Podcast SEO 101: 12 Key Tips to Build a Bigger Audience

Key takeaways:

• Podcast SEO increases visibility by helping new listeners discover your show on platforms like Google and Spotify.
• Keyword research helps target the right audience and expand your podcast’s reach.
• Optimizing titles, descriptions, and transcripts boosts search rankings and improves listener engagement.
• You can use Podcast SEO tools like Riverside, Google Keyword Planner and Keywords everywhere.

What is podcast SEO?

If you’re a podcaster, one of your key goals is audience growth, and one way to encourage this is through podcast SEO, or “search engine optimization.”

Podcast SEO involves enhancing your podcast so it’s more likely to come up when people search for terms related to your topic. This includes using related keywords and search phrases in your podcast show, description and title.

When people talk about SEO, they usually talk about search engines. But for podcasts, this type of optimization also applies to podcasting apps.

Luckily, it’s simpler than it seems. Let’s take a look at some of the key ways you can optimize your podcast for search.

Does SEO matter for podcasts?

Many podcasters are pretty skeptical about SEO. And that’s OK! 

But here’s why SEO needs to be on every podcaster’s radar: According to research, 40% of people use the search bar in their podcast app to find new podcasts, and 13.6% use Google. 

By that measure, more than half of podcast listeners find new podcasts with the help of SEO.

Here are some of the key benefits of applying some podcast SEO best practices.

Boosts podcast discovery and visibility

SEO helps people discover your podcast, especially if they don’t know it by name.

Let’s say you have a true crime podcast. There are certainly lots of those. But a true crime fan looking for a new one might search for something like this:

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Search engines like Google read all types of data to show searchers the results that most match what they’re looking for. In the above example, they’d likely look for “true crime” or related terms in the content they show. 

If you haven’t optimized your podcast and included relevant terms and themes, it’s unlikely your podcast will show up for a keyword’s search results. 

And this isn’t just on Google. You want to apply the same practices for podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. 

Several podcasting platforms - particularly the largest ones like Spotify and Apple Podcasts - are even indexed on Google. This means that Google actually crawls their sites to potentially include pages in search results.

Helps you target the right audience

SEO can help you target the right audience for your podcast. By understanding what types of people might be drawn to your podcast, you can use SEO to connect with people looking for new content. 

For example, let’s say you host a gaming podcast focused on war and strategy games. Keyword research - can help you understand what keywords people are using to search for the kind of content you’re creating. Using these keywords can help you really find your people.

Helps you make better content

SEO can also help you uncover questions and areas of interest related to your podcast niche that you may not be aware of. This can become a valuable source of episode ideas.

For example, suppose that you want to do an episode on the popular Warhammer video game on your gaming podcast. By using a keyword research tool, you can easily look up all the key questions people are asking search engines about this game. 

You can see below that there are some potentially interesting questions here. Plus, keyword research can help you understand what topics are more popular based on how many people are searching for them each month. When a lot of people have the same question, this may be something you, as a podcaster, can tap into to provide an answer.

Creates a better experience for your audience

Optimizing your podcast for search engines can also make your podcast - and individual episodes - easier for your listeners to understand, navigate, and enjoy. After all, a big component of succeeding in an electronic medium involves meeting people’s needs and delivering on their expectations. 

For example, creating clear, keyword-rich episode titles and descriptions not only helps algorithms understand your content - it helps people too!

14 Podcast SEO Best Practices You Can Use to Boost Your Podcast’s Visibility

Now that you know how important SEO can be to a podcaster’s success, here are a few simple ways you can implement it as part of your strategy.

1. Use Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing what words or phrases your audience looks up in search engines like Google. You can see the volume behind each keyword, which indicates how many people are searching for it.

This helps you understand which topics and language is relevant and popular among your listeners. 

You’ll want to conduct keyword research for your podcast as a whole, as well as each episode.

How to use Podcast SEO tools for keyword research

There are lots of SEO keyword tools you can use for free, including Google Keyword Planner and Wordstream’s Free Keyword Tool. A lot of SEO software providers like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz, also provide free plans or free trials.

Start by simply typing in the key topic area of your podcast. 

Let’s say your podcast is about dog training. If you type that into your keyword research tool of choice, you’ll find related keywords like: 

• “dog obedience training” 
• “agility dog training” 
• “dog potty training,” 
• and “aggressive dog training” 

Next, examine what the intent is behind each of these keywords. What are people actually looking for when searching these terms? 

