Sarah has worked in Digital Marketing and SEO for over 10 years now, both in-house for a brand/company and agency side.
Sarah's current podcast is The SEO Mindset Podcast which she co-hosts with Tazmin Suleman. Sarah has hosted 4 podcasts in total over the years!
She is also co-founder (alongside me!) of the West Midlands Podcast Club. A free podcast community for podcasters passionate about podcasting!
You can sign up here!
Sarah tells us what SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is and shares her top 3 tips to optimise our podcasts so that they are more discoverable.
Tip #1 - Keywords
Use a keyword tool like SEMRUSH, Answer the Public or Also Asked.
use these tools when planning your episodes.
DO NOT keyword stuff your show notes and titles - it doesn't help anyone!!
Tip#2 - Backlinks
This is when someone external links back to your website.
Backlinks are very helpful for Google as they help make you a credible source.
Tip#3 - Transcripts
Using transcripts helps make your podcast more accessible for everyone - including Google.
Edit your transcript, and remove filler words to make it more accessible.
Recommended podcast episode about accessibility: How To Make Your Content More Accessible with Anne Mok
Sarah's final thought is, don't be scared by podcast SEO and she recommends giving some of the tips she's given a try!
Thanks Sarah! 😃
Transcript:
Rachael Botfield: [00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to podcasting 101 with Rachael. This podcast is for busy female entrepreneurs who run their own businesses and want to start a podcast or who may already have a podcast. I want to share practical information and tips on how you can get your podcast started and managing it along the way.
I'll also be interviewing other female podcast hosts to give you real insight into what it's like. Have
Sarah McDowell: Hi,
Rachael Botfield: and welcome to this week's episode today. I'm very excited to have the lovely Sarah McDowell, my partner in crime when it comes to podcast communities coming onto the show and talking all things SEO for your podcast. So hi, Sarah, thanks so much [00:01:00] for coming on and talking
Sarah McDowell: to me. Thank you very much for asking me.
It's a privilege to be on your podcast and love the fact that you see me as your partner in crime when it comes to podcasting communities because I see you that way too.
Rachael Botfield: Yes, yes and we're both very excited for our in person event that's coming on the 29th of September. And I actually can't remember off the top of my head when this episode is going out, so it may have already happened.
Very professionally sorted out there. But anyway, so Sarah is an SEO manager for Captivate, which is a podcast hosting platform, if you didn't already know already. And she is also the host of the SEO Mindset podcast. So Sarah lives, breathes and eats podcasts. So just, do you want to just tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do and your, and your podcast as well?
Sarah McDowell: Yes, definitely. So I've been working in digital marketing and specializing [00:02:00] in search engine optimization, SEO, for over 10 years now and yeah. I think last time I looked, it was around the 12, 13 year mark. So that's pretty cool. So, and I've done a mixture of working in house for a brand or a company.
So like I'm doing now for Captivate. But I've also done agency side as well. So yeah, and I really enjoy working at Captivate because like you say, they are a podcast hosting platform and I'm also a podcaster. So I'm kind of combining my two passions and my two loves of SEO and podcasting. And how many podcasts?
So I've had four podcasts. So my most recent one is the SEO mindset podcast, which I host with my wonderful friend, Tazmin Suleman. And [00:03:00] that podcast is all about. So what me and Tazmin found was there's lots of wonderful podcasts out there that tell Ss, e o professionals or people who want to know about s e o, how to do it.
But we found a niche in a podcast that was specifically about giving career. And like personal development, that kind of like mindset, that kind of thing. Specifically for the s e O industry. So we talk about imposter syndrome, anxiety, getting a pay rise time management work-life balance. So, yeah. It's been going over, it's been running for about a year now.
So I imagine there'll be links in the episode. Absolutely. Show notes. There will be . Wonderful. So, yeah, like you don't necessarily have to be an SS e o to listen to the podcast 'cause I have a few friends that get something from it because we're talking about topics that are quite transferable across [00:04:00] different industries.
It's just that, yeah,
Rachael Botfield: I totally agree with that. I've listened to it as well and definitely something that resonates with me as well. Like for example, your latest one. The latest ones talking about the wind jar. Which I, which I started and I've done one win, which is really rubbish, but... You've still got a win jar.
