Tag Archive for: podcasting

When evaluating the best podcast recording software to use, it is a good idea to try before you buy. Even if you’re a seasoned podcaster, trying some of the new tools available can be eye opening. As you plan, launch or improve your podcast, you’ll want to use the best possible tool for your situation.

While most podcast recording and editing software produces high quality audio, ease of use and a good user interface can matter a lot in making the experience enjoyable.

Innovation and Artificial Intelligence Are On The Rise

We are constantly updating this article with new releases and additional platforms. More and more advanced editing platforms are appearing. And by advanced I don’t mean more complex, but simpler to use, and designed to provide user experiences specifically around certain use cases.

For example, some platforms are designed with story telling in mind. These focus on assembling lots of audio clips and conversation snippets. Think NPR type shows.

Others focus on easy ways to edit out “ums” and “you knows”, and integration of transcriptions to text.

So here is a list of podcast recording software tools with free trial periods. I’m also including some free tools in this list.

Podcast Recording Software Solutions Index

#1 Podcast Recording Software To Try: Descript, An Innovation In Audio Editing

We just updated our take on Descript going into 2023. And my overall impression is this: ”Artificial intelligence” has arrived in the podcasting world, and this is an excellent implementation example.

Descript is an Audio Word Processing Platform. Let that sink in for a minute.

Basically the idea is that you edit audio by editing text.

What is Audio word processing, and how is it different from traditional podcast recording software?

Basically, you edit audio by editing text. Descript transcribes your podcast, and then presents you with a text editor alongside a traditional audio track interface. The innovation is that if you edit the text, say removing an “um”, the changes appear on the audio track as well.

A Typical Use Case for Descript Podcast Recording Software

For example, I am guilty of too many “you knows” in my podcast recordings. Descript makes it easy to find and replace all of my mistakes.

Editing audio as intuitive as your favorite text editor. Cut, paste, copy and delete — remix your text, and your audio follows.

Here is what happens to the audio as you edit text

Descript Feature Summary

Multitrack Transcription – The ability to upload multiple tracks from the same recording session. Descript then combine these tracks into one transcript.

Automatic Speaker Labeling – Descript generates near-perfect speaker labels for multitrack recordings.

Advanced Correction Tools – Workflow that adjusts to your own pace. The playback waits as you make corrections — then speeds up when you’re ready.

Smart Editing – Often I need to arrange pauses or gaps between words. Descript can nudge words further apart — or closer together. What is smart in these editing features is that automatic crossfades ensure your edits always sound smooth, with no sudden stops or pops.

Live Collaboration – Descript recently introduced the ability for multiuser editing and commenting in realtime.

Recording – I love that the built-in recording features allow you to make quick fixes — or record an entirely new segment

Video Editing – Not just audio — edit video by editing text. Organize and edit your footage. Export to Final Cut Pro or Premiere.

Video Tools – Another innovation is not so much the fact that you can use Descript as a Transcript tool. It is that you can then export captions in SRT/VTT format, which means you can add captions to most online video hosting platforms.

Human Powered Transcription Option – 99% accuracy, average turnaround in less than 24 hours, exportable as a document or captions with lots of timestamp options.

Final Cut Pro Export –Now you can export a Project to Final Cut Pro – retaining all of the edits you made in Descript and using the original assets.

Timeline Editing: Wordbar and Split Clip –Now from the Timeline (View > Timeline) you can edit the space between words by dragging the Wordbar:

Innovative podcast recording and editing with descript
Creating extra space and adding pauses is easy now

Multi Language Transcription

Descript now supports transcription for multiple languages. Descript’s support of multiple languages will help audio and video creators expand their audiences and meet the growing demand for multilingual content.

They now generate transcripts, for media or embeds, in over 22 additional languages including: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Malay, Turkish, Polish, Dutch, Hungarian, Czech, Swedish, Croatian, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Slovak, Catalan, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Latvian.

This is only a transcription for the language and does not include translation to another language.

Additional Content Creation from Existing Content

Using your existing audio or video content, Descript can create short clips or promotional videos. This gives users additional tools to create content for their social media by creating short and easily digestible content.

Their content creation tool have the following features:

  • Instantly transcribe audio or video to generate subtitles
  • Dynamically update text with the titles of episodes, sections, or speakers
  • Add waveform, progress bar, or text clip animations
  • Customize text, background, and color palettes to fit your brand
  • Ability to upload your own font if you use descript pro

Descript Pro Features

Descript just released a ton of AI driven updates, the most impressive of which is called “Overdub”. You can create your own Overdub voices – using AI based speech synthesis technology – where Descript creates an AI voice modeled from and based on your own voice, like your own version of Siri. You have to “train” this AI with by reading a story of about 1/2 hours length.

Use cases:

  • Fix audio portions of an episode by typing and correcting what you said using the overdub word.
  • Create additional content, augment an episode. The demo was super impressive.

Here is the Descript Official Release language for these features:

Overdub – Forget everything you thought you knew about editing audio. With Overdub, you can make quick corrections to your audio or create entire messages in your own voice — without ever stepping in front of the mic. To learn more about how Overdub changes the very nature of audio editing, read this post on the Descript blog.

Filler Words Pro – We’ve expanded our unique filler word detection functionality to consider context when detecting, ignoring, and delete filler words like “you know,” “like,” and “kind of” as well as repeated words, making it easier than ever for you to tighten and polish your recordings.

There is more to this than meets the eye – or ear. Filler words like “You know” and “like” are often used as filler words – but are valid at other times. The AI algorithms need to determine these differences are pretty sophisticated.

Custom Audiograms – Customize the design of your audiograms by changing the color and adding a background image or custom badge. We’ve also expanded the available length — up to 30 minutes long.

Here is the release video:

Released updates in Version 3.6

The folks at Descript have once again released a slew of features. What I love about this team is their cycle of continuous innovation.

Hassle-free remote recording

Clean and simple remote interview recording has never been more important. With Computer Audio Recording (currently Mac only), you can directly record audio into Descript from Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and more, making editing a breeze — no matter where you are.

Out of all the new features, the ability to do remote recordings is perhaps the most important new capability.

My personal take on this is that the recording quality, especially on Zoom, will never be as good as with locally recorded audio when using Squadcast, Remotely.fm or Zencastr. However, you could record simply import their audio tracks.

Drive-level folder support

Descript now features drive-level folder support. Organize to your heart’s content!

Expanded filler word (and phrase) removal

It’s no surprise, but, you know, people use filler words when speaking naturally. Our new batch search functionality allows you to search a project or composition for specific words or phrases and delete or ignore them all with a single click.

This one can be a real time saver

Integrated publishing partners

One click is all it takes to export your project with our new integrated publishing functionality. Export to launch partners Buzzsprout for all-in-one podcast hosting or Headliner to create advanced audiograms. For more information on publishing integrations, visit the Descript Help Center. Descript can create basic audiograms for you, but if you’re interested in making a splash, Headliner is your solution. Headliner allows you to create highly customizable audiograms, adding video backgrounds, text overlays, animated GIFs, and more.

Again a huge time-saver when creating audiograms. Finding great sharable sections of an episode is so much easier when you have the text transcript in your audio editing interface – that’s where Descript shines

Descript Trial Deal

The free version of Descript allows you to process up to 3 hours free. This is ample “free” time to figure out if this platform is a good fit for your purposes.

Here is a link to Descript Platform

#2 Podcast Recording Software To Try: Hindenburg, Optimized For Story Telling

Podcasts are becoming more sophisticated. This is in part thanks to radio. Major stations like NPR have launched a number of amazing podcasts over the last few years, and this has resulted in a maturity shift. Great story telling podcasts like Serial, or the sorts of shows Gimlet Media is putting out, are raising the bar. In my view, the planning, assembly and recording techniques that go into story telling podcasts are a good example of how the industry has developed.

So, it stands to reason that new tools are emerging to make these sorts of story telling projects easier to produce. One such tool is Hindenburg-Journalist.

Hindenburg-Journalist Overview Demo

Use Cases and what makes Hindenburg Unique

Hindenburg is great for recording interviews in the field. It even has an iPhone app by the same name, which means clips recorded in this app can easily be integrated into the editor. But it is in organizing clips and arranging a story line from them that Hindenburg is unique, with a feature they call their clipboard. This is where you can save major amounts of time.

Using the clipboard to organize your material gives you a bird’s-eye view of your material: whom you talked to, what they said. Take the best sound bites from the interview and place them in a group. Add all the music and ambient sound you think you might need in separate groups. Now you can focus on the story itself.

Additional Innovative Features

An automatic voice profiler applies optimized EQ set your ideal “on air” narration type profile.

Automatic volume leveling is also a time saving innovation. This is applied in the background, again showcasing a focus on story telling assembly instead of technical geekery.

I also like the fact that the platform can integrate with Libsyn SoundCloud for one-click publishing.

Lastly, publishing process can apply broadcast ready loudness standards to LUF-16, something that requires manual work on other platforms, like the “Loudness Radar” feature in Adobe Audition.

Skype recording is built in as well.

Hindenburg Journalist Trial Deal

There is a very generous 30 day trial you can apply for. If you go ahead after that period, I also like the fact that the platform does not require a subscription, but has a one time only price.

#3 Podcast Recording Software To Try: Alitu

Some podcasters just love the podcast audio editing process. I count myself among those.

However, for other podcasters, the audio editing process is painful or just too time consuming. Alitu is an attempt at automating the episode production process. You upload an audio track, and Alitu does the rest, adding your standing intro and outro, and handling the ID3 tagging and publishing process.

There is a one-time configuration process, where you upload your standing intros and outros as well as your branding. But after this step, Alitu can produce finished episodes according to these settings.

I was on the Beta trial team for this software an enjoyed working with it. The software has evolved since then and is actively being developed. My chief complaint during the early versions was a lack of multi track support, and this has since then been added.

Alitu’s Features

Clean Up & Combine Recordings – We do a bit of processing and polishing to make sure your recordings sound great, and we can merge clips or stitch many of them together.

Create & Add Your Branding – Use our ‘theme music maker’ to create your theme, quickly, easily, then we’ll add it to the start & end of your show.

Download or Auto Publish – We create a perfect MP3 & add metadata. You then download, or publish directly to Libsyn, Blubrry, Podbean & Spreaker. Many more coming soon!

Volume Leveling – Alitu is now a LOT better at levelling out your volumes. It looks through your whole show, and levels it out, moment by moment, track by track.

Noise Reduction – The software now runs a really clever noise reduction tool through your entire recording. This works great on regular background noise, like fans, air con, computers.

Hum Reduction – If you’ve found yourself in the shoes of many a podcaster, shouting “What the flippin’ flip is that buzz?!!” then our new hum reduction is for you.

Alitu’s Trial Deal

#4 Podcast Recording Platforms To Try: Remote Local Recording Platforms

A number of “remote local recording” platforms have emerged to conquer a common issue when recording interview type shows using Zoom and Skype: Horrible sound quality.

The issue with Zoom and Skype is that the audio is being heavily compressed in order to maximize bandwidth and accommodate video as well. Basically it means that a lot of information is lost in the process. Most remote audio connections suffer from this, think of a phone call, where audio compression is heaviest and most noticeable. Personally I think Skype has the most acceptable quality in their audio codec.

How do local recording platforms work? The innovation here stems from the fact that these platforms produce 2 versions of the audio – a compressed version you hear in realtime when talking to your guest, but also a locally recorded high quality version of the audio that is save to the guests local hard drive. At the end of the conversation the local files are automatically uploaded and synced so that they are available for the host to download and process.

