As of right now, Google doesn’t have a way to directly index podcasts since they are published in an audio-based format. Despite that, you can still get your podcast episodes listed well in the Google search results. The key is to include optimized content along with each episode so that the major search engines will have an easier time discovering and indexing your content.
If you want your podcast to perform better in the search results, try implementing these ten SEO tips:
1. Come Up With A Relevant Keyword For Each Individual Episode
Each time you create a podcast episode, brainstorm a concise, relevant keyword that you can use to describe the content. Even though most search engines don’t weigh keywords as heavily as they used to, a good keyword can help clarify exactly what the episode is about. According to North London SEO company MyOnlineMarketer – choosing a short keyword provides you with the most versatility in terms of how it can be used.
2. Give Each Episode Its Own Page On Your Site Or Blog
Each individual podcast episode should have a dedicated page on your blog or website. These pages provide the perfect place to describe your podcast so that you can draw in new listeners. You can provide a link on the page for people to download the podcast from iTunes or you can self-host the episodes on your own site.
Make sure that the URL of the page includes the keyword that you chose in the previous step. For instance, if the keyword you are targeting is “podcasting 101“, the URL of the page should be” yourbusiness.com/podcasting-101″. Make sure to separate words in the URL using hyphens rather than underscores since the search engines view hyphens as spaces.
3. Write Content For The Page
On each page, create an article or blog post that is somewhere between 300 and 500 words long. Make sure that the content of the post is directly related to the content covered in the podcast episode. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by writing an overview of the material covered in the podcast. Just make sure not to go into too much detail so that there are still some surprises when people listen.
4. Include Headings In Your Content
When writing your content, add a heading or two using the H2 tag. Make sure that your keyword is included in the headings. Even though this doesn’t take long to do, it can have a positive impact on the ranking of your site.
5. Use Images
After you write your content, you should add an image to the blog post or page. Most search engines favor content that has images. As an added bonus, optimizing images for the search engines is an easy process. All that you have to do is add your chosen keyword to the image caption, the alternate text, and the title.
6. Make Sure Your Website Loads Quickly
Today’s search engine algorithms favor fast-loading sites over slower sites. Ultimately, search engines like Google want their users to have the best possible experience. As a result, sites that load slowly are usually penalized with a lower search ranking.
Some steps that you can take to help your site load faster include optimizing your images to reduce their file size and taking advantage of content delivery networks. If necessary, you may even want to try posting your content on a virtual private server.
7. Include A Meta Description
High-quality meta descriptions can help the search engines better understand your content. These descriptions are quite short, meaning that you don’t have a lot of room to work with. Keep the text clear and concise, making sure to include your keyword one time. When writing the description, think about how you can use it to draw more people into your site and to encourage more incoming links.
8. Get Busy On Social Media
Using social media to promote your content is extremely important these days. The major search engines all consider social signals when determining how relevant a particular piece of content is. Staying active on all of the major social networks will help build your reputation so that your content performs better in the search results.
Along with popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, consider adding your content to Google+. If your content does well on Google’s own social network, it most likely will achieve high rankings in the search results.