I have still, I have, well it's a win piece of paper on my desk at the moment because I couldn't find a jar, but it is totally intentionally be a win jar. Because I really, really like that idea because sometimes it is really easy to forget that... You know, when you get bogged down a little bit of all the extra little wins that you get.
So I really love that. I really like the show. So I would highly recommend people to go listen to your podcast as well.
Sarah McDowell: Thank you. Yeah. So that episode celebrating your wins, because like you say, you, you forget and you. You get a win or you reach a goal or you do an accomplishment and then you're neck back, then you're onto the next thing, aren't you?
Like, okay, what's my next win? But yeah, we [00:05:00] need to celebrate our win. So that was our latest one. So yeah, there's lots of wonderful episodes. We just give examples in like the SEO industry, but like I say, we're talking about sort of topics that affect us all in our work and even, and even personal life.
So please do check it out. Absolutely.
Rachael Botfield: So we thought SEO or. Search engine optimization is something that we all do think about generally for our businesses and for our marketing, but especially here in relation to our podcast. So Sarah's going to just explain a little bit about what SEO is and how that can translate to.
Your podcast.
Sarah McDowell: Yes. So first things first, what is search engine optimization? What is SEO? So what we mean by that term is basically where you do tactics or strategies to your website. To optimize [00:06:00] it so that people can find your website and your pages, your content, when people search for relevant terms in search engines like Google.
So it's the idea of, so Google has an algorithm and an algorithm is basically a fancy word for a bit of a checklist. Okay. So when Google is looking at. Websites and pages and deciding, okay, what pages do I rank for this term? It has sort of like a checklist, it's algorithm that it's kind of looking at.
So yeah, as SEOs or if you are doing SEO to your website, it's the idea of you optimizing for Google. So you are kind of saying, Hey, Google, my website, my pages are awesome and relevant, and you should show me for relevant terms that people are searching for. Does that make sense?
Rachael Botfield: Yeah, that's a really good way to explain it because I do think that sometimes [00:07:00] people can hear SEO or search engine optimization thing.
Oh, what's that? And, oh, that sounds really complicated. And I mean, I must say when I first kind of came across it, I did a marketing qualifier years ago and like there's a whole book on it separately. And some, some bits, you know. I felt like, Oh, this is, this is too much. I don't, I need to kind of bring it back to basics.
And you have explained it very well. I was talking to my dad the other day and he was like, what's SEO? What's this? I don't understand it at all. I'm in a year 70, but you know, I'm sure he'd explain, understand it, listening to your explanation there. So you did a much better job than me. What
Sarah McDowell: is funny is lots of people who aren't in this industry or understand just know me as working with computers.
Yes. Like I'm IT support and I'm like, not quite , or, can you fix my printer? Not
Rachael Botfield: really. Not the same .
Sarah McDowell: So yeah, so that's SEO. So that's search engine [00:08:00] optimization. So when we are talking specifically about podcast, ss e o, so. Obviously you've gotta think that people can come across your podcast and episodes in lots of different ways.
So here we're talking about discoverability. So the discoverability of your podcast. Now, the most traditional way that people can come across your podcast and episodes is by going to an app. So go into Spotify, go into the app on their phone, like Cashbox, I think is what. My Android users goes to Amazon music, goes to Apple podcasts, whatever.
Google,
Rachael Botfield: Google podcasts is mine for Android.
Sarah McDowell: Yeah. We could just sit and list all the different directories, but we'll be here forever. So whatever someone uses to listen to podcasts, they go, they fire it up. And in the search bar, they put in certain terms. They might. Search for a specific person, or they might search for a specific podcast, but that's one way that [00:09:00] someone can come across your podcast.
Another way, and this is, there's lots of other ways, like I'm just giving like a. Two examples here, so the most traditional one, but people can come across your podcast and episodes when they are searching the web. Now I did a little bit of keyword research so basically keyword, that's another fancy term for what people use to search.