Here is a list of 3 remote recording solutions:

1. Riverside.fm – Audio AND Video for Podcasters and Livestreamers for 2023 and Beyond

Podcast Recording & Video Streaming

A relatively new player on the block, Riverside.fm was one of the 1st remote video podcasting platform that supports local audio AND video. You receive separate audio (WAV) & video (mp4) tracks for up to 8 guests — all in studio quality.

What I love about the platform is not only that that it supports both audio and video, but also that you can livestream it to YouTube/Facebook/Twitter.

Furthermore Riverside has kept innovating in a number of ways:

  1. It has one of the best guest onboarding flows we’ve seen
  2. It offers automatic transcriptions.
  3. Separate HD video and audio tracks for you and each guest
  4. It recently introduced and AI based “magic editor” that helps compose your video in 4 easy steps: Add your media, set your audio and video settings, customize your video, and export.

New Feature Introduced In 2022

Ability to Export Separate Track to Adobe Audition and Premiere – Riverside can now export separate tracks from the platform to adobe premiere or audition via an XML file. The markers placed on the platform will also be carried over the exported file

Other Recent Features Included

  • Automatic Transcriptions
  • Simultaneous recording via IOS app – gives you the ability to invite guests to join the conversation anytime with the application
  • Built In Editor – An editor is now available in riverside with multiple
  • Active Speaker Switch – Automatically switch to the active speaker which makes transitions between speakers smoother and cuts down unnecessary noise during the active speaker’s speech

Links and Free Trial

  • Riverside offers a free trial. Here is a link to their site (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link, and we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.)

Detailed Riverside Preview and Tutorial

2. Zencastr, remote recording focused on sound quality

Why are podcasters so obsessed with sound quality?

Actually, I think it is because listeners are obsessed with sound quality. Listening to interviews that have poor audio quality is physically painful. There is real intimacy that comes from “having someone in your ear” for 30 minutes at a time.

Recently I was listening to some marketing podcasts that were produced with horrible sound quality. BOTH the podcast host and the guest were recorded on what sounded like spotty 60’s phone lines, at different volumes, in a scratchy sort of way. It was just too annoying, even though I was enjoying the content I had to stop listening. And I’m not alone, most regular podcast listeners expect high audio quality.

Zencastr is a podcast recording software all about delivering sound quality for interviews.

The challenge of course is that podcast hosts often has an amazing microphone setup and sounds great, whereas their guest seems like they are in an entirely different space, audio wise. Zencastr solves this by recording separate tracks locally, for BOTH host and guest.

Zencastr Overview

Zencastr Features

A Separate Track Per Guest – Recording each voice locally leads to pristine quality. No dropouts, buffering or downsampling due to a bad wifi connection.

Record in Lossless WAV – Zencastr records both hosts and guests in lossless 16-bit 44.1k WAV for the best possible audio quality.

Soundboard for Live Editing – This can be a real time saver, and again illustrates how podcast specific software is evolving, as compared to a “professional” all purpose audio tool like Adobe Audition. The concept here is that you can insert your intro, ad, or other audio live as you record. This saves you time in post production.

Built-in VoIP (Voice over IP) – o In a way, using a tool like Zencastr replaces Skype or Zoom for recording. You communicate with your guests via their VoIP stream, but the audio is recorded locally on both ends and later merged.

Automatic Postproduction – I think the idea of automating postproduction is implemented as a single mixed track . But you can add curated audio enhancements.

Cloud Drive Integration – Your recordings are delivered automatically to your Dropbox account for easy editing and sharing.

ZenCastr Free Trial Deal

  • Zencastr has a permanent free version of it’s podcast recording software. It has the following restrictions: Up to Two Guests, 8 Hours per Month, High Quality MP3, and a “Pay per use” postproduction mode.
  • Here is a link to their site

3. Remotely.fm

Similar to Squadcast and Zencastr, Remotely.fm excels at delivering separated tracks for local audio recordings.

Onboard guests – Remotely walks your guests through the setup process step-by-step to ensure that inexperienced guests have a great experience.

Schedule interviews – Remotely automatically sends calendar invites and instructions to your guests ahead of the interview.

Video mode – Unlike Zencastr, Remotely’s video allows you to create a close connection with your guests and makes your conversation flow naturally. This video feed is there only to be able to see each other’s reaction – the video is not meant to be used for any post processing or uploads to YouTube or Vimeo.

Audio mode – Perfect if you prefer to focus only on audio or if your guests have limited internet bandwidth.

Summary: What I appreciate about remotely.fm is the simplicity of the guest on-boarding process. We have found this to be an issue with some of these remote local recording solutions, especially if guests are not technically savvy. In order to record in the browser, the right microphone and video camera has to be configured, and remotely.fm excels at this.

Remotely.fm podcast recording onboarding wizard
Remotely.fm’s onboarding wizard

#5 Podcast Recording Software To Try – Adobe Audition

Innovation is in the eye of the beholder.

Adobe Audition is a de-facto industry standard in podcast recording software, as well as in overall audio editing and production. It is “innovative” insofar as it is one of the most feature rich audio recording platforms available. But, it may be overkill for most podcasters wanting to skip the learning curve. And as I’ve written about above, my view is that bespoke podcast optimized platforms are emerging that actually reduce the feature set to the minimum.

That said, we do use Adobe Audition to produce all of our client podcasts, and like it because you can find lots of 3rd party audio editors familiar with the platform.

Adobe Audition Podcast Recording Software

And as a beginning podcaster perhaps you owe it to yourself to check out a professional solution among the other choices. If only to see how it strikes you, and if you can use it to quickly become proficient in the production process.

Audition CC is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing, and restoring audio content. This powerful audio workstation is designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing — and deliver a polished mix with pristine sound.

From a podcast specific point of view, Adobe’s interface can “hide” some of it’s more complex features by activating a “radio production” or “podcast production” view.

Adobe Audition Free Trial Deal

Adobe Audition offers a 7 day free trial period. There is no limitation of features during the trial period. beyond this, AA is offered as part of the Creative Cloud subscription, but there are also stand-alone ways to purchase it.

What About Other “Obvious” Platforms?

Am I not forgetting something?

GarageBand – Garageband is free, and comes with the Mac platform. I feel it is positioned as a music recording toolset rather than podcast recording software. That said, it’s free, and it works. Personally I dislike the user interface and the skeuomorphic design approach.

Audacity – Audacity has been one of the most popular free solutions available. Lots of podcasters use it, and there is no free trial since it is open source software.

Apple Logic ProX – Apples pro upgrade to Garage Band. Another powerful and pro level recording platform, but geared towards complex music production needs rather than being optimized for podcasting.

Reaper– Another great overall recording platform, similar in quality and intent to Logic Pro and Adobe Audition, and mostly optimized to produce music. For podcasters, there is a learning curve.

Just leave me a comment if you think there are other innovative platforms I am missing at the time of this writing.

Have fun exploring!

Many podcasters and bloggers struggle to get the most out of their website. And I don't just mean "good design" elements, often it is actual useful website functionality that is lacking. For podcasters, this is especially true for "ready made" websites that their podcast host provides. These are often super simplistic.

But was if there was an easy way to add critical features to almost any website, without having to learn WordPress or Elementor or other page builders?

Website Functionality Table Of Contents

  1. How Elfsight Extends Website Functionality
  2. How We Extended Artsville’s Website Functionality
  3. Conclusion
  4. Links and Resources

How Elfsight Extends Website Functionality

Elfsight Apps is a SaaS-service that provides customizable & coding-free website widgets with rich integration capabilities.

Elfsight Apps can be embedded to any website platform: WordPress, Shopify, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Joomla!, Drupal, BigCommerce, OpenCart, Adobe Muse, Webflow, HTML, Magento, Blogger, ModX, Webnode, Lightspeed, BigCartel, and more or added to an HTML website.

With Elfsight widgets, you can easily add a lot of functions to your website, and here are just some examples of the tasks you can set up easily and without any coding skills:

✔️ Engage Website Visitors

Directly manage your social platforms directly on your site! Elfsight lets you place social media feeds on your site. This removes the hassle of visiting each individual social media site just to update, see and reply to people.

There are also non social media widgets that helps engage website visitors such as video and audio players that come with different themes and styles.

Finally there are chat widgets that connect chats you get from sites such as Facebook, Line and Viber directly to your site!

  • Instagram Feed
  • Facebook Feed
  • YouTube Gallery
  • Twitter Feed
  • Pinterest Feed

✔️ Support Customers

Elfsight comes with different widgets that makes visitor’s interaction to the site be as convenient as possible. Create a direct line of communication between you and your visitors to quickly help them if a problem is present or so that they may feel engaged with the site’s content.

  • Contact Form – Lets your visitors leave messages via contact form
  • Form Builder – Create user-friendly forms that invite more answers and make every channel of client communication effective
  • FAQ – Create a Frequently Asked Questions Page or Section for your visitors. Comes with multiple themes and layouts
  • All-in-One Chat – Creates a speedy and effortless tool for clients to address you through your website. This uses every popular messenger and links it directly to this one widget. Makes managing multiple chats from different platforms incredibly convenient.

✔️ Get Followers

Elfsight allows you to show content from various social platforms and manage it directly on your website. Elfsight includes various templates that can either enhance your existing page with a small widget or dedicate an entire page for your social feed.

The various social media widgets gives site visitors the option of becoming a follower or member of your social media community with just a button press. It also comes with buttons for social shares so that sharing content from your site is seamless.

  • Instagram Feed
  • Facebook Feed
  • YouTube Gallery
  • Twitter Feed
  • Social Media Icons
  • Social Share Buttons
  • Pinterest Feed

✔️ Increase Leads, Sales & Membership Sign Ups

You will always want your prices, payment options, location and products to be conveniently displayed. Elfsight has various widgets to display reviews from various sites such as google reviews, amazon and the apple app store to name a few. It also enhances your website E-commerce with its simple and easy to use widgets such as the Paypal button widget, pricing table and popup widgets

Some Elfsight widgets makes this easy to implement on your site which include:

  • Pricing Tables – Displays your websites different services or subscription tiers as well as their price.
  • PayPal Button – Creates a Paypal button for your site.
  • Countdown Timer – Displays discount sales or other limited time events.
  • Google Maps – Displays your location via google maps.
  • Testimonials Slider – a dynamic widget that displays what people have to say about you, your site, service or product.
  • Facebook Reviews – Displays your Facebook reviews to your site

How We Extended Artsville’s Website Functionality

We used Elfsights various widgets in the Artsville website, here are some that enhanced the look and function of the site.

Portfolio Widget

In Artsville’s Featured artist page we used the portfolio widget to highlight artists currently showing at Artsville Collective events.

In order to make visitors not feel overwhelmed we decided to make a page that shows them a sample of some of the artists we feature in our site.

Elfsight portfolio widget in artsville
Elfsight portfolio widget in artsville

It also comes with a comment section at the very bottom of the page where you can use your Facebook profile to leave a message.

Calendar Widget

With the calendar widget, viewing Artsvilles featured events is but a click away.

Elfsight calendar widget in artsville

To make events easily trackable we used the calendar widget which then can be used to sort the events by type or venue as well as enable people to get tickets for events.

Conclusion

Elfsight mixes the right amount of form and function by making their widgets accessible to people who have no experience in the technical aspects of website design while giving users plenty of options for what their website can look like.

Don’t let Elfsight’s simplicity turn you away from using it! Rather its simplicity is a feature. Its simplicity makes it easy to learn and makes it so that it can fit anywhere in your site.

Take a look at Elfsight’s website if you are unsure what each widget does. It comes with a free demo which lets you create a sample of a particular widget directly from their site

Finally if you can’t find the widget you need, Elfsight gives you the option to request a widget for your specific needs!