It’s a good idea to group keywords with the same intent. For example, “dog potty training” and “how to potty train a dog” will give you the same or extremely similar results.

This will help you understand how you might label some of the categories you could cover as high-value topics for future episodes.

Another option is to see what other podcasts in your niche are ranking for. 

If you’re just starting out, you might have a harder time ranking for more competitive, broad, high-volume terms. To gain authority, start with lower volume, more specific, long-tail keywords. For example: How to potty train a dog in an apartment”.

Now that you’ve got your keywords, we’ll dive deeper into how, exactly, you’ll be using them in some of the following sections.

Learn more about keyword research in the video below:

2. Optimize your podcast name

Your podcast name is the main title of your whole show. Choose it carefully. 

Because it’s part of your branding, you’ll want it to reflect your show’s unique style. But you also want to use it to make what you offer clear to new potential listeners.

The best podcast names tend to be:

• Catchy, compelling, and easy to remember
• Relevant to your content topic
• Not so obscure that they aren’t easily understandable

And, ideally, your podcast title should include a keyword. Just take a look at what happens if you search for “marketing podcasts.”

It’s no coincidence that most of the results include the term “marketing,” or some variation of it. 

Optimizing this title with a keyword isn’t just for search engines. A podcast title is often the first (and possibly last) opportunity to tell a potential new listener what your show is about.

3. Write a good description

Next up is your podcast description. This provides a summary of your podcast as a whole. Think of it like that little blurb on a restaurant menu that tells you what each dish is like. This is your second chance to appeal to that potential listener and give them a reason to press play. 

It is also a good place to use some other related keywords within your main topic area. For example, check out this description by top podcaster Guy Raz, of How I Built This.

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This description does a great job of summarizing the content, but it also includes a lot of important keywords like, “entrepreneurs,” “founders,” “innovation,” and “leadership.” This can help expose this content for people searching for these keywords.

Note that while keywords are great, you don’t want to go crazy. That’s called “keyword stuffing” and it’s both annoying to read and counterproductive. Basically, if your podcast title has the main keyword your content falls under, your description should include this keyword and two to three secondary keywords that are important to your content.

Instead of keyword stuffing, your focus should be intent and what people are actually looking for around the related term.

4. Consider your episode titles

Podcast episode titles are the titles for each specific podcast episode you publish. 

If the podcast title and description helps people find your podcast, well-executed episode titles can help people find specific episodes. 

They should entice listeners to tune in by accurately portraying what they’ll get from listening. 

Take a look at how top podcaster Tim Ferriss, of The Tim Ferriss Show, uses episode titles to give a clear overview of what to expect from the show.

But you can put an SEO lens on this, too. Take a look at some of the key phrases above, like:

• “How to Set Strong Boundaries”
• “Overcome Purpose Anxiety”
• “Find Your Deep Inner Voice”
• “Visualization Techniques”

In other words, every single episode could have a keyword or phrase of its own. These are phrases that could help connect new people who are searching these topics with your podcast. 

As we mentioned above, your keyword research can be a driving force in choosing what topics to cover and which keywords to use for titles. No need to go crazy. 

When choosing keywords, use your research tool to see which variations of certain phrases have more search volume!

5. Write compelling podcast episode descriptions

Not to be confused with the podcast description, podcast episode descriptions are the descriptions you see for each and every podcast episode. This can provide the listener with more information about the episode and entice them to tune in. 

Take a look at this episode description from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal, which is recorded on Riverside.

This sounds super interesting, right? But because there’s more character count here, it also gives you the opportunity to sprinkle in a few keywords related to the show, like “passive income.”

If this all sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry. With Riverside, you can generate podcast summaries, takeaways, chapters, and show notes in one click. (It’s pretty cool.) This makes it easy to create accurate, high-quality summaries.

6. Use show notes

Show notes can be found beneath the podcast description on many podcast apps. You can often find a more detailed version on the podcast’s website. While descriptions offer a short, concise overview of what listeners can expect from an episode, show notes are designed to offer in-depth information and provide extra value to listeners.

Not all podcasters use show notes - but they should. 

Show notes can include:

• Timestamps of the key sections of each episode.
• People mentioned or guests included in the episode along with more information about them.
• Relevant resources for the episode, such as related links, sources used, and anything else the audience might be interested in.
• Advertiser information and links.
• Social media and contact information for the podcast hosts and guests.