The terms or queries people use in Google when they're searching for different things. So I've got a keyword research tool where I can put in topics and it will give me suggestions of keywords and it will give me lots of different data. But the, one of the most important things that I'm looking at is, on average, how often is this keyword search for? So what's the monthly search volume. And this is what like keyword research tools [00:10:00] do. There's loads out there, but in this example, I'm using SEMrush or SEMrush. Now for the keyword. Best podcast. So just best podcast. SEM Rush is saying that on a monthly basis on average.
So this is on average as well. There's over 30, 000 searches on Google globally a month. Okay. Wow. So just get that number into your head. And that is. Just the keyword best podcast. So obviously that could be best music podcast, best podcast about podcasting, best podcast about SEO sort of thing.
Right. So I just wanted to share that to show you the untapped sort of, well, not untapped, it's untapped if you're not doing SEO or you're not looking into this, but I just wanted to share with you kind of number to show you that people are searching and people are going to Google to find podcasts.[00:11:00]
So yeah, so we can do SEO strategies. To our podcast website and our podcast episodes to help us optimize for Google. And also what you've got to think as well is yes, someone might go to Google to specifically search for like podcast recommendations, but also. They might search for something else that's unrelated to podcasts, but say for example, they search for I don't know.
Give me a, give me a topic. Anything. Rachel, I know I've put you on the spot here. Animals, . I mean, that's, that's very broad and very general. Okay. Okay. I've got one. I've got one. Tips on how to train your dog, right? Yes. Train your dog for example. Did put you on the spot there. I do apologize. Stop, panic.
So someone searched for that, right? You could be a podcast that is all [00:12:00] about training animals, training pets, and all of that stuff. And you could have a podcast episode that is about that topic. Right? So you can see where I'm going here. So someone has searched for help about how to train their dog, for example.
And yes, there'll be articles and there'll be pages about that. But if you have a podcast episode and you've got a dedicated page, you've got a dedicated page for that episode. You've got a chance of Google showing that podcast episode to someone who's searching in Google. Someone who wasn't even like planning on listening to a podcast will might, and Google shows your podcast about that keyword, might come on to you and be like, Oh, well, I wasn't expecting this, but actually I, I, I like to consume podcasts.
I like to consume content and educational resources through my ear holes. That's a weird way of saying it, but I like [00:13:00] to listen to, to educate myself. So you've. Like, so that, that's great. Right. So someone who wasn't even like looking specifically for podcasts or wasn't even like thinking about podcasts, because you've optimized your podcast episode and that page, Google have shown you and you've got a new listener.
So does that make sense?
Rachael Botfield: Yeah, that's a really good way to explain it. Yeah. I'd never thought about it in that way, I guess, because I'm always thinking about it. In terms of my podcast, which is always, which is about podcasting, but I think that's a really a really good way to look at it and, and to understand how to get your episodes.
We'll be, hopefully be seen by people if you're optimizing.
Sarah McDowell: You're just thinking of ways that you can increase the discoverability of your podcast, right? And there's lots of ways like social media is another one. Yeah. That's another way that people can come across your podcast, YouTube. So you've just got [00:14:00] to think of SEO.
Podcast SEO as another way that you are, yeah, it's just another way. Going to be found by. That you're going to be found. Exactly. Is that exactly. Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: And obviously we want to be as discoverable as possible. Exactly. So we can see how these ways in where you become more discoverable by optimizing your SEO.
So I'd love it if you could share your top three tips on things to do to get, to be, become more discoverable.
Sarah McDowell: Yes, yes, definitely. Okay. So tip number one, and I've already spoke about keywords. So yes, Rachel, what are keywords? They
Rachael Botfield: are the search terms, the thing that people use to search. And to find your, in Google for your, for your thing.
You mentioned the tool SEM rush. Is that what you called it? Cause I've used something like answer the public as
Sarah McDowell: well. Yes. So there's lots, there's lots of, [00:15:00] lots of different tools out there. So obviously, so my first, my first tip is keywords and you will need to use some sort of keyword research tool.
Okay. Now there's lots out there. There's lots out there and they range from being free and paid for. Basically the, like the ones that you pay for, the more expensive ones, you just get more features or more added bits that you can do, but. For, like, just starting out or for what we need it for in this example, you'll be fine with a free tool or a cheaper paid for tool.