Links and Resources

This resource contains an affiliate link. If you use this link to buy something we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

For the last episode of Season 1 of the “Podcasting Strategy” podcast I’m revisiting and updating an older episode of my first podcast, “The Podcast Growth Show”. Back in 2018 we talked about the benefits of widely distributing podcast show notes articles using the StoryChief platform. StoryChief excels in “content marketing”, for blogs as well as for podcast episode articles . And for our clients, we still follow this approach as one of the best ways to organically grow and promote a podcast to this day, while growing an email list and social following in the process. The StoryChief platform has evolved and grown since then, and yet much has stayed the same.

Recently it was brought to my attention that the original article from 2018 referred to out-dated features and pricing for the StoryChief platform, so I will correct and update this this here as of late 2021 early 2022. Also back in 2018 we were able to offer our followers an insane 50% discount off any StoryChief plan. If you missed out on the 50% off deal, we are still huge StoryChief evangelists and anyone signing up with our affiliate link can get a free trial and then save a very generous 20% off lifetime use of the platform, just contact me for details if you like.

Overview & Episode Content

  1. What is Content Syndication? [02:48]
  2. What Are The Benefits? [04:05]
  3. Why StoryChief? [08:21]
  4. 10 Platform Features For Distributing Your Show Notes [11:16]
  5. StoryChief Current Pricing And Deals

What is Content Syndication?

Content syndication for podcasters
Content syndication for podcasters

Content Syndication is a subset of content marketing. First, let’s revisit what we have talked about several times during this season. Here is a definition from Search Engine Watch:

Content syndication is the process of pushing your blogpost, article, video or any piece of web-based content out to other third-parties who will then re-publish it on their own sites.

So this applies to podcast show notes articles as well. We want to grow readership, create brand-awareness for our podcasts by publishing our show notes stories on multiple websites, communities, social media and email channels.

What Are The Benefits?

Drip fed timing example for the distribution of show notes for rapid content marketing results
Drip fed timing example for the distribution of show notes for rapid SEO results

Question: Why should podcasters care about content syndication?

Aren't we already doing a form of this when distributing our episode audio to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher?

  • Answer: Yes indeed we are.
  • However, we are only publishing audio content on Apple Podcasts.
  • And we ought to do the same with episode show notes.

Multi Channel Presence

Content syndication is to our podcast show notes what podcast directories are to our audio files. A way to distribute our content widely. And a way to establish presence on multiple content and social platforms.

Traffic and Discoverability

This results in greater traffic and discoverability. When your episodes go live, you probably already share your show notes post on Facebook, LinkedIn and perhaps on Twitter. But have you thought about publishing your episode show notes as articles on Medium? (I get a lot of traffic from doing this) Or on Blogger? Or on the Ghost platform?

The idea is to distribute your show notes to as many platforms as possible.

We elaborated on the platforms and the released drip timing concept in episodes 1-3 of the Podcasting Strategy show, so if you have not listened to those episodes I’d encourage you to go back and check them out:

SEO Backlinks & Results

My own backlinks from high domain authority sites have continued to increase. This is largely resulting from the podcast distribution and syndication method we have covered in this season. (I’m including a comparison graphic from 2018 vs 2021 in the show notes)

2018 Backlinks

podcast syndication and distribution results
At the end of 2018 I had roughly 2,500 backlinks for Polymash

2021 Backlinks

At the end of 2021 this has grown to roughly 5,000 backlinks

For those of you unfamiliar with SEO, increased backlinks mean increased rank in the Google search engines, and this means better placement in the search results.

Is there a manual alternative?

The StoryChief platform saves massive amounts of time. But it is targeted at content marketing driven businesses, and many of our business clients use podcasting as a major part of their brand storytelling. As such, the platform is not intended for zero budget indie podcasters, who typically save money by spending the time doing things manually of by themselves. So yes, you could distribute your show notes to different platforms manually. Generally this involves a schedule of re-posting your episode article via copy paste. And that's perfectly fine, but it is a lot of work, and there are many pitfalls:

  • The manual approach is super time consuming
  • There are so many steps involved, it is prone to errors
  • If you are not careful or SEO savvy, then your podcast episodes will rank on 3rd party sites instead of on your own.

Syndicating show notes manually is a no-go for us as a podcast production agency. We need an automated way of doing this.

And if I was an Indy podcaster, doing it manually would still be a no-go. We need an automated way of doing this. And there are some great content syndication platforms out there. But StoryChief is the one particular platform we feel is best for podcast distribution of show notes. And it addresses all the above concerns.

Why StoryChief Content Marketing?

There are tons of reasons why StoryChief presents a content marketing opportunity, not just for business podcasters. It helps automate your entire business content marketing strategy. The benefits reach far beyond podcasting. It is a collaborative writing environment for content creation and promotion. Their value proposition is this:

Get the most out of your content marketing campaigns. Create blog and social media campaigns with your all-in-one workspace for content creation and distribution.

For podcasters, key elements are

  • Central hub for content creation, scheduling and management
  • Podcasting Ready with embeds for most podcast players
  • Content Planning Calendar for episodes, blog posts and social media promos
  • Collaborative writing with partners and VAs
  • SEO Ready with canonical tags ensuring rank for your primary site
  • Lead capture integration
  • Suitable for beginners & advanced marketers
  • Provides a free ready-made blog
  • Built-In coaching for SEO and readability
  • Flexible open platform with lots of embeds, integrations
  • Content Briefs, collaboration & approval workflows

10 Platform Features For Distributing Your Show Notes

Distribute And Market Your Show Notes

1. A single platform where everything comes together

Using a single platform saves time distributing your content to the right channels. Think of all the times you spent copy-pasting content to publish the same thing on multiple channels. Thanks to StoryChief, those days are over. All you have to do is select which platforms should feature your content and StoryChief takes it from there.

From ideation to publication, organize and plan the content you publish through your digital marketing channels, all in one content calendar. For podcast episodes and show notes this is great, but why stop there? Blogs, videos, Instagram and social media can all be planned in one single place.

My own use case is that for solo podcast episodes, I write the pre-recording outlines in StoryChief already, because this reduces the time it takes to create great show notes after the recording.

2. Powerful collaboration features

If you are a business podcaster, you are likely used to collaborating with others, even if it is just having a Virtual Assistant or VA. Approval flows, revisions, and comments to speed up your review & feedback processes. The platform brings your team together to organize, plan and produce content.

podcast show notes collaboration features

3. Editorial briefs

One such planning tool is the built in “editorial briefs”. These let you share concepts and makes sure your team's on the same page. If you have someone else writing your show notes, they can do so in this environment, exchange comments with you back and forth, and ask for approval when they are ready for you to review what they have created.

4. Built-in SEO Assistant for your content team

Not an SEO expert? No problem. StoryChief features an SEO assistant that ensures you publish content that will be found on search engines and engage your audience. Your writers don't have to know every aspect of SEO, StoryChief provides them actionable and easy to apply tips.

The SEO assistant helps attract more website visitors, and it monitors your SEO score and how well your story performs for a set keyword, based on 15+ metrics for search engine optimization. I’ve included some screenshots in the show notes that illustrate how the coaching feature works in a sidebar as you or your team creates your show notes.

SEO and readability for your podcast show notes
Easy to follow SEO and readability assistants help you create discoverable and engaging contenting

5. Built-in Readability Assistant

StoryChief also ensures that you engage your readers easily by offering a readability score as you write. This tracks how well your readers will follow your train of thought, and is based on the Flesch Reading Ease test.

I find this especially helpful when working with transcripts, as my own train of thought is quite often pretty obtuse, and this tool helps me correct the show notes as I go.

6. Actionable analytics data

I’ve mentioned this earlier in the season, it is important to take analytics into account and adjust so that you fill your episode calendar with content that works. The reports StoryChief provide span both website stats, in terms of how many people have seen and read your content there, as well as measuring stats and engagement on social media channels.

Easy to implement analytics data
Easy to implement analytics data

This lets you see the types of episode content that resonates with your audience the most. You can track their performance by generating reports from real-time data.

7. Social Media posting & calendar

The idea is to save time managing your social media in one place by publishing your podcast episode posts to all social media channels with a few clicks.

Podcast show notes content marketing on social media

The social media features in StoryChief let you plan a month of social media posts about your podcast, blog, or business. And it lets you do this in hours, not days.

From daily posts to full-scale campaigns, the social media calendar helps you stay organized and productive. Plus, its collaborative features match those of the writing environment. You can easily invite your VAs or team members and have them manage your social media, while you stay in control through approval flows and feedback loops.

You can create social media campaigns on Facebook pages or groups, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn profile and business pages. Usually these image or video posts promote your podcast episode or story, with a link pointing to your primary website. StoryChief supports video and this your audiograms can be scheduled and distributed widely as well.

8. Included website & hosting

Don't have a separate blog or website for your podcast yet? One other feature I should mention is that you can use the free blog you get with StoryChief. Its auto generated when you start an account. There are lots of ways to customize this, and it looks great right out of the box. It makes for a great podcast website if you don’t have one already. Personally I don't use it to drive traffic to, but I still publish each show note article there because I get a high domain authority back link. We covered this back in episode 4 of the podcast.

9. The ambassador network effect

Sharing your content on social media seems obvious for most marketers but what if there was an even better way to share your content? Now, you can prompt your brand's ambassadors to share your content with their network in a click of the button.

Ambassador Content Marketing For Podcasters

So when a new episode launches, your ambassadors are notified first. And you can recruit more people into your tribe with built in ambassador sign-up forms that will appear on all publishing channels. I’ve included an example in the links section on the bottom of our show notes. This is an invitation to join our Podcasting Strategy Ambassador program, where we encourage our channel partners to share our new episodes on their social channels, and we then offer them promotions in return.

The ambassador effect has many possible creative business use cases, and here are just two:

  • For Podcast Marketing — Turn your podcast listeners into ambassadors and brand advocates.
  • For Channel Partners — Mobilize channel partners to help drive demand for your show.

10. Email Marketing & Multiple RSS Feeds

Email marketing is built in with MailChimp and Active Campaign and several others. But because StoryChief integrates with Zapier quite easily, it basically lets you gain access to almost any marketing automation platform that's out there for capturing leads.

This means that you can publish to multiple built-in RSS feeds that let you distribute content on a lot of RSS driven platforms. For example you could set up a premium content RSS feed for paid members.

StoryChief Current Pricing And Deals

As I mentioned in the beginning, StoryChief has actively been developing the platform, and as a result many more features and integrations are available now than there were in 2018 when I first covered this platform. Here is a link to the current plan summary and pricing information.

20% Off For Podcasting Strategy Show & Polymash Followers

Keep in mind that the value proposition for this platform is that of a comprehensive SEO content strategy and social media marketing platform. It may not be a great fit for hobby podcasters on a close to zero budget, but is worth it for anyone for whom podcasting and web growth is part of a business content strategy. There is a free trial, and our followers can contact me to receive 20% off.

StoryChief Free Account Link
Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link and if you ever upgrade to a paid plan I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I'd encourage you to try this for your own business podcast. If you'd like to sign up for the free version, I’ve included the link in the show notes. Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link and if you ever upgrade I will earn a small commission at no cost to you. But I hope to have earned your trust with this site, blog and podcast – I have been putting significant work into this in order to provide next level thinking about podcast growth.

So if you sign up for StoryChief’s free trial with our link, email me and I will personally send you a special code. You can use this when upgrading for a paid account, and it will save you an additional 20% off the pro plan for this platform. This includes access for 4 team members, collaboration and content calendar features and the ability to publish unlimited stories on as many destinations and websites you can manage.

Links and Resources

Here are the links and resources I may have referred to in this episode.

If you are not yet subscribed or following us on any podcast audio apps, here is where to do this.