It’s also another place for - you guessed it - relevant keywords. But as you’re probably starting to notice, this stuff isn’t just for search engines! (Have we mentioned that yet?) Your show notes are also another opportunity to connect with and engage your audience.

If you want an example of some very extensive show notes, check out Tim Ferriss. He goes so deep you have to visit his website to get the full version, which includes links, detailed time stamps, every single person mentioned in the episode, and key quotes from the episode.

As we said above, you can get a head start by using tools like Riverside’s AI transcriptions and show notes. You’ll get a highly accurate transcript of your podcast recording. You can use this as is for creating show notes. Or, for a more seamless experience, our AI show notes can convert your transcript into timestamped chapters, key takeaways, and a summary. 

7. Transcribe your episodes

Transcription refers to converting the audio form of your podcast to text. 

Luckily, with Riverside, this is effortless. Your content is transcribed automatically as you record. You can then download your transcript as soon as your recording is complete. And this is compatible with 100+ languages.

A transcript makes your content more accessible for people with hearing-related disabilities - or even just people who prefer to watch with the sound off. And, if you can transcribe your podcast in more than one language, it can also open up the content to new groups of listeners. 

Transcriptions can help your SEO in a few key ways: 

Keywords: 

Each episode will naturally include keywords related to your topic. When you provide them in text form, they can be crawled and discovered by Google and podcasting platforms. 

Captions and subtitles: 

It’s easy to make captions and subtitles when you have a transcript in hand. This makes your video podcast content even more accessible. YouTube’s algorithm is also believed to favor videos with captions in search rankings.

YouTube and Google algorithms also consider engagement in their rankings. If your content is more accessible, you are essentially opening it up to a wider range of people who can engage with it.

Repurposing:

Transcriptions can also be repurposed to create other types of content. Like blog posts for your website.

8. Create a podcast website or landing page

A podcast website or landing page is a place besides podcasting platforms where people can learn more about your show. It can give your show a home and help distinguish it and make it stand out. 

A website can make your podcast more discoverable by Google, particularly when people search your podcast by name. Check out what you’ll find when you search for the ultra-popular true crime podcast, Crime Junkie.

The podcast’s website is the first result! It serves up not only podcast episodes, but other ways that fans can engage, such as by joining the fan club, buying merchandise, or making suggestions for future episodes. Crime Junkie’s site also ranks highly for many of the individual cases it covers, providing a clear path for those with an interest in true crime to find the show.

9. Build backlinks

Backlinks are a core part of SEO strategy, and they are just what they sound like: links from other websites that go back to your site or show. 

Think of a backlink as a vote from the internet at large. The more high-quality votes you have, the more relevant and important Google may judge you to be. 

As part of your podcast SEO strategy, you want to get as many backlinks to your podcast or website as possible. 

This isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, you may already be doing a few of these things:

• Be a guest on other podcasts. When you do, they will likely link to you from their show notes, and possibly their social media and website as well. 
• Guest blog for related websites. If you have something to say, consider writing for a website where you can be a featured author. In most cases, you’ll be able to link to your show, website, and social media from a writer bio, and possibly also from the content itself.
• Create high-quality content on your own website. Great content can bring in links all on its own as people share and link to it.
• Become a source for reporters and bloggers. If you have expertise in a particular area on which your podcast is focused, consider using a service like Connectively or Featured to answer reporters’ queries and appear as a source in the media.
• Pay for digital PR. This involves paying an expert to get your podcast placed in top publications. This one can be pretty pricey, but a good PR person can do wonders for your visibility.

Of course, as with most things SEO, gaining backlinks has lots of other benefits in terms of growing your podcast audience. You’ll expand your reach, drive word-of-mouth mentions about your brand, and be working towards growing your show well beyond search engines.

10. Leverage popular podcast platforms

Some podcast platforms just get a lot more visitors than others. And, as we mentioned, some are more discoverable on Google as well. 

According to Buzzsprout, the most popular podcast platforms in 2024 are:

• Spotify (35%)
• Apple Podcasts (33%)

And data collected by Emarkerter found that people predominantly listen to podcasts via:

• YouTube (33%)
• Spotify (24%)
• Apple Podcasts (12%)

You don’t have to be on every podcast platform, but it’s a good idea to be on the top ones. You should also consider putting your podcast on YouTube. It has more than 2.7 billion monthly active users. And, because it’s owned by Google, it also appears prominently in many search results. 