Okay. Yeah, I
Rachael Botfield: was going to ask that whether or not it's worth investing
Sarah McDowell: in. Yeah, I use, I use SEMrush because I use that. At work in the professional math, in the, yeah, in the professional way, but there's loads of tools out there that you can use for free. Answer the public is a [00:16:00] great one. There's also, also asked, so the difference between also asked and answer the public.
Answer the public gets its data from, so, you know, when you're typing in Google and Google auto suggests. That's where the data comes from with answer the public. Cause they're very. Yeah. So they're what we call long tail. So you have keywords that are short, which are normally like three to five characters.
No, three to five words, sorry. Or you have your more long tail keywords. So your long tail keywords are like your longer phrases or where someone's gone to ask a question, for example, on Google. Yeah. Yeah,
Rachael Botfield: I, I, yeah, I do. Cause then I've also used answer the public to help me with some topics sometimes or frequently asked
Sarah McDowell: questions.
Answer the public gets its data from, you know, when you're like searching the web and it comes up with a little box that say people also [00:17:00] ask. Yes. Yeah. That's where also ask gets their data from. Ah, okay. Yeah. So they're both really valuable and both also ask and it's been a while since I've used answer the public, but I think they both offer sort of free options.
Yeah. You can have, I
Rachael Botfield: think it's like one or. It might be up to three, so I haven't used the other one, but answer the public. I think it's like either one or three searches a day for free. So, you know, if you wanted to do, and then you can export it as an CSV. Like a spreadsheet. Yeah. So you know, if you've got a couple of different topics or ways you want to ask, you can get a couple of, I mean, that should be enough for one day to go through that kind of data and figure some of those things out.
Oh, a hundred
Sarah McDowell: percent. They're really, really great tools, but there's other ones out there as well. So yeah, SEM. There's also like Chrome extensions that you can have, just go to Google and type Google keywords. Yeah. [00:18:00] Google keyword. There we go. So go to Google and search best free keyword research tools or best keyword research tools.
And there'll be loads of people that have like reviewed them for you. So you can like sort of see what you get and stuff, but you don't need anything too fancy. I, you just need the basics for this, for what we need it for. So yeah, so we talked about keyword research tools. So when you are planning your episodes.
Like use a keyword research tool. So using your also also ask or your answer the public to help you plan your episodes, right? Yeah. 'cause you know that these are the terms that are being used and surfaced in Google. So you need to be using keyword, whether it's a shorter phrase or a long tail keyword.
You need to make sure that you're using that in your episode title. You also want to [00:19:00] be using it in your episode show notes as well. So yeah, so whatever keyword research tool you, you decide to use, just have it so the next time that you're planning your episodes or you're planning your season or you're planning your next.
Three, four, five episodes put in your topic and not only will, you know, what people are searching for around that topic, but it also might come up with other suggestions that you might've not even been aware of, or that you've not even thought about. So that. So you could go into more detail or you could split it up as like part one, part two.
So it's a really great way of planning your episodes and making sure that you're talking about stuff that people want to learn about, if that makes sense.
Rachael Botfield: Yeah, absolutely. You want to make sure that it's relevant. That's I think that's the, the biggest key thing that you can do when you're creating your content is to making sure that it's relevant.
And if you're looking at those [00:20:00] keywords, those are the most relevant thing that people are asking for your particular
Sarah McDowell: subject. 100%. Now the difference between like your SEMrush and your hrefs is those tools will give you on average, like the monthly search volume, whereas with also ask and answer the public, it doesn't because it's different data.
Okay. So just, yeah. Yeah. It just gives you the terms, doesn't it? Yeah. You still, you can still use both of them. And just a word of warning about keyword stuffing. Okay. So like Google don't like this. Podcast directories and apps don't like this and your listeners, your audience won't like this. So this is where, like, you might've seen it, but where...
Rachael Botfield: Websites back in the day used to just stuff us with keywords. As they said on the website page. Oh my gosh, in one of my old jobs, I used to work in events. And I, there's the amount of pages I used to come across just looking at like event [00:21:00] companies and people that hide out event equipment.
Literally the pages would just be.
Sarah McDowell: So that is not helpful for anyone, is it? It's not, it's not helpful for users. It's not helpful for Google. So that's why Google's cracking down on stuff like that, because SEO's been around now for a while, so it's got a bit more sophisticated. So back in the day, you could do those kind of tactics to kind of.