Where to follow Podcasting Strategy

Invitation To Join Our Ambassador Network

One last thing I almost forgot is the ambassador network. If you'd like to join my ambassador network, I would hugely appreciate it. If we have complimentary topics and our content is in sync from an SEO, or Inbound Marketing or podcasting perspective, maybe there's a way that we could work together and support each other.

So here is a signup form where you could join my ambassador networks. I would love to have you be part of that, and I would love to be able to support you in any way that I can.

Let's assume you’re a business podcaster, and you want to write the perfect podcast introduction for your next episode. And you also need some copywriting to create show notes excerpts, Youtube teaser copy, multiple social media posts variations, meta-descriptions for SEO or even Instagram slides and stories. These short-form pieces of content is is what we at Polymash call podcast micro-copy.

We know how hard it is to write a podcast introduction that captures attention and gets listeners or readers excited about what they are going to hear or read next. That’s why we highlight some Artificial Intelligence tools in this episode of the Podcasting Strategy Show! These can help you craft the perfect micro-copy for every episode of your podcast or blog post in just minutes. No more writers block! Just tell the tool what type of tone you want (witty, bold, professional) and let the AI do all the work for you!

AI tools can help give your audience exactly what they need for each episode – a successful podcast intro that makes them eager to listen or read on. And with over 10,000 different types of introductions available, there’s no way anyone could get bored listening/reading any one particular series again!

Plus, these tools are free so sign up for right now, with a 10,000 word AI generator credit, so check out the links in this episode today before time runs out!

Here is the full episode video, including the demo:

Perfect Podcast Introduction — Table Of Contents

What is Podcast Introduction Micro-Copy?

What is Podcast Introduction Micro-Copy?
Photographer: Umesh Soni | Source: Unsplash

So what is micro-copy? Well, you've been listening to it.

The introduction for this episode you just heard was 95% generated by an AI tool we will talk about in this episode.

When you are preparing micro-copy, there are some good copywriting patterns, or frameworks, to follow. One of the best and most flexible examples is the AIDA Framework is useful in a number of scenarios where you are leading up to a CTA. AIDA is the oldest marketing framework in the world. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. That action could be "listen to this episode". It could be "Visit our website", or "Follow, Rate, Review". We'll see a live AIDA demo later in this episode.

Copywriting patterns can be generated by the AI tool we will introduce today.

5 Examples of Podcast Micro-Copy

5 Examples of Podcast Micro-Copy
Photographer: Nick Fewings | Source: Unsplash

Typical applications for how we at Polymash think of Micro-Copy are:

1. Episode introductions and summaries

These can be both audio, but also appear in the description portion of podcast listening apps. Remember we want to post teaser copy and a call to action there, to visit your site to get links and episode resources, or at least to listen to the full content.

2. The Episode Excerpt

Excerpts are the short descriptions of each episode that show up on your podcast website or blog episode grid. Most CMS content websites have a spot for this.

3. The Episode Meta Description

The episode meta description is even shorter content snippet visible only to search engines. When someone finds your episode via search on the web, they are what shows up in the search results under the title. So important to make that click-worthy.

4. Social Media Shares And Post Variations

These are needed on LinkedIn, Facebook pages and groups, Twitter, Instagram posts, slides or stories.

5. YouTube Teaser Copy

Similar to episode introductions these are important for YouTube SEO, and typically feature a single link to the episode show notes post or page for full details.

And I think you will agree that this can be very time consuming to come up with, so an AI tool that can generate this automatically, or at least get the ball rolling, can save significant time in preparing your show notes. And, make them more effective at getting listeners engaged.

Podcast Introduction Patterns & Frameworks

Podcast Introduction Patterns & Frameworks
Photographer: Maria Teneva | Source: Unsplash

And, copywriting for such short form content often consists of patterns. The opening of each episodes is of course a matter of choice, but there are some best practices to follow:

Open Looping

For example, the old presentation addage: "Tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them." Daniel J Lewis did this really well in his early Audacity To Podcast episodes.

Copywriting Frameworks

When you are preparing micro-copy, there are some good copywriting patterns, or frameworks, to follow. One of the best and most flexible is the AIDA Framework is useful in a number of scenarios where you are leading up to a CTA. AIDA is the oldest marketing framework in the world. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. That action could be "listen to this episode". It could be "Visit our website", or "Follow, Rate, Review". We'll see a live AIDA demo later in this episode.

Another one is called the PAS Framework. PAS stands for Problem-Agitate-Solution. A valuable framework for creating new marketing copy ideas.

Another one is called the BAB Before After Bridge Framework. It outlines a before vs after state, and your episode constitutes the solution of how to get from the before to the after state.

All of these copywriting patterns can be generated or assisted by the AI tool we will introduce today.

Tool Series Recap So Far

I just wanted to take stock in where we were in the overall series highlighting our workflow tools.

So far we have covered SEO Research, Logistics, Content Planning and Title Development

Episode 6 — Episode Research and Planning Logistics

In episode six, we discussed a little bit about SEO research and how that is often the starting point for us and the tool kit that we used for preseason and pre episode research was the Mangools SEO tool suite. Also, we covered the tool that we use for managing the episode logistics and workflow around guest outreach, onboarding, and standard operating procedures and that's ClickUp. In an upcoming episode, we'll also talk to the founder of Postaga, which is a really interesting tool that manages guest outreach. So more to come, but episode six introduced that topic.

Tool Update: Topic Was Recently Aquired

Also in episode six, we covered content planning. The content planning basically is around content briefs, grading, SEO writing and preparing to have great show notes either after or prior to recording. The tool that we focused on there was UseTopic. Now, since then, an update. UseTopic got acquired by a much larger organization, which means they will be shutting down within three months or so. So in an upcoming episode, will be focusing on how we are going to replace that with some of the other tools we have for this. So stay tuned on how we are going to go about filling in that gap in our workflow. Right now for the next three months, we are still going to be using Topic as the primary solution for this.

Episode 7 — Title Development

Then in episode seven, we covered the title development and talked about Headline Studio as a great way to improve our titles.

Episode 8 — And The Rest Of This Series

This episode, episode eight, we're going to be focusing on microcopy development. Microcopy development is around episode introductions, promotional teaser video scripts, really social media shares, and the whole other number of applications in which having small, descriptive call to action, engaging copy is super were important.

Coming up in the rest of the series, we'll be covering distribution and syndication as well as episode promotion.

Artificial Intelligence For Copywriting: Introducing Jasper

What is Jasper? That's the sort of nickname for the artificial intelligence system that is behind it. But basically to define what it is, it's an artificial intelligence tool trained to generate content in a creative and original way.

NOTE: “Jasper” was formerly known as “Jarvis” — the company rebranded after we recorded this episode. Please mentally substitute any mention of “Jarvis” in the audio or video demos with the updated brand-name“Jasper” — Thanks!

It produces unique content that hasn't been used before, meaning its not duplicate content from elsewhere on the web. AI does use content that it finds elsewhere to inform what it does, but it goes beyond that.

The GPT-3 Artificial Intelligence Engine

I think important to realize is that AI algorithms are trained through some initial input. Many language platforms are based on what is known as GPT-3. GPT-3, you can look it up on Wikipedia, is the artificial intelligence platform that has to do with language processing intelligence.

But GTP-3 based AI tools aren't all the same. We've tested a number of these different platforms, including Copysmith, NeuralText, and more. Jasper is the one that we've landed on is our solution.

What becomes clear to us is that,

  1. AI tools have to be designed well to be usable
  2. The user has to seed it to train the AI for certain outcomes.

And as you'll see, hopefully in this demo, that there are a lot of variations it can output. So I think that what the Jasper team has done is the best job in actually utilizing the AI in an application that puts out useable and user friendly content.

50+ Writing Skills for Episode Introductions And Beyond

So going through of how it works, Jasper basically has developed a library of 50 plus writing skills. Even with the starter plan, you sort of get access to those skills.

The way it works is you initially choose from any one of those. Skills are like a blog post outline, or create a story, or create an intro paragraph, or create a Facebook ad or create a headline or explain something to a child. So that's the concept behind having a number of skills to choose from. In the demo, you'll see some of those will use one in particular to sort of jump right in.

Training Your AI

There is a part that is actually you, as a user, needing to collaborate if you will, with the AI. It requires some input.

You have to tell it about your brand, your podcast, your topic, your business. It can even accept the tone of voice that you want to use in the output, which is great for reaching a target audience.

So usually the workflow is that you select a framework or you select one of the skills that Jasper collaborates with you on, and then you have to tell it something about what it is that you want. What's your business about and what is a description of what you might like.

13 Favorite Jasper Skills

AI copywriting skills
Photographer: Branko Stancevic | Source: Unsplash

These steps refer to the Jasper Demo Video I added near the top of this article. The basic plans are enough for what we are talking about in this episode, which is to create really compelling podcast introduction and microcopy for a number of different used cases.

Maybe the best way to just give a brief overview before we actually try something, is to look at all the templates that are available. These are the skills that I just mentioned. There's a ton of them and you can sort of favorite the ones that are most important to you. So I'll just go through some of the ones that we have found very good use for, especially for podcasting.

1. AIDA Framework

The AIDA framework is something that we're going to demo in this particular video. That's the oldest marketing framework in the world.

AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. We use this all the time to create ads, to create copy, to create intros. It's really a pretty good framework for copywriting, which is that you first grab the audience's attention through a question or something that sort of grabs them. Then you build some interest and desire to basically follow through with what your call to action is. Your call to action could be listen to the rest of this episode, watch the video, or subscribe to my YouTube channel. So, any business might have a call to action that's appropriate to what their strategy is.

2. The PAS Framework

The next framework is called the PAS framework. That stands for problem agitates solution. It's just another sort of way of basically stating something and then offering a solution for it. That's often a good way to introduce a topic.

3. Blog Post Or Podcast Introduction Paragraph Generator

The next one is a blog post paragraph. That one I think is interesting because all you need to basically do is put in a title or a concept for a title, and it then generates 20 introductory paragraphs for you to choose from. You can often just piece something together from that. I still like the AIDA framework better for most intros, especially as an episode. Simply because there usually is a called action involved at some point.

4. The Blog Post Conclusion Paragraph Generator

The next one is a blog post conclusion paragraph. So that's sort of wrapping up a post with an engaging conclusion.

5. The Explain It To A Child Simplifier

I tend to be kind of complex in my language. There's one tool to help explain something to a child. That basically rephrases your text to make it easier to read and understand and to simplify it.

6. Facebook Ad Headline And Content Generator

Another great application is to basically use this for Facebook ads.

If you've ever run Facebook ads, the headline and the ad text is something that you want to vary a lot. This is not unlike social media posts. If you're sharing an episode on Twitter or on LinkedIn or elsewhere, you don't want to use the same copy every time that you tweet about it, or every post that you share with your audience. You want to try a number of different variations. Now you might lead it and link to the exact same URL.

In Facebook Ads language, that's basically the Genesis of AB testing, is that we set up a number of different headlines and the number of different variations. We also variate the images. If you have sort of nine of those, you can run that as an ad set on Facebook. You will get information and quickly learn which one is most effective.

7. Social Media Post Generators

So those tools and those skills in the AI, are also very useful when you're generating content for social media. That is variable when you're trying to check out what resonates with your audience the most.

8. Headline Generator

They do have a formula for generating headlines. We covered that in episode six tool. Tool that we use to score our own headlines. Sometimes these are interesting, but there other formula generators out there. We don't use or recommend using formula driven headlines all that often, other than just to ideate when you're when you're stuck with something.