Podcast SEO tips for posting on podcasting platforms

SEO on YouTube

When it comes to optimizing your content on YouTube, remember that Google often ranks YouTube videos in its search results. This is important because while you’re creating YouTube content, some of your optimizations will need to match Google’s requirements as well. 

Focus on the following:

• Optimize titles and descriptions: Use our tips above, but try make your title a max of around 60-62 characters so it’s compatible with Google. (You can use a SERP simulator to test it out.
• Utilize tags: Add relevant tags in your video description to improve discoverability. This helps categorize your content and makes it easier for potential listeners to find.
• Add captions and subtitles: YouTube’s algorithm favors videos with captions, enhancing your content's visibility.
• Create engaging thumbnails: A good thumbnail can significantly increase click-through rates.
• Leverage YouTube Shorts: Shorts can attract new viewers and drive traffic to your full episodes.

Note: If you’re already creating an audio podcast, it’s super easy to make a YouTube version with Riverside. You can record audio and video in one shot and then download them separately. But better yet, our text-based editor makes it easy to edit your videos and you can even create audiograms.

Podcast SEO on Spotify

Spotify’s search engines rely heavily on podcast titles and descriptions, just like most other platforms. But Spotify also puts a very heavy emphasis on user behavior and engagement.. Sharing episodes on social media and encouraging playlist inclusion can also help boost visibility on Spotify.

Besides usual SEO practices, you should:

• Track performance: Keep an eye on what content performs best (a good practice anyway) and learn how to bring that into all your content. 
• Encourage Listener Interaction:  Use polls, Q&A sessions to boost listener loyalty and keep them listening to the whole episode. (This will give you points in the algorithm.)
• Create engaging cover art:  Ensure your artwork is high-quality, meets Spotify’s specifications, and draws people in.

Optimizing on Apple Podcasts

Apple looks at podcast titles, episodes and descriptions for relevant keywords. And just like Spotify, you’ll want an engaging podcast cover and high engagement.

But besides this, focus on:

• Reviews and ratings: Higher ratings can help boost your chances of getting on Apple’s podcast charts, which means more views. 
• Subscriptions: Consider offering exclusive content or bonus episodes for subscribers. This can increase listener loyalty and improve your podcast’s ranking.

 You’ll often hear podcasters reminding their audience to do the above, and now you know why. 

11. Assess your podcast analytics

An important component of any SEO strategy is data analysis. After all, how can you understand what’s working (and do more of it!) if you don’t know what’s working!

Some podcast platforms, like Spotify for Podcasters, include podcast analytics. Here, you can find information about who’s consuming your content, which episodes people like best, and where those visitors are coming from. This can help you refine your strategy and continue to grow your audience.

If you have a podcast blog or landing page, you can also install Google Analytics, which will provide detailed data on how people are finding your brand.

12. Use social media

Social media likes, follows, and shares won’t boost your SEO directly (they’re not considered a factor in ranking content on Google.) But social media can still play a role in your SEO strategy by increasing your visibility in a few key ways:

• Some search results display a carousel that includes social media posts, as well as relevant video content from platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok. People can discover you and your content on social media platforms, in addition to Google and podcasting platforms.
• By reaching additional people, it provides a new channel for growing your audience. With each like, share, and repost, your content becomes available to a whole new group of followers, some of whom will go search for your show.

You can share recently released episodes, tease upcoming episodes, tag guests, share more about yourself - whatever social media strategy yo think is a fit for your show and your brand. 

Podcast SEO Tools

If you want to work on your podcast’s SEO, you’ll need a few tools. Fortunately, many free options provide plenty of functionality to get started. Here are the tools you should consider.

Keyword tool

Podcasters who are looking to improve their SEO should definitely use a keyword research tool. There are free options available, and many paid platforms also have free plans or trials. You could try:

• Google Keyword Planner 
• Wordstream’s Free Keyword Tool
• Keyword Everywhere
• YouTube’s keyword tool for YouTube videos
• A free trial from a provider like Semrush or Ahrefs.

Transcription tool

A transcription tool can also be helpful, as transcripts are a powerful way to boost your podcast’s SEO. Riverside automatically transcribes your content as you’re recording. It’s 99% accurate and easy to export as an SRT file so you can add it to your podcasting platforms. 