Play the system kind of thing. But yeah, so when you are looking at episode titles, don't just list a load of keywords or synonyms. So synonyms always hate saying that word because it's so hard to say , but synonyms are like related keywords that like mean the same thing but said in different ways.
Right, right. So don't just like stuff your show notes full of them stuff, your episode title full of them because it's just not gonna work. Like, do you know what I mean? Google cracks down on it. Apple, yeah, they've cracked [00:22:00] down on that because people are trying it. It's not going to be helpful to your listeners, so just don't do it.
Just don't do it. You've been warned. Yes, yes. So that's keywords. podcast
SEO is something called backlinks. Yeah. Yeah. So backlinks is where you have someone that links to your website, that's external from you. So for example, a backlink would be, so I have a podcast, Rachel has a podcast. If Rachel decides to link to one of my episodes. On her podcast website, that is what we call a backlink.
Okay. So it's an external to your domain. So yeah, backlinks are important because what you've got to see backlinks is, is a vote to Google. So earlier on, I talked about Google's algorithm and Google's checklist. [00:23:00] One of the things that it looks at is backlinks. So are people linking to this? Podcast website or this podcast episode, because it's kind of like, it helps Google trust that podcast
Rachael Botfield: episode or that page.
Because other people are endorsing it effectively.
Sarah McDowell: They're endorsing your, yeah, I endorse this message. I
instantly just thought of LinkedIn when people were endorsing you all the time. I endorse you. Anyway so yeah, so they're important. Okay. And so get yourself some backlinks and you've got to be proactive. So me and Rachel were actually talking about this, weren't we? We were, weren't
Rachael Botfield: we? Because.
Yeah, we'd had in our podcast group as well, our West Midlands Podcast Club, we had a lady, Sylvia, came in and talked about backlinks and the importance of them. And we were all all the people in the group, we were trying to get, we were going to write a [00:24:00] blog. And include backlinks in them. And I had written a blog for my website, but I was linking to another page in my website.
So that wasn't quite the same as doing a backlink. That was an internal link
Sarah McDowell: that we, yeah. Still important, but like we can, you can just invite me back and I can talk about more stuff. Definitely more, definitely more. More SEO goodness. But yeah so yeah, so they're very important and we've got to be proactive in, in getting them.
Okay. So for example, something that I did earlier this year now, I think but I decided to do some research. On articles or pages that review the best SEO podcast. Cause I have an SEO podcast, right? So all I did was you could use a keyword research tool, but you could just open up Google as well.
And I typed in best SEO podcast. Now what Google showed me was a load of. [00:25:00] Articles where people were reviewing the best SEO podcasts out there, right? So I needed to be on there because that's one, a backlink for Google, but also these articles are being read. So when people are searching, what I said earlier for like some inspiration that's improving my discoverability.
Yeah, so link back to my earlier point. I'm a professional, I, I know what I'm doing here. . So yeah, so what I did was I looked at who was ranking on page one and two and if it was like a listicle, so like articles where they say 10 of the best SEO podcasts. And I wasn't being mentioned, so I found out who the author.
Of that blog article was, try to find how to contact them, whether that was on social media, [00:26:00] email, whatever. And then I reached out to them and I said, great article. Just want to let you know about my podcast. This is why it's different. This is why I. We think it's really good and really valuable to your audience.
How about you include us? So I reached out to a load and it was successful. Someone reached back to me and they were like, do you know what, Sarah? This was at the end of 2022 and they were like, we're actually review. Cause it was the start of 2023 and they were like, we're actually reviewing. This article, you need to update it.
So you've timed it great. So yeah, so start thinking for 2024, right. So start reaching out. Yeah, yeah. But there's those other ways that you can like reach out and ask for things. Just, just a quick question
Rachael Botfield: about that. But I mean, I love that idea. It's something that I wouldn't have thought of. That's why you're the expert, Sarah.
But one, my question being is like. [00:27:00] If your podcast hasn't got a lot of listen, you know, are you just do, would it matter? Do you, did you put things on about your listens or downloads or anything like that?