9. Video Script Outline Generator

The video script outline is another the tool that it offers. These can work really well for listicles, or how to style videos. You again, give it some seed content about what your video is about, and it generates a script for you to follow. So it's kind of a creative tool and it's fun. I think for creating a podcast introduction for podcast episodes, again I have found it okay. Not as good as the AIDA framework, PAS framework or some of the other frameworks that are available. It's definitely worth playing with.

10. Video Title Generator

Also, the video titles for sort of click-worthy titles, that's very similar to creating a perfect headline. Those skills I'm not as familiar with, but if you have access to the tool, you might as well use them, right?

11. Video Script Hook and Introductions

The next one is this video script hook and introduction. That's actually pretty good because it generates a couple of different paragraphs that introduce the video and try to grab your visitor's attention enough to get them to watch the video all the way through. So that's not dissimilar to the AIDA framework of attention, interest, desire, and action. The video description is very similar to that. You can get a script, but you need a longer form descriptions for YouTube videos.

12. SEO blog or episode title and meta descriptions

These are sort of like a recipe where you do a little bit of SEO research, write a post concept, and then also get the title and meta descriptions, which are short pieces of micro content that tell the search engines what your article is about. So meta descriptions aren't necessarily visible to anyone. They are embedded in your web content. So you need those for your podcast episode articles, or show notes as well. So that's another interesting tool to play around with.

13. Feature to Benefit Translator

The last two are featured to benefit. That's basically where you list a set of features and they're coming from a point of view of tell us your product features and then we turn it into benefit driven language that compels action on the part of listeners. I would say that this could just easily be a podcast episode.

What some of the highlights were in the podcast episode, if you want to turn those into more benefit driven language. Sometimes that's a good idea, or that's an application that might be worth trying. Then the last one is the before and after framework. That's sort of before and after bridge framework. That's where you sort of describe what a situation might be before. Then you explain how your episode basically leads them to a realization or an insight or something like that. You can see that there's so much richness in the other formulas that we haven't even talked about in this tool.

Jasper Episode Title Skills Summary

Even when you are using only two or three or of these, I think it's worth getting this in your arsenal of copywriting tools. The fact that there's 50 of these, just this added value and a cherry on top as far as I'm concerned. Even if I wind up only using four or five of these consistently, I love the idea that this is there to just sort of help me ideate or help me write better copy, or to try out if I'm stuck on something. Let's just see how we would use this to create an introduction to an episode.

That's actually what I did for this episode.

Demo: How I Generated An Episode Introduction Using Jasper

If you watch the video or have listened to this episode from the beginning, you would've heard my introduction. 95% of that episode introduction was generated through the AIDA framework. Let’s see exactly how the episode introduction that you would've witnessed in this episode was done and how the AIDA framework actually works.

I’m including the video again at the right demo starting time stamp here:

23:14 – Jasper AI Demo For An AIDA Intro

Configuring the AIDA Framework For Podcast Introductions

So I'm going to click on AIDA framework within this tool, and we'll start from scratch and here are three fields. As I mentioned, these are there to seed the AI production and give it some information to work with. So the first one is under a company and product name. Well in this case, I'm just going to put in the title of the episode that I want to produce. The title for this episode, for example, as concept was perfect podcast, introduction, show notes and social media copy in five minutes.

All right. So, that was my title. Now I needed to give a little bit of bridge here, a little bit of a description of what this episode is about. Here is what I trained my AI with:

Hey, every episode deserves a great introduction. You suffering from writer's block need some help in convincing listeners or readers to take action?

Okay. So that is, that's all I'm going to give it and I'll see what ready to come up with.

Setting up the AI’s Tone Of Voice

The tone in a voice is something that's an interesting concept. I'm going to click through here to just basically open one of the help bars. See, this is one of the reasons that I like it. There are videos that explain every step of the way, how you can use the tool. The sidebar is one example of it. Here, for example, all the tone of voice choices that you might it have.

The “Tone Of Voice” feature is useful for matching your target audience and podcast listener demographics

Now, it's not that there's a pre-programmed list of tones that Jasper utilizes, but you can help it develop the tone of voice by typing in. So they don't have to come from this list, but you can type in something that's funny or, or casual or excited or professional really, or sarcastic, or any of these choices. So in this case, I'm just going to type in, let's say, witty and bold.

Generating Podcast Introduction Outputs Using AIDA

All right. So now I'm just going to tell it to generate four outputs and let's wait and see what it does. All right. So here, it's used this AIDA formula and it's even put the attention, interest, desire, and action labels onto the output that it's created. So here's one that's maybe worth taking a look at. I'm going to read it out.

Attention

The attention part is, "Are you looking for a way to make your podcast introductions more engaging?"

Interest

The interest part is "introductions are an important part of any content marketing strategy. They can be the difference between someone listening or scrolling past, and they can also be a great opportunity to build trust with new listeners and readers."

Desire

The desire part is, "it's easy to get stuck on what you should say in your intro, but we have good news. There's help available. We know that every episode deserves a great introduction. So we created AI tools that will write one for you. Our tool takes care of all the hard work, so you don't have to worry about it anymore. You can focus on creating amazing content instead of worrying about how it starts out. Just tell us some information about yourself and your show and our AI tool will do the rest. All this means is less time spent writing boring intros and more time spent doing what matters most, creating awesome content that people love."

Last Step: Tweak To Suit Your Voice and Call To Action

So you get the idea, the AI copy was pretty good to start with, and I then easily modified the one that I wound up landing on. I'm not going to go through and reread the entire intro here, but basically 95% of that was written using this AI tool. I just then added or edited some of it.

Episode Conclusion, Links and Resources

I'm hoping you get the sense that this is a very interesting way to produce lots of variations of formulating introductions that match your style, that are more engaging, and that are somehow more exciting than what I initially input. So it's just a matter of scrolling through all the different variations that you might see from the tools output, and then putting the phraseology together that you like. All of this takes a fraction of the time that it usually does to write a podcast introduction or other micro-copy.

That is the mini demo of the Jasper AI tool. I hope you found it useful and I'm hoping that you'll have a look and see whether you can use it for yourself. There's a free trial available. If you don't mind, use our affiliate link, we earn a small commission at no cost to you. Disclaimer: If you wind up signing up for the trial and later decide to pay for it, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you whatsoever.

If you'd like to support Polymash and the Podcasting Strategy Show, that's one good way to do it, we appreciate you listening!

I would encourage everyone to sort of give it a shot and see whether this doesn't help with the promotion of your episodes and content integration of your podcast into your business.

Links And Resources

Podcast Introduction FAQ

What is the best podcast introduction format for my target audience?

The answer to this question depends on understanding your podcast audience and demographics. If you have a young audience, then the tone should match their expectations, likewise for business podcast formats or storytelling shows. However the above mentioned copywriting formats can still apply. If you are using Jasper, this is where the "tone of voice" selection could be very helpful.

Can Jasper help me produce a Podcast Outro as well?

Of course! You could try the "Blog Conclusion" skill as a starting point.

"Can you help us launch a podcast on YouTube?" I've been asked this a lot, lately. We actually hear from businesses that think of a Podcast as something that ONLY lives on YouTube. And we hear from a lot of podcasters who would like to repurpose podcast content for growing a YouTube channel, and ways to repurpose your podcast content there.

In this series so far we have focused on how we publish and market our clients podcasts via content syndication to lots of platforms. This means we use a transcript driven, SEO optimized way of repurposing podcasts to a blog post. But there are lots of channels where we distribute podcast content, YouTube being one of them. So today let’s extend this to how YouTube video fits into the content syndication scheme.

Listen to the Full Episode Audio:

Here is a Brief Video Summary for this Episode:

Repurpose Podcast Content — TOC

The Role of YouTube for Podcasts

The Role of YouTube for Podcasts to repurpose podcast content
Photographer: Wahid Khene | Source: Unsplash

So let's start by clarifying that a podcast is not something that can live on YouTube alone. Sure, it can be cross-published to YouTube. But in order to be available on all major podcast platforms and listening apps, YouTube is not enough. We still need a podcast host for making it available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast and the 100s of other platforms.

YouTube is of course a type of Google search engine, and so potential discoverability for your brand is a huge benefit there, and can also result in great traffic back to your website if done right.

How Podcasters Typically Think About Repurposing

For many experienced podcasters the thinking goes like this:

  • I'd like to start or grow a video channel on YouTube.
  • I already have an interview show format where video is recorded via Zoom or remote recording platforms like Riverside.fm.
  • So, I might as well use that video material to grow my channel.
  • And, if I have a solo show, I'll record that on video and do the same.

And while that seems like a good idea, success is not automatic. There are some considerations. And many format choices.

6 YouTube Success Factors

6 YouTube Success Factors
Photographer: Arisa Chattasa | Source: Unsplash

So let's talk about success factors first. It usually means spending a good amount of time researching keywords, doing YouTube SEO, selecting the right titles, tags, adding cards, and end screens, and having good thumbnails.

Yes, SEO is a thing on YouTube. But even when following all the rules, YouTube growth is not automatic.

It can be frustrating, and growth in large part depends on your subject matter and audience. My own story is that I can put the most insightful or beautifully produced technique video out there — with only little interest. But then when I review a microphone or piece of mundane recording gear, suddenly I get 1,000s of views.

YouTube can be fickle like that. Why is that?

The answer is an "it depends…" sort of response, if you ask me. It depends on a number of YouTube Success Factors, and here are 6 of them:

1. Your demographic and audience

Does your ideal audience live on YouTube? Or Tik-Tok? Or LinkedIn? Where do they spend their time?

2. Your topics and subject matters

Is your subject matter something people search for on YouTube? Is it popular, or maybe even too popular and competitive?

3. Show formats

What is your show’s format? education, entertainment, edutainment, comedy, storytelling? Does your show deliver on its promise, and can it do that visually?

4. Video SEO

Are you doing any YouTube SEO? Are you researching keywords and tags? Using TubeBuddy?

5. Thumbnails

Do your thumbnails stand up to other videos in your niche?

6. Social reach & promotion

How do you promote your videos once live?

YouTube End Goals

YouTube End Goals to repurposing content
Photographer: Estée Janssens | Source: Unsplash

It is easy to get caught up in the hype and competitiveness of building a YouTube audience. But for businesses, and from a content strategy point of view, there should be off-platform ROI and benefits, for example:

  • Better brand awareness.
  • Establishing thought leadership.
  • Driving traffic back to your website.
  • Getting people to know, like and trust your business.
  • Or increasing podcast subscribers.

Side note: Remember that YouTube video views are NOT counted in your podcast host's analytics reporting.

So being aware of your goals and expectations before setting out is important. This is especially true if you are a larger firm with multiple stakeholders. We have seen unclear or unrealistic expectations kill many podcast projects after only a few dozen episodes.

Business Concepts For Utilizing Video

For me, there are basically 2 categories of video: Re-purposed and Original.

The big temptation is to repurpose a podcast video or interview recording on YouTube with the least amount of effort required.

And this can be successful, keeping in mind the factors we just covered. But we have found that original content, specifically designed for YouTube, is most successful. But let's have a closer look at both:

  1. Repurposed includes livestreams, full episode videos, segment videos and audiograms.
  2. Original video concepts are trailer / teasers and golden nuggets or summary videos

Four Concepts To Repurpose Podcast Content For Video

Four Concepts To Repurpose Podcast Content For Video
Photographer: Jordan Graff | Source: Unsplash

1. Live Stream Repurposing

  • Concept: Broadcast live video to your followers on YouTube and social media platforms. Start with a livestream, then convert this to .mp3 audio. Formats can include live guest interviews, or for solo shows hosting the occasional live Q&A session for your audience.
  • Pros: Very little post production effort, no editing.
  • Cons: Not for the faint of heart, harder than it looks, can require massive pre-production effort and setup. And ideally your guest should be comfortable, too.
  • Our take: Great if you have a large list or following, are looking for interaction and engagement. But livestreams result in long form videos, which are typically less concise and more meandering. We have not seen a lot of organic search based success with these.

