Boost SEO with Podcast Transcription

Podcasts are an effective way to reach new audiences and bring visibility to your brand. Search engines can’t listen to audio, but they can read text. A transcript of each episode gives search engines words to index, so people can find your podcast when they search for the topics you cover.

Transcripts also make your podcast accessible to people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and to anyone who would rather read than listen. This article explains how transcripts help SEO, gives tips for getting the most out of them, and shows how to get a transcript from Rev and publish it.

In this article

Why SEO Is Important 

Like other digital marketing activities, it’s not enough to record your podcast, publish it, and hope for the best. You shouldn’t rely on shares from your existing audience to grow your reach. SEO helps you reach an audience outside of your immediate marketing efforts by making your content more discoverable through search engines. The better your SEO ranking is, the more likely a search engine is to pick up your content and rank it for certain keywords people may search. 

Back to top

How Podcast Transcripts Can Help Improve SEO 

Search engines index text, not audio, so an episode on its own gives them very little to work with. When you publish a transcript alongside the episode, everything you and your guests say becomes searchable text.

Keyword Optimization  

Finding the right keywords is a key aspect of optimizing your podcast with a text transcript. Keywords show Google that your podcast episode relates to user searches. This increases the chances of it showing up in search results. 

Getting Backlinks

Keywords are not the only significant factor in search engine rankings. Being seen as an authority in your niche also helps drive traffic to your content. 

Podcast transcriptions make it easier for authoritative sites to link to you, especially if they want to call out something specific from the podcast without skipping through the entire recording. Backlinks allow you to build SEO and reach new audiences. 

More Accessible Content

Audio is not an ideal medium for everyone—for example, people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, people who are listening in a second language, and people who simply prefer to read or skim.

Back to top

Best Practices for Boosting Podcast SEO 

Now that you know the benefits, here are some ways to improve your podcast SEO and increase your podcast episodes’ reach. 

Record with SEO in Mind 

Consider topics and keywords your potential audience may be interested in before recording. Plan your podcast episodes in order to optimize for relevant keywords. Then your podcast transcripts will automatically be optimized for SEO and improve the quality of content on your website. 

Choose the Right Keywords 

Focus each episode on one main keyword, and vary your keywords from episode to episode so you don’t compete with yourself. Look for keywords with high search volume and low competition, since they give you the best chance of ranking. Keyword research tools can help you find them. Then say the keyword naturally during the episode and use it in the episode title and description.

Pick the Right Title 

The title of your podcast is like the subject line of an email. If it’s not good, no one will click on it. Appealing titles will encourage people to listen and will keep them coming back. 

Include Speaker Names

Transcripts with speaker names are easier to read and quote, and they show up in search when people look up your guests. When you order a transcript from Rev, add your host and guest names so they’re spelled correctly and labeled throughout.

Publish Every Episode’s Transcript

The SEO benefit builds over time. Publish a transcript for every episode, not just your most popular ones, so your whole back catalog becomes searchable.

Back to top

Get a Podcast Transcript From Rev

Rev offers two ways to transcribe your podcast:

  • Human transcription: A professional transcriptionist creates and reviews your transcript. This is the best choice for transcripts you’ll publish, because names, terms, and crosstalk are handled accurately.
  • AI transcription: Your transcript is ready in minutes. This is a good choice for drafts, show notes, or episodes you plan to review and edit yourself.

Order a Transcript

  1. Upload your episode file, or paste a public link to the episode. You can also import files from Dropbox, Google Drive, YouTube, or Vimeo.
  2. Choose human or AI transcription.
  3. Add your host and guest names so speakers are labeled correctly.
  4. Place your order. You’ll get an email when your transcript is ready.
  5. Open the transcript in the Transcription Editor to review it and make any final edits.
  6. Download the transcript as a Word, PDF, or TXT file.

Back to top

Publish Your Transcript

  • On your website: Paste the transcript text into the episode’s page or blog post, below the audio player or episode description. Publish it as page text rather than a downloadable PDF so search engines can read it.
  • On Apple Podcasts: Apple creates transcripts automatically, but you can provide your own instead. Change the transcript setting for your show in Apple Podcasts Connect, then add your transcript to your RSS feed using the transcript tag. Apple accepts VTT or SRT files. Check whether your podcast host supports transcripts.
  • In your show notes: Use highlights from the transcript to write episode descriptions, social posts, and quotes.

Back to top