Sarah McDowell: Not at all, not at all. Like our podcast, The SEO Mindset, we don't have crazy numbers. Not like, what we did was because our podcast is so different to what is out there, that was the angle that I went with.
And I think I also shared a review that someone gave about my podcast or where they reached out and stuff. In
Rachael Botfield: when you pitched, when you, when you wrote to
Sarah McDowell: you pitched. So, and what, and what you got to think is you're, you're helping them with. Their work, because normally they'd have to go out and do their, do the research, search podcasts
and all of that. So and you're giving them the reasons like this is the title, this is the host, this is why we started, this is our favorite episode, this is [00:28:00] what people are saying about it, make it hard for them Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like, but it doesn't always have to be, I, I didn't mention once my download numbers because yeah, it didn't, it didn't matter.
Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: Yeah. That's a really, really good way to look at it. And I do, you know, we've talked about podcast numbers and, and things before, and that doesn't have to be your only measure of success or like. as well for your podcast because I love that you're and early this year you got a really cool sponsor as well, haven't you?
And that, which I think is really awesome for your podcast. But I think that, you know, showing your communities out there, your people are there, they're your podcast. I think that's probably in my personal opinion, that's probably the best. thing that you can show for your podcast is that the impact that you're having on your community.
Sarah McDowell: A hundred percent, because they want to showcase the podcasts that are actually making a difference at the end of the day. Exactly. Yeah. And that's not
Rachael Botfield: necessarily to do with [00:29:00] numbers, as we all know, it's fair to have a small engaged audience.
Sarah McDowell: Then they'll have a lunch. Yeah, exactly. Like, it's like the small engaged audience that actually do stuff when the hosts say things, right.
Do you know what I mean? I'm a big believer in a successful podcast isn't just about the number of downloads. Because like, yeah, it's not. It's not. Success comes in lots of different ways. So that's Backlink. So that's one example of how you can do it. Another example is you could have a look at the topics your podcast episodes have covered.
Again, fire up Google, do some searching in there, see what articles and content are coming up. And then. If they're relevant to your podcast episode, find the author. Find a way to contact them and be like, Hey, great article. Really build the person up. Like say how awesome and what you learned from it.
But what you could say is, we did a whole podcast episode [00:30:00] that might be an additional great resource. So that's another way that you could get some backlink. So there's different ways, and when you start sort of thinking of ways that you can get to link, Podcasting your episode then yeah, you'll, you'll start thinking, Oh, there's another idea.
Oh, there's another idea. Yeah. Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: These are awesome, Sarah. Thank you.
Sarah McDowell: And then my last tip is podcast transcriptions. Okay. So transcriptions, they are the text version of your audio file. So we should be doing podcast transcriptions from an accessibility point of view anyway, because obviously not everyone can.
Listen and hear podcasts, right? So we need to be given the text. So what'd you call it? Like the script or the transcript, the transcript of that audio to make it accessible to everyone so that everyone can consume your content. So we should be doing that anyway, but it also helps Google, right? So obviously you got to [00:31:00] think that so there's a debate whether Google are automatically transcribing audio, right?
But even if they are, they are a tool, they're a robot or AI or whatever, yeah, they're going to get stuff wrong. Right. So they might not a hundred percent correctly automatically transcribe it. So having the text version, Google can understand words and texts on a page. Do you know what I mean? Like that's, that's what it's, that's what it does well.
And it's been doing for years. So making sure that you have a transcript helps with discoverability. And also when Google's. Deciding what to rank for certain terms. It has to understand what your podcast and what your episode is about. So as you can imagine, if you've just got individual podcast pages with just your web player for example, that's quite thin content and there's not much for Google to go on.
So [00:32:00] this is where your show notes come in handy. Mm-hmm. other content on the page. Your transcript, make sure that you tidy up your transcript as well, because obviously I was going to ask about that. Yeah. Yeah. It needs to be error free again for accessibility reasons, but also from a Google point of view.
So remove the filler words because you want to make it as easy as possible for Google to understand what that podcast episode is about. So then when someone is searching, going back to my earlier example of dog training tips, right? Like when someone searches that and you've given Google as much information in a text format to make them really easily understand what your, what your podcast is about, you've got a higher chance of.