2. Full Episode Videos Repurposing

  • Concept: Record an interview, and then repurpose the entire recording in split screen view.
  • Pros: Manageable post production effort, depending on required edits. "Talking Head" conversations are more acceptable post-pandemic. Benefits from a good chemistry between host and guests. Great new platforms make this easy now (links in the show notes).
  • Cons: Requires more setup, coordination, guest onboarding.
  • Our take: This approach can work well, but often results in too long videos. We all know that the biggest drop off in watch time occurs after 2 minutes. Does not inspire "subscribe" behavior as well as original videos.

3. Show Segment Videos

  • Concept: Record a longer show, but then split it into shorter clips or segmented videos. Each becomes its own piece of content.
  • Pros: Can work almost as well as original content if done well. Will yield multiple SEO and social media content pieces.
  • Cons: Requires a more planning and works best with a rigid show structure. Best with clear breaks between segments. Also will cause a lot more post-production work.
  • Our take: We believe in this concept, but it is harder to execute, and therefore more costly in terms of time or paying someone to help do it right. Some cool new platforms are emerging that use clever AI to try and automatically segment clips, chop and repurpose video. (Links in the show notes). This AI automation might work to create smaller social share videos for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. But we find that manual editing still rules when it comes to crafting original SEO optimized YouTube content.

4. Audiograms

  • Concept: Upload your podcast audio file, and re-purpose it as video content with graphics and sound waveform animation.
  • Pros: Completely automated with tools like headliner. Good to share on social channels that enforce short video formats like Twitter and Instagram. Avoids the need for special video recording sessions.
  • Cons: Boring and not very visually effective for long stand alone videos. It is audio content only, pretending to be visual.
  • Our take: Not worth the effort on YouTube. To create audiograms of 30 second quotes videos is useful for social channels if you have a large following. You can also perhaps upload these into a separate YouTube playlist, but we have found minuscule interest and watch stats for these.
  • Alternative: Instead of audiogram tools, we would recommend using storytelling video platforms like Invideo, links are in the show notes.

Two Original Podcast Video Concepts

Photographer: Vince Gx | Source: Unsplash

1. Trailer / Teaser Videos

  • Concept: The idea here is recording a short 2-5 minute video summarizing or teasing the entire podcast episode.
  • Pros: Shorter time commitment. More traditional podcast workflow, with a summary video shot on iPhone for example. Easier on camera shy guests. Results in purpose made original YouTube content.
  • Cons: This constitutes an extra step in an audio centric workflow.
  • Our take: We like this concept the most, along with "Golden Nugget" videos that highlight the best content from an episode.

2. Golden Nugget Videos

  • Concept: Summarize "golden nugget" insights from your guest, creating a short 2-5 minute video for each episode.
    Pros: Can be shot casually by the host only. Can also feature guest footage talking on camera.
  • Cons: Requires manual editing all the way.
  • Our take: This is an appealing format for many podcast audiences. They appreciate the effort that goes into summarizing the best content from an episode, Cliff notes style. We think of this as the best re-purposed video format, even thought it is labor intensive.

Conclusion: What is the best way to repurpose podcast content?

What we have found, and what other articles and case studies also seem to indicate, is:

Original videos, not repurposed videos are most successful on YouTube.

This is not a recommendation that everyone should stop repurposing podcast content on YouTube and produce original material instead.

All I am saying is to strike the right balance for your brand in terms of effort, time, cost and effectiveness.

Episode Links & Case Studies

Episode Tools Mentioned

You can find the links and deals for many of our timesaving tools on our sister site, The Podcasting Resources Guide.

FAQ — Repurpose Podcast Content

Q: Can a podcast be repurposed as a blog?

A: Yes, we love to approach podcast show notes as high authority SEO optimized blog articles. We covered this in more detail in Episode 1 and 2. Basically, the approach is this: Use a high quality transcript as the basis for the blog article. Add sub-headings, add a table of contents, add images, quotes, and eliminate unnecessary speaker labels. Also, do not bold the speaker labels, or have extra carriage returns for them. We are trying to make it look like a high quality blog article, and not like a pure transcript.

Some tips for this: We recommend including the podcast player widget in the article as well. Some people post their episode twice on their site, once in the podcast section with the player widget and a short description, and then again as a separate blog article, often without the player widget. So they think of it as two separate entries. We do not recommend this approach, since it can easily cannibalize the SEO presence for each episode.

Do you have a podcast? Then you're doing “content syndication” already, at least for your podcast audio. But what about podcast content syndication for show notes and web content?

And while you’ve probably heard of "content syndication", do you know what it is and how to use it for your show and website? Most people understand "content syndication" as the process of distributing your audio as widely as possible.

But why stop there? Why not also distribute your show notes and web content too!

The concept is simple, but the benefits are often not clearly understood. This isn't just about traffic or even subscribers. It's about increasing your podcast website's rank and visibility in Google search results.

So subscribe on YouTube or to Season 2 of “The Podcast Growth Show” and join us to learn more about podcast content syndication! And sign up for our email list below so we can keep you updated on all things related to podcasts and content syndication!

Podcast Content Syndication For Show Notes — Table Of Contents

An Introduction To The New Series

I'd like to introduce our new video series, and incidentally also season 2 of “The Podcast Growth Show” podcast. In this series and season where we'll be talking about content syndication as a method for podcast and web growth.

In this first episode, I want to give a brief introduction to the series overall. And we'll focus on the benefits, ROI and outcomes with a couple of case studies. And then in the next upcoming videos, we'll dive a little deeper into how and why it works and is so effective. So with that said, let's get started.

If you have a podcast, you’re syndicating already

Now, you may not know it, but if you have a podcast, you already do content syndication by distributing your audio as widely into as many platforms as possible.

So why not also take it to the next level and do this for your show notes and website content? The concept is simple, but the benefits are often not clearly understood. This isn't just about traffic or even subscribers, this is about increasing your podcast website's rank and visibility in the search result pages with Google.

Chart For Podcast Content Syndication For Show Notes, illustrating why Google Search Is Important
Courtesy of Edison Research — In Podcast Content Syndication For Show Notes, Google Search Is Important

Have a look at this chart from Edison research, it kind of makes my point. The most popular discovery platform for podcasts is not Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Social media, but internet search. And so the lesson is this:

Google search is what really matters for podcast discovery

Ranking factors for your podcast or business website

Let’s think about what the ranking factors are. What contributes to your podcast or business website being visible, what's involved in that?

Podcast website ranking factors in content syndication
What are some of the ranking factors for podcast websites?

Domain Authority of your podcast website

Some of you may know about domain authority, and that is a industry standard term for how much power your site carries in the search engines. And mostly that's influenced by age, but there are a lot of things that you as a podcast or a business owner can do to improve this over time.

Inbound Links

Inbound links, for example, are one of the most important factors to have your website rank in the search results. For example, remember to ask your guests to write about your interview on their own site, and this creates a “backlink” for your own site. But, as we will explore in this series, there are far better and faster ways to get high quality backlinks from our podcast content syndication for show notes methodology.

Podcast content syndication for show notes as long form content

First of all, long form content is also something that Google values. So with SEO optimized show notes for example, this longer form content tends to rank a lot more quickly and a lot higher in the search results overall.

Low bounce rate drives engagement

Then having engagement on your website and the low bounce rate for your audience is also a critical factor. It means your show notes need to be good enough to get people to read them, to stick around, and to explore more content or other related episodes on your site.

Social Media signals

And then social media and actual traffic also contributes. So these are just some of the factors that contribute to the overall visibility of your site.

And what I'm saying here, my point is that podcast content syndication for show notes that we'll be talking about in this video series, addresses all of these ranking factors resulting from a syndication strategy that doesn't limit itself to just your audio, but also widely syndicates your show notes articles.

Content Syndication Method Quick Overview

The methodology and our whole systems usually start with some form of SEO research. We provide this as a podcast content marketing service for the “Done For You” entrepreneurs too busy to do this all themselves, but it can also be learned by DIY podcasters.

Podcast content syndication for show notes step by step illustration
Podcast Content Syndication For Show Notes, step by step

SEO Research is a starting point

It is important to know how people search, what they type into a search engine. How are they likely trying to find the topic of your episode or of your subject matter or of your guests subject matter?

Click Worthy Episode Titles

And that's an important piece of knowledge and that informs creating and crafting click where the episode titles as well. I mean, obviously, if you see a boring title or a title that's non-descriptive, people won't click on it, so… Or will open it.

And that's true not just on the web, but that's true also on most podcasts listening platforms. When you're scrolling through what new episodes are there, episode titles are super important.

Long-form SEO-optimized show notes via transcripts

These are augmented mind you, it's not enough to simply paste or copy paste the transcript on the bottom, but we carefully optimize these with headings, images, quotables, tables of contents that we make these look like authority articles, which then appear to Google as index worthy and as worthy to feature in the search rankings. So I'll go over the rest of these rather quickly.

The focus of this content series will be on syndication, not technical SEO

We follow pretty standard formulas for technical optimization of show notes, for example these include headings and images and alt-tags. There are a number of different SEO techniques we often talk about elsewhere on this blog. And we even have courses around that.

But where we are going to be focusing in this series is this idea of multichannel syndication and link building, as well as sort of social influencer marketing campaigns that are building and sending social signals to Google.

Content Syndication ROI Case Studies

So for the rest of this video, just as an introduction, let me just illustrate with a case study. Here's a podcast called “Deeper Dating” and this was a screenshot from about a year after launch.

Podcast content syndication for show notes case study
Deeper Dating: A podcast content syndication for show notes case study

So he's had 190,000 downloads in that time. And the question that I like to ask most podcasters is:

A podcast with 190,000 downloads, how many of those downloads do you think actually resulted in visits to the website? What %?

Because most people I asked this, say between five and 10%.

Getting people to visit your podcast’s website is hard, right?

We think that getting people to come from your podcast listening experience to go and visit your website is hard. Most people think so. And I think that's caused people to undervalue how important it is that you get those visits.

Now, here's the answer: a 138% download to web visits ratio

It's not 5% or 25, 50. If you thought 75, you'd be wrong. What if I told you it was 138%? And you're probably going, "What? That doesn't even make sense."

Flipping the script

Because what happens is that people actually search for the content. So for example, “sexual attraction” is something that he did an episode about. People searching for this typed that into a search engine and his episode came up on page one of the search results, the topic of this podcast. And then when they go and open those pages, they see that, “oh, look, there's a podcast here!” They discover it.

It's exactly the other way around. That's what we mean by flipping the script. So he's had 261,000 page views and people are visiting his website during this time because of the SEO optimized show notes that are showing up in the search results and that are driving traffic to his website. And this was a snapshot from a year. Two years into the journey he has had 500,000 website visits for about 450,000 or so downloads. So my point is, is that that ratio sort of keeps going. And the amount of traffic and the amount of signups and the amount of subscribers that he's getting is a result of that.

The ROI of SEO optimized show notes and website visits

And there's some real value here. It's also something that people often don't consider. There's an ROI. He's ranking in this time. It was a brand new website with zero domain authority. That's also something that people who know. If you've had a website for 10 years, it's a little easier to get into the search results, where then with a brand new one. This was a brand new one.

And he now, a year after, ranked for about 177 keywords. And that translated into about 2,000 clicks a month. These numbers are per month. And if you had to pay Google AdWords for the traffic, for the clicks, you would have to pay $2,000+ a month. So he's getting $2,000 a month of free traffic to the site. And now , after 2 years, the numbers are even more impressive.