SEO plugins

If you have a podcast landing page or blog, you could use a WordPress SEO plugin like Yoast or Rank Math to help you get the basics right. Other website builders like Wix also have built-in SEO tools that can help ensure your website at least meets minimum SEO standards.

Analytics

Finally, be sure to assess any analytics you have access to. Some podcasting platforms as well as YouTube provide analytics that can help you improve your audience engagement. Most platforms consider engagement metrics in their algorithms when determining whether to display one podcast over another. 

If you have a website, you can connect Google Analytics to get detailed data on who is visiting your site, what they’re doing there, and how they are finding you.

Final thoughts

Podcast SEO doesn’t have to be complicated and time-consuming. In fact, it really just involves putting a different lens over many of the tasks you are probably doing anyway, like writing episode titles, descriptions, and show notes.

Riverside has lots of built-in tools designed to streamline these tasks, like automatic transcription, and AI-generated show notes. And, because it’s an audio and video recorder, it can help you easily make a YouTube version of your podcast. Combine that  with a little keyword research, and you’ll be on your way to building a bigger audience of listeners.

Good luck!

FAQs about SEO for podcasts

Still need some information? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

Does the podcast’s image help with SEO?

Potentially. The images you use for your podcast can help your SEO if they’re well chosen and optimized correctly. 

For your main podcast image, choose an image that is clear, compelling, and easy to see, read, and interpret. This can affect how often people decide to click on your podcast, both from podcast apps and search results. Over time, better engagement can help your podcast appear more often as the algorithm judges that it’s meeting searchers’ needs.

While podcast platforms don’t allow you to optimize images in the same way as you can for your website, it can help to create a unique image for each episode. If your episode is optimized for certain keywords, this image could appear in search results.

If you have a website, all basic image optimization practices apply. You should:

• Use a descriptive file name for your image. So, if your episode image is of a guest, you might name it guest-name.png.
• Use alt text. This is text that appears in your site’s meta data. It is used by screen readers that help visually impaired people interpret the page. It is also used by search engines to better understand your image.

How can a podcast increase SEO?

Just as podcasters are looking to build their organic traffic, many non-podcasters use podcasts to boost search traffic to their own businesses and websites. This works because a podcast is a good way for a business or person to introduce themselves to a new audience, which may cause that audience to search for them later. Most podcasts also link back to their guests, helping further boost their online visibility.

Do podcast transcripts help SEO?

Yes, they do. Because a transcript provides keyword-rich text that podcast apps and search engines can “read” to better understand your content, it can help your episodes appear in more related searches. Of course, transcripts can be very helpful for listeners too!

What are some examples of podcast SEO?

 The best way to start understanding how podcast SEO works - and how it might work for you - is to start doing some searches. You can try this both on Google and in your favorite podcast apps. 

Think like a listener with similar interests. What would you search for? What comes up? When you do this enough, you can start to understand some of the reasons behind why you see certain podcasts in your results. This will help you come up with ideas on how to better position your own podcast.

Crime Junkie is a great example of podcast SEO. This podcast has an excellent website with a detailed landing page and summary for each episode. They also cover a lot of the most publicized true crime cases. Because a lot of people search true crime cases by name, Crime Junkie’s pages rank for many of these searches. This brings in related audiences who are interested in the topic, but have maybe never heard of the podcast itself.

How do I do SEO for Spotify?

The basic rules that we’ve covered above apply to Spotify. You should:

• Do keyword research
• Use keywords in your podcast name, podcast description, episode titles, and episode description.
• Include a transcript of your podcast (Spotify crawls this)
• Grow your reach through social media and other forms of self-promotion
• Focus on creating episodes that keep people listening to the end - this is a key aspect of the Spotify algorithm
• Encourage playlist inclusion as this is also part of the listening data Spotify focuses on

Spotify also allows you to create a podcast trailer, which can help increase the chances that you’ll convert browsers to listeners. Over time, this increased engagement can help you appear in searches more often. 

You can also use Spotify’s analytics to help you understand what’s working.

Should I do SEO myself?

You can certainly do SEO yourself for your podcast. Most of the principles are simple, and there are lots of great resources online to help you. For a great beginner’s resource, check out Learning SEO. Here you can get a good introduction to key SEO principles, and tap in to some great resources that’ll teach you all the ins and out of keyword research.