Being surfaced, right, and, and stuff. So yeah, but just make sure because transcription tools are amazing, but they always get stuff wrong. They get names wrong, they get [00:33:00] places wrong, they get whole chunks wrong. Like I've used a tool and they've said something very different and I'm like, does it even sound like that tool?
Are you drunk? What's going on? Yeah. So
Rachael Botfield: yeah. I must say. This is probably a bad confession for a podcaster. I don't often go over my transcripts. I used a script and I take out the filler words. And, but I should probably, I didn't think about. Also a question, sidetracking slightly. How does it find, how does it find, how do the Google robots find your transcript?
So I'll use my podcast for an example. So I have I do, I use Captivate and I upload my transcript into Captivate when I publish my episode. But when I pr and then I also so I have my Captivate, so you can access my podcast through my Captivate website page. And, but then I also embed the episode in a website page and I have, and then I [00:34:00] put the show notes as an actual blog post on my, on my website.
But would it find the transcripts or would I need to put the transcripts available on my website as well? Or will they find it through the fact that it's three captivate? So,
Sarah McDowell: For that, if you're specifically wanting a so in your example, you have. Separate episode pages on your podcast website, and those are the ones that you want to surface for certain terms, right?
Rachael Botfield: Yeah, so on my main website, I have a blog thing, and then I have a separate page. So embed each episode into that separate page and put the show notes in physically. Okay,
Sarah McDowell: so as long as so it sounds like you've got quite detailed show notes. Which is going to help Google, because that's what I was saying, because you're adding text, you're giving content, you're helping Google understand.
I would also, if you want Google to surface the transcripts as part of that [00:35:00] page, it has to be accessible and visible on that page as well.
Rachael Botfield: Right. Okay.
Sarah McDowell: But if you have like, cause you're, it sounds like you sort of convert your episodes into a blog anyway. Yeah.
Rachael Botfield: So it's, it's as a blog, it's classed as a blog page on my website.
And then I have a, the title and then I embed the Captivate code. So it pulls in. So it's got a little player that's from Captivate. And then I put a physical. Like I, not physical, but you know, like I write a blog post, which is the show notes.
Sarah McDowell: Yes. Well, I'd still, because your transcripts still going to go into a lot more detail, isn't it?
So I would, I would to be on the safe side. Cause when we're optimizing, it's all when we're optimizing for SEO, it's all about making it easy for Google to understand index, find the content. So. Yeah, I would make sure that the [00:36:00] transcript was visible on the page.
Rachael Botfield: So not just put it as a link No, to the transcript.
Put the physical, you can, yeah.
Sarah McDowell: Obviously a link to this transcript's gonna help, but then mm-hmm. That, that link's gonna take them somewhere else and it won't be somewhere else associated with that page. Right. So to be on the safe side. 'cause how I do it, 'cause I use mm-hmm. . I use Captivate websites so basically a click of a button and I upload transcripts and because I'm using Captivate websites on my individual episode pages, it publishes the transcripts.
So then Google can easily access.
Rachael Botfield: But you're directing people to that one, aren't you? I mean, I do love my Captivate website. I, I have it designed really nicely, but because I also have a business as well, I want people to look and see my business as well. So I kind of send people to my website and do it that way.
Sarah McDowell: Which is, which is perfectly reasonable. That's yeah.
Rachael Botfield: But [00:37:00] would, but because I've got the transcripts displayed on my Captivate one, does that. But I'm, but I would have to promote that link though. Wouldn't I'd have to promote that page specifically to get that to come up? It all depends
Sarah McDowell: on what page you are optimizing.
Yeah. Okay. To be shown in in the Google in search engine searches all pages when people are searching. Mm-hmm. Hmm. , if it is the cap where the transcript already is, then great. But if it's, but if it's, if you want, like, it probably makes sense in your use case for your business because that's where.
Rachael Botfield: Yeah. Yeah. So that, that's a great tip. I will definitely look into putting that on there. So just have that transcript at the bottom of the page after the show
Sarah McDowell: notes. And with everything in marketing, you should be measuring it, right? So you could, you could do some. Yeah. I mean, I, me too. Of course
Rachael Botfield: I am.