The ROI of SEO optimized show notes and traffic

And there are lots of other examples like this. And then you're saying, "Well, so what? What about all this traffic?" Well, if your web strategy is good, then what happens is, is that it has a knock on effect.

The ROI of podcast content syndication explained
The real-life value of podcast content syndication for show notes

So not only Deeper Dating getting $2,000 plus a month in free traffic, the host is growing their email list. They are selling out all of his workshop, group coaching intensives, no more Facebook ads and paying for that.

No more sales webinars are necessary because they are getting all of the monetization strategy for his subject matter from organic traffic via Google. And so that's what the value is that we're talking about here.

What's Next In The Series

So that's to introduce this series. I hope it arouses some curiosity, and in the coming few episodes we're going to be diving next into what podcast content syndication for show notes is, and how it works exactly. And we'll dive a little bit deeper into this form of content marketing and why it works so brilliantly.

Where to find us

In the meantime, if you like this, please subscribe to our Podcast Growth Channel on YouTube. Also, you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter with under @polymash and on Instagram @polymashdesign. Love to hear back with any questions that you have. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Adding your podcast on YouTube means putting your show where your audience will easily access it. Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine on the internet? According to Internet Live Stats, Google processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average. And if Google is the Queen, then YouTube is the princess as it receives over 3 billion searches a month.

Leveraging multiple platforms has been proven to exponentially grow your show, and YouTube is one of the best platforms to do this.

In fact, Westwood One’s Fall 2020 Study showed that YouTube is increasingly gaining popularity among most podcast listeners!

Source: Westwood One's Podcast Download – Fall 2020 Report.

But the idea of publishing a video podcast on YouTube can be intimidating. So, how can you effectively podcast on YouTube without missing out on the fun? Read on to find out more!

How To Podcast On YouTube — Table of Contents

Why Should You Consider Adding Your Podcast to YouTube

Consider podcasting on YouTube
Podcasting On YouTube — Photographer: Alexander Shatov | Source: Unsplash

In addition to having tons of people regularly consuming your content, the following are additional benefits of repurposing your content and Uploading it on YouTube:

Tap into a massive and easily accessible audience

Take advantage of the massive traffic that YouTube receives on a daily basis. A lot of people that consume YouTube content do so mainly because that’s what they are familiar with, and they have no reason to try other platforms. Besides, with the pandemic and all, there has been more acceptance of YouTube podcasting as more and more people are waking up to the fact that video podcasts can actually be interesting.

Increase engagement with your audience

Given that audio podcasts are a one-way conversation, the easiest way to interact with your audience is through the comments section on YouTube. Not only will your listeners feel heard, but also get a chance to provide feedback as they consume your content.

A deeper level of connection

Video podcasts on YouTube give your listeners a chance to have a sneak peek of your recording environment. Unlike the "2 talking heads" video concepts that were poo-pooed as not really interesting, YouTube podcasting, if done right can be really interesting. With the Formula One podcasts, for example, I love seeing the living rooms and facial interactions of the hosts and guests, with occasional cat antics going on in the background :).

Multiple ways to grow an audience

The best part about YouTube podcasting (or PodTubing as sometimes referred to by our friends at PodFest), is that one can grow their YouTube channel alongside their audio-only podcast. This gives you an opportunity to repurpose your content for multiple platforms, hence greater visibility.

YouTube analytical tools

YouTube provides analytical data such as how long your audience watches your content, who is listening, and how they found you. Most of these details cannot be accessed on your audio players. Such information is critical in determining the kind of content that your listeners enjoy.

Five Ways To Podcast On YouTube

So, now that you know why it is important to podcast on YouTube, how can you optimally do it? There are five ways to create videos for your podcast:

1.) Record a video as you record the audio:

This can be done by strategically setting up your camera to record your performance. Not only will this help you create more engaging content, but also help you save time. The best part about video podcasts is that they require minimum editing. I recommend using tools and equipment that are easily accessible to avoid breaking the bank.

Avoiding The Pro Gear Vortex, Photographer: Alexander Dummer | Source: Unsplash

2.) Make a presentation into your webcam

This method gives you an opportunity to demonstrate using charts, diagrams, and articles as you record. Be aware that the more visual you are when recording video, the more the pure audio only listeners can feel “left out”. So a good practice is to communicate with your audio only audience, describe, acknowledge or even celebrate the video component.

A fringe benefit: With visual content, it becomes easier to invite listeners to visit your website or YouTube channel. Curiosity and good calls to action will help with this.

3.) Live-streaming:

Consider Livestreaming, Photographer: Sticker Mule | Source: Unsplash

There is a massive benefit that comes with live streaming – a loyal audience. While podcasts are known to be available on-demand, getting an audience that turns up every week for your live stream means you already have an audience you can rely on to promote what you do. Given that live streams are usually unedited, they may not be the top choice for perfectionists that prefer polished content. A lot of preparation is also required.

4.) Record yourself and your guest as you talk:

If you are conducting your interview through a platform such as Zoom or Google hangouts, simply record a split-screen of you interviewing your guest. This is pretty easy, and also requires minimal editing. Excessive editing that is easily noticeable by your audience will leave them wondering what it is that you took out.

5.) Convert your audio recordings into MP4:

This can be done using a tool such as Headliner or Wavve and only takes a few minutes.

Extra credit for reading this: “Podcast Audiogram Alternatives For Promotion and Visual Storytelling” is our article covering tools that allow you to create far more interesting content from your audio alone, without

What You Need to Record a Video Podcast

If you have been in the audio podcasting space for a while, you probably know about audio recording and the kind of microphones required. However, for video podcasts, one can get away with anything from recording on their phone, laptop, or a digital camera.

Podcast On YouTube Starter Kit

We have created some starter kits on our Podcasting Resources Guide sister site to get going with.

Really all you need at first are a decent web cam, microphone and lights, and all of this can be super affordable before you start getting attracted to the more expensive gear.

When it comes to video podcasts, lighting is usually the biggest concern. Of course as a podcaster you already care about audio quality, so it is important to ensure that your lighting is good and that both you and your guest can clearly be seen.

The biggest takeaway here is to embrace gear that simplifies the whole process, such as affordable webcams, LED lights or desk-clamp light stands.

While pro-level tools may seem tempting, they can slow you down.

Equipment such as green screens, live switchers, and high-end mirrorless cameras come with an added complexity that anyone that’s just starting out should avoid. Just get started the most simple way possible, and leave yourself room for improvement.

Tools to Make Video or Live-streaming Easy (While looking professional)

The fastest way to create a video podcast is by using the equipment you already have. To further enhance your video podcasting experience, the following recommendations will come in handy:

Recording/Livestreaming Platforms

  • Riverside This is a “double-ender” recording tool that records the participants' audio locally on their computers. This means that your recordings won't be affected even when the wi-fi gremlins strike. The best part about Riverside is that it has the capacity to record both audio and video on separate tracks.
  • Squadcast – This is a recording platform that has guaranteed superior quality audio and high-definition video. What’s more, Squadcast also has an added post-production collaboration service that allows for the production of multiple shows at the same time.
  • Restream.io and StreamYard are our top picks for streaming. While Restream is known for its ability to allow users to broadcast to over 30 social networks at the same time, StreamYrad allows users to share screens, engage with their audience and simply discuss anything.

Video Editing Tools

  • Camtasia – while not as robust as other video editing software, Camtasia is an excellent choice for beginners who are just dipping their toes into the video editing space. However, its screen recording capabilities are unrivaled and one of the best in the market. What’s more, Camtasia works on both PC and Mac, and one can easily hire help from freelancing sites such as Upwork and Fiverr.
  • Screenflow – This is one of the easiest video editors that exists for Mac computers. It’s known for its templating and automation options that save a lot of production time.

Outsourcing / Getting Help

Well, while this is not one of the tools that one can use to podcast on YouTube, it is definitely an option to consider.

  • When it comes to video podcasting, you’ll realize that a lot of time and effort goes into producing professionally-looking content.
  • If you have the resources, consider outsourcing the tasks you don’t enjoy doing or aren’t familiar with and focus on providing the content itself.

A majority of our clients that have video podcasts have greatly benefited from our Youtube Video Production Done For Your Podcast services. If you are just getting started, I’d highly recommend that you check out this service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. Does podcasting on YouTube contribute to SEO?

  • Yes, it does! Optimizing your topics and episode titles for the search engines by using low competition key phrases is one of the best ways to ensure your show ranks on YouTube.

Q2. Can one podcast on YouTube without video?

  • Yes, you can. As mentioned earlier, one of the ways through which one can create video content on YouTube is by transforming the audio recordings into audiograms. Be sure to have details of your show, your guest, and the title being discussed indicated on the episode graphics.
  • But, consider that if you are video recording guest interviews, you might as well use the footage!

Q3. Can you make a living off of video podcasts?

  • Yes, you can! By selling ad spots, participating in advertisements, offering subscriptions and crowdfunding are some of the ways through which video podcasters are earning on YouTube.

Over to You…

Beginning the podcasting journey on YouTube can seem difficult at first, but is extremely fulfilling once you start building a loyal following. As with any venture, it is important that you invest in the right tools and equipment and thoroughly prepare for the interviews.

If you are already creating content for your audio podcast, consider adding the video element. This can be as simple as an audiogram or as advanced as a full-scale recording of both you and your guest. Be consistent in putting your content out there and watch new listeners discover your content and fall in love with it!

It seems like podcasts are moving into the mainstream media category, considering that at least 90 million people (that is 30% of the population) of the United States listen to or watch a podcast once a month. And more non-podcast listeners are becoming aware, and most of them use Google to discover podcasts they might be interested in. Thus, having your own website and podcast SEO strategy should be to pof-mind when thinking about starting your own podcast.

Read on to see some initial SEO strategies that you should think about before getting started.

SEO Strategy for Podcasts Isn't That Much Different From Regular Blogging

Recently, Google announced that they would be ranking and showing up podcasts on Google searches. That was great news for all podcast creators, owners, and listeners. No one wants to have trouble finding their favorite podcasts.

Podcast SEO strategy relies on Google Search
Stats from "Three Ways To Survive Podcasting’s Existential Crisis", a great medium post by Tom Webster.

And for several years, Google Search has been how the general population discovers new shows to listen to. So this assumes your own podcast should have a website.

1. Keyword Ready Your Title and Description

Podcasting Strategy Includes Keyword Preparting Your Title and Description Graphic
Podcasting SEO Content Strategy Researching Your Title and Description Keywords

As with regular blogging, anything to do with SEO for podcasts has to include a keyword strategy. Ensure that your episode titles and your episode description are rich with relevant keywords. Don't stuff it with keywords, as Google despises that.

The best idea is to do some keyword research before you even record a podcast. Don't even start with the recording, until you know exactly what Google and your audience will love to hear about.

  • There are many free and paid SEO research tools online
  • Examples are Google Keyword Planner or Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest tool

2. Transcriptions of Your Podcasts

Transcripts for SEO strategy, speech bubble, poster and sticker concept with text
Enhance your show notes with transcripts. But don’t just copy-paste

Transcripts make your podcast more visible to Google search. This is a difficult one because it can be so time-consuming to create transcriptions of all your episodes. Transcript quality varies greatly, and the AI based transcripts are still often not good enough to use in practice.

We use Rev.com for all our transcripts, and even though this is more expensive than automated transcripts, in the end it saves us hours of editing work as they are 99% accurate in spelling and punctuation.

But if you have the capacity or capability to clean up your AI transcripts, or have a virtual assistant, having transcriptions of your podcast episodes on your website is a great start to a podcast SEO strategy.

