What's the benefit of getting your podcast transcribed?
Podcast Services Australia will break it down as we take a look at the link between SEO, content ranking, and podcast transcripts:
- Why is it so important?
- How does it work?
- How Podcast Transcripts Can Help Improve SEO?
- Why you should care about the “Snowball effect” and how to use it to your advantage.
What is SEO and how can podcast transcripts be used to boost your content ranking?
Search Engine Optimisation is an incredible tool you can use to cut through the noise, for your podcast to truly Stand Out and Get Noticed on that front page! It’s important because the majority of online experiences begin with a search:
- 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine
- 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search (1)
- 93% of global traffic comes from Google search, Google Images, and Google Maps
- SEO has 20x (20 times, you read that right) more traffic opportunity than Pay-Per-Click marketing on both mobile and desktop (2)
How does it work?
Now that we know the importance of SEO, let’s take a look at its inner workings and why posting podcast transcripts alongside your audio episodes can have a dramatic effect on your site’s search engine ranking.
Site ranking is a three-stage process that involves:
- Discovery - Search engine bots discover your web page by “crawling it” and taking note of all the content within it.
- Relevance - Your content is then indexed and categorized based on how relevant it is to certain search queries. Think of it like organizing books in a library based on their subject matter. For websites, this is based on signals like keywords within the content.
- Authority - Lastly, your site is ranked based on how authoritative it is. Going back to our library metaphor, it would be like deciding which books should go on your best-sellers shelf. Which books should you make easier to find when compared to others? That is ranking based on authority / credibility.
- In literature - You’d look for credible authors whose works are referred to a lot and cited in other works.
- In the case of websites - Having backlinks to your website is the equivalent to getting cited - it is what builds authority.
How Podcast Transcripts Help Boost Your SEO
Your podcast audio can’t be optimised on its own if there’s no text for the algorithm to search through in the first place. So, to reap the full benefits, you’d need to have a proper transcript of the audio so that content could be discovered, indexed and in turn ranked higher by the search engine.
That is why podcast transcripts are so crucial to have!
Here are 3 ways to directly influence your site’s ranking through transcripts:
- Keyword optimisation - Keywords are the signal that shows Google and other search engines that your podcast episode relates to particular user searches. This increases the chances of it showing up in search results.
- Backlinks - Positioning as an authority in your niche also helps drive traffic to your content. Podcast transcriptions make it easier for authoritative sites to link to you and this allows you to build SEO and reach novel audiences.
- Accessibility - Audio is not an ideal medium for everyone - for example, those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, or those whose first language is not English. Transcripts can get your content across to a greater number of people and improve the user experience. They also make the content more easily searchable for those who may want to use your podcast material as a resource or a backlink.
How to add a podcast transcript to your website
There are a number of different methods to display transcripts on a website, so you should choose one that best fits your needs! Here are the pros and cons of some common methods:
1. Plain text (written as part of the blog post)
- Pros: Content available immediately, increases SEO
- Cons: May detract from the look, may not be implementable on your podcast platform
This is, by far, the best way to provide a transcript. The information is right there for everyone to see and skim if they are looking for specific information.
As it is part of your podcast’s episode page, it is also available to search engines. This will ultimately increase your reach.
2. Downloadable file or linked transcript
- Pros: Easier to upload.
- Cons: Harder to access for podcast followers, limited SEO advantage, often poorly accessible
If you are receiving a document from a transcription service, it is easy to simply upload that document and provide a link to it. PDF files are indexed just like any other content, this has been industry practice since 2001.
While it is easier for you, it is more difficult to get to the transcript for your audience. They have to download a document, which splits their attention between the transcript and the show’s page.
3. Synchronized
- Pros: Can be followed along with audio.
- Cons: Complex implementation, expensive.
Synchronized transcripts are interesting because they allow the listener to both follow the audio and the text at the same time. Of course, they can also just read through the transcript and then listen to the bits they find more interesting.
The implementation of synchronized transcripts is more complex, but provides an additional aspect of text-to-audio interactivity.
If you're looking for a professional transcription service, we can provide this for you - click here to enquire.
In Conclusion…
SEO is ongoing and cumulative. The best way to get the most out of your content is to transcribe it and have a long-term strategy that you adhere to. Ranking organically takes time, but all those effects, over a period of time, start to build up, creating a “snowball” effect.
That’s why it’s important to start as soon as you can, so that your podcast grows over time. As you’re regularly creating and optimising content, and serving the search engine algorithms with keyword-rich transcripts, you’ll be expanding your audience, and in turn, generating an increasing number of backlinks to your podcast, which will start a positive feedback loop of increased authority, higher ranking and an even greater audience reach in the end!
Sources:
- Source: BrightEdge - “Organic Search Improves Ability to Map to Consumer Intent” https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf
- Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-guide/seo-statistics/