Sarah McDowell: But you can always do a few, let them run for a few months and then see if there's been like [00:38:00] a positive impact and stuff. Yeah, that's a good idea. But yeah, like, cause like everything, because I completely understand that, we don't have a lot of time and resource on our hands. Me with the SEO mindset podcast, it's a, it's a side hustle.
It's not my nine to five, one day, one day, no I'm joking. But yeah, like we've got to be,
Rachael Botfield: yeah, just trying to get, yeah, everything done. It is hard to fit it all in, but you definitely made me think more about my transcripts. And also I have been thinking about accessibility a lot. One of my friends, Hannah McCormick, she, Has a showing up solo podcast, but she did an episode about accessibility.
And then she had a lady called Ann Mok come on, who's a blind social influencer. And it was just really interesting listening to her talking about the alt text and things like that, that I'd not really considered. But since, since listening to that podcast episode which I'll link in the show notes it's really made me think a lot more about accessibility and[00:39:00] putting in the alt text and thinking about those things and not just to make it.
Like surface for people who can,
Sarah McDowell: you know, I mean, with all these things like it's always for accessibility and that's the core reason why we should be doing it. Yeah. It's just handy. Cause it also helps Google. Yeah, exactly. But that's also where so link him. Such a professional, I've already said this, but linking back to like, you know, how I said use a keyword research tool when you're planning your episodes because you've like, you've done your research and you know, the keywords and terms when you're recording.
Your podcast episode, you're going to be naturally saying them. Remember, no word, no keyword stuffing. Like it still needs to be natural, like the quality of your audio and like, yeah. So, but what I'm saying is like, when you say the specific topic or something, you'll be using a keyword. So then when you transcribe it and you've got the [00:40:00] text version, you'll have a lovely keywords in there that you will then add.
To your podcast episode page, which will help with you optimizing for different search terms. Smart.
Rachael Botfield: Absolutely. Yes. You have given so much advice, Sarah, and I could actually talk to you so much longer about all of this stuff. You are so knowledgeable and I would. Love to have you come back on the podcast another time for us to talk about all these awesome.
And this is the kind of conversations why we wanted to start our podcast community as well, wasn't it? So we can have these types of conversations and learn new things from each other. And so I'm really appreciate you coming on and taking time out of your evening to come and chat with me. So what I will do is I will link to Sarah's podcast.
In the show notes, and I would really recommend you go and have a listen. Is there anything else you'd just like to leave us with?
Sarah McDowell: Anything, this is where I need to say something really profound. Don't I? I've [00:41:00] just got like nothing going on for me. So yeah, don't get scared by podcast SEO. Right. I know that it can be scary and it can seem like if you don't, if you're not familiar and you've not been working with it for a while, it can seem a bit like, oh my gosh, a bit overwhelming, but just try stuff.
Right? Like take a couple of my tips that I've done today, a couple of my tips that I've said today and just try it, have a go, have a go. And what, what have you got to lose at the end of the day? Because it's all about increasing your discoverability and podcast SEO. The tips that I've shared is all geared around helping you do that.
So yeah, like definitely come and join the West Midlands podcasting club This is where we have more conversations like this. I'm also on Twitter. I'm guessing you'll, you link to my social as well.
Rachael Botfield: [00:42:00] Yeah, link to, link to Twitter and yeah, and the podcasts and everything. So we can carry on and the West Midlands podcast club as well.
If you'd like to join we'll pop a link there. So we have virtual meetups every second Thursday and then well, we've got, like I said before whether it's. Happened or not by the time this podcast episode comes out, but we are looking to do in person events. So if you are local to us, which is in Worcestershire area, Birmingham, the West Midlands area, then we'd love for you to come and join and meet face to face and talk nerd more
Sarah McDowell: out about podcasts.
Yes, and I don't just talk about SEO, just as a, that's not all, all all
Rachael Botfield: things. Well, thanks again, Sarah, and thanks everybody for listening, and we'll speak to you soon. Bye.
Sarah McDowell: Bye.
Rachael Botfield: Thanks for listening to the show. If you'd like to connect with me or get in touch, then head on over to my website. If you liked the episode, then I'd love it if you could leave me [00:43:00] a review in your chosen podcast app. Your feedback is much appreciated. See you next
Sarah McDowell: time.