This way you can constantly convert your “show notes” into more authoritative articles for your podcast blog, which will ensure you stay in Google's good books.

Here are some tips when using transcripts on your blog:

  1. Don’t just “copy paste”.
  2. Make it readable by adding subheadings, quotes, and images. No one wants to read a wall of text.
  3. Add images, and consider that image optimization can help SEO.
  4. Ensure that transcriptions for your podcast you avoid the 'umms', 'ahs', and other pauses. Also, avoid any grammatical errors. No one wants to read a text filled with that.
  5. Save time: Use a transcript cleaning utility like “Text Soap”, which you can find in our podcasting resources guide, as it saves hours of formatting work. Automatically remove unwanted characters, fix messed up carriage returns, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

This is also a great way of getting at the auditory-impaired audience, who will be able to engage with your podcast even if they can't listen to it.

Feeling like you need more guidance with your podcast SEO strategy? Check out Polymash's SEO Saturdays, where you can apply to get your podcast episode titles or website SEO optimized.

3. Create Your Show Notes on Your Own Dedicated Podcast Website

Build Your Own Site To Avoid Digital Sharecropping
Photographer: Le Buzz | Source: Unsplash

Even though your podcasting platform probably provides you with an ad-hoc website, SEO for podcasts works best when you host your episodes and show notes on your own dedicated website.

Why would you do all this work, only to drive traffic to your podcast host’s site? That is considered “Digital Sharecropping”, a phrase coined by Nicholas Carr around Web 2.0…

“One of the fundamental economic characteristics of Web 2.0 is the distribution of production into the hands of the many and the concentration of the economic rewards into the hands of the few.”
Why Digital Sharecropping Is Bad For Your Content

Yes, your own website requires more work, but it means that you can style your website as you wish, putting your own branding, and personal touch into it. If you are considering building your own podcast website, the best platform for this is WordPress.

Over the period from 2011 to present date, WordPress has been the number 1 content management system used worldwide, and has grown at an astonishing rate. According to w3techs.com which uses the top 10 million most popular websites tracked by Alexa, WordPress is now the choice for 41.1% of website owners compared to 13.1% back in 2011.
WordPress Hosting Stats

The truth is that focusing on social media is a losing battle because it disappears so quickly. The better idea is to focus on constantly creating new content (Google loves that) by repurposing your podcast SEO strategy content to build your website.

4. Use Show Notes to Increase Backlinks

Podcast SEO strategy depends on link building
Backlinks are key for podcast SEO strategies. Photographer: Mike Alonzo | Source: Unsplash

Backlinks are the backbone of Google SEO strategy. In fact, most websites don't end up getting any organic traffic because they lack backlinks. There are several ways to get backlinks. One way is to ask your guests to link to your show notes from their own blog, website or media pages.

Another passive way for you to get backlinks for your podcast is to create compelling episode mini descriptions that feature links to the full episode show notes article.

You can build backlinks to your podcast episode posts because many podcast listening apps support hyperlinks in the episode mini description.

Tips for getting the most backlinks:

  • Think of the episode description as the short teaser, which then entices your audience to go to your show notes for the full article, list of resources, links mentioned in the episode.
  • So keep it short, but include a single link to your website’s episode URL
  • Don’t put all the links mentioned on your show into your short teaser. This makes it more likely that people will visit your website show notes article.
  • Use PrettyLinks or other link shorteners to track visits. For example, use mypodcast.com/e21 as the short URL you mention on air. In addition to getting stats about how many people visit your site as a result of listening to your show, this also has the benefit of you being able to change the website URL later.
  • Cross post your show notes Post on sites like Blogger and Medium.

5. Use Permalinks From Your Episode Hosts

Permalinks are important for podcasters
Photographer: Meritt Thomas | Source: Unsplash

When uploading your episode to your podcasting platform, you might have seen the option to add a custom permalink URL.

If you have a website for your podcast, then it's a great idea to use these custom permalink URLs.

    • Many hosts support this, like Libsyn and Podbean. This can result in better backlinks to your own website, and social media shares of your episode will point to your own website.
    • If using a custom permalink URL, just keep in mind a permalink should be unique for each individual episode, and should be a URL that will never change on your site.

Permalinks also ensure that when people share your episodes the shared content links to your episode, and not to a hosting platform like Anchor (who don’t support permalinks). This way you can direct people from content shared via the podcast RSS feed directly to your podcast website and get even more of your audience visiting and interacting with your website.

6. Use Content Briefs for Interview Shows

Content Briefs
Photographer: Felipe Furtado | Source: Unsplash

If you haven't heard of content briefs yet, then you are missing out on an podcast SEO strategy tool that can help you create quality content that your audience is looking for.

Content briefs allow you to create content systematically by going deeper. It uses AI to examine the top listing for the subject you are writing or podcasting about, and then produces content suggestions for you to consider.

You can even prepare for guest interviews by doing comprehensive coverage of the episode subject you are planning, based on the most relevant questions being asked online.

You will never run out of things to chat about, and you will actually talk about things that your audience is genuinely concerned about. A win-win situation!

Want to learn more about how to design interview episodes with SEO in mind? Check out this article by Polymash.

Podcast SEO Strategy Is Easy if You Go Slow and Steady

Remember that a podcast SEO strategy is built up over time. You don't need to do it all today.

You can take some of the pressure off of your podcasting shoulders, and focus on building great audio content for your audiences.

If you are interested in enhancing your podcast SEO skills, consider attending our Polymash SEO Marketing course. It's filled with all the learning you might need to build a successful podcast SEO strategy.

Feel like you could do with a few more SEO tools? Have no fear. Polymash has you covered with Polymash's Tools Stack – tools we promote, endorse, and use!

I have to admit my Podcasting Microphone Pet Peeve: The Blue Yeti Mic. Recently I attended a coaching group meetup, and the presenter was a consultant who also considered herself a podcasting expert. And it was put to us in dogmatically certain terms that "The Blue Yeti Podcasting Mic Is Simply The Best Microphone For Podcasters". And in this post it is my solemn duty to disabuse our dear prospects and Yeti fans of this notion.

First of all: There is no such thing as a Blue Yeti Podcasting Mic. It is simply the Blue Yeti Mic. At the coaching meetup I kept my mouth shut, but it was hard. And, this is not the first time I heard this, and we have worked with lots of podcast clients who approach us with initial Blue Yeti podcasting pride.

Microphone Talk

Microphone talk is a favorite topic among podcasters, and mostly beside the point.

Great microphones never guarantee a great podcast.

But the blind devotion that the Blue Yeti seems to inspire among novice podcasters has always been a source of mystery for me. The Blue Yeti may be an excellent microphone, technically speaking. But it is usually the wrong choice for podcasting, for the following reasons:

Why the Blue Yeti Podcasting Microphone Is Often The Wrong Choice For Podcasters:

Blue Yeti Podcasting Microphone Is Often The Wrong Choice
Photographer: Jon Tyson | Source: Unsplash

The Blue Yeti is a Condenser Mic

It is a condenser mic, not a dynamic mic. Condenser mics will pick up sounds a mile away, and there are indeed valid concerns around air conditioners running etc. 

This also means they pick up the sound of the room.

If you are recording in a kitchen, bathroom or basement, the sound of the room, and the reverberations in it, will be super apparent.

There is no way to remove reverberation once recorded. So for your ghost story podcast the "basement sound" might be ideal. In most other cases, not so much.

‘The Blue Yeti in particular, in spite of its sexy switches and cardioid pattern option, is “roomy” sounding, not what you want for distraction free and intimate sounding audio. Being able to switch the pickup pattern helps a little, not a lot.

A large and unwieldy form factor

The Blue Yeti is heavy, large, and cannot easily be mounted on a boom arm, which is necessary to move it close enough to your mouth as you record.

Most people make the mistake of leaving the Yeti on its stand positioned on their desk, 1-2 feet from their mouth – instead of having it inches away from their mouth.

A desk stand Yeti is never going to sound great, unless you are in a sound isolated booth or purposefully built studio. 

The Yeti is an expensive choice, once you buy the shock mount and boom arm and pop filter needed to use it in a “podcasting setup” – in other words close to your mouth. So if you add these pieces, you might as well get a “proper” podcasting mic.

What About The Yeti Pro?

The Yeti Pro is an upgraded (and also much more expensive) version of the Yeti. It improves on the hit original Yeti USB microphone with a stereo balanced XLR output, and professional 192 kHz/24-bit digital audio over its USB out.

The Yeti Pro is indeed an improvement, but still a condenser microphone — which is the fundamental Yeti problem for most podcasting use cases.

So it’s great to be able to connect to a standard XLR preamp, mixer, or audio interface, but the “roomy” sound quality will be there just the same. And mounting it on boom arm stands is still as difficult and unwieldy as with the original.

The Advantages Of Dynamic Mics

Dynamic mic advantages compared to Blue Yeti Podcasting Mics
Photographer: Bogomil Mihaylov | Source: Unsplash
  • Dynamic mics on the other hand reject much of the background noise and are ideal for podcasting.
  • They are also less costly.
  • They are easy to mount on a boom arm, a must have for podcasters in getting their mics close enough while also being comfortable.
  • Lastly there are options with BOTH XLR professionally grounded cables, as WELL AS USB connectivity.

One last thing: USB connections will seldom be enough for a strong enough recording signal, for either dynamic or condenser mics with built in USB connectivity.

Better sound quality comes from a XLR condenser mic not directly connected to your PC or Mac directly, but going through a small desk USB pre-amp like the Focusrite in the equipment list below. Here is a direct link to what most of our podcast clients use (a budget conscious version, the mic is $79): 

Podcasting Starter Pack
From our Podcasting Resources Guide, the One Person Solo (or Interview) Starter Package

So I am sorry if some of this is unwelcome news. 

And if you are committed to using a Blue Yeti, feel free to ignore this advice and read on for some tips to at least get the most out of it.

I do not know why the Blue Yeti inspires such devotion among some people. I have yet to meet a podcaster with more than 10 episodes under their belt that still has it. But for podcasters that inherited the device , or are not able to spend money on a new mic, here are some tips to make the Blue Yeti work better:

Tips to Make The Blue Yeti Work For Podcasting

Recording in a closet with a Blue Yeti
Photographer: Adrienne Leonard | Source: Unsplash

1. Work in a sound-proof studio or sound treated room

If you have a sound proof, purposefully built studio to record in, ignore this post, your Blue Yeti will work fine.

  • Then again, if you have a purposefully built studio, you are extremely unlikely to own (or want to use) a Blue Yeti in the first place.

2. Record inside or in front of a closet

If you have a small closet, are not claustrophobic and comfortable in small spaces, your Yeti will work.

Actually, I’m serious about working in (or near) a closet. But here is the thing:

  • You should not be facing the closet, you should actually have it close behind you. This is because when you speak into a mic it will pick up your voice and noises and sound from what’s BEHIND you – so that is where room reflections and reverb are most noticeable. Therefore having a closet (or sound proofing materials) BEHIND you works better than facing a closet head on.

3. Add carpets

Add some carpets to your recording space to reduce the room sound the Blue Yeti will pick up

  • If you have lots of furniture and carpets in the room, and few reflective surfaces, and can position yourself close to the mic, your Yeti might just work.

4. Get closer

I mean REALLY close to the microphone.

  • Your Yeti recording might result in something called the “proximity effect” – where your voice is being picked up much more loudly than the “room sound” – and all this allows you to reduce the gain during the recording. Try it out and see if you can hear the improvement.
  • Getting really close might also cause more “pops”, so addressing the mic from a slight angle or using a pop filter might help with that.

But be sure to do a test recording and listen to it – before recording that epic 1st one hour episode.

End of rant.