Why Your Podcast Needs Show Notes

Podcasts are an incredible tool to connect authentically with your ideal customer. They hear your voice, get to know you on a different level than blog posts, and easily consume episodes on the go.

Yet, they can be time-consuming. You spend time planning, recording, and editing each episode, not to mention sharing on social media and marketing it each week. Why spend your time on something written that takes up more of your time, especially if it’s audio-based?

The “audio-only” mindset can limit your podcast’s success and inhibit it from reaching your ideal customer. Yes, audio is important and is why we have podcasts, but the written piece of your podcast, the show notes, is equally important to your podcast’s growth and success.

What are show notes?

Show notes are essentially a written description of the podcast episode that you upload to the hosting platform alongside the audio file and episode graphics. They can include information about the episode, guests, and links to resources.

Some podcasters add the show notes to their website in the form of a blog post to drive website visitors to the podcast.

Podcast show notes might seem like another tedious task on the to-do list, but they are essential and can make or break a podcast.

Here’s why your podcast needs show notes:

Summarize The Episode

Show notes summarize each episode are an introduction to the show, episode, and topic. Think of it as a book summary on the back cover. Would you pick up a book in a store without reading the back cover to understand what it’s about?

It’s the same with podcasts. Unless you have a die-hard listener who tunes into every episode, listeners will want to know the topic, theme, or information in the podcast. New listeners especially will scan through show notes to decide whether or not they want to listen. An episode summary in the show notes gives them a quick overview of the episode.

How to do it:

Briefly describe the theme of your podcast and why it is important to the listener.

Cover the main points you touched on during the episode either in a bulleted list or short paragraphs. Create a section titled “What you’ll discover” or “In this episode” so the listeners know what the episode is about.

Include a short biography of your guest (or yourself!) to provide background information to your audience.

Summaries don’t need to be long-winded explanations of the podcast but need to be long enough to provide the main points.

Increase Your Podcast SEO

SEO for podcasts leaves something to be desired. It’s often hard to search for podcasts on distribution platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Hence, podcasters often rely on other forms of SEO, namely show notes and blog posts that will show up in search engine results, to help their podcast rank.

Why does SEO matter? Well, you want people to find your podcast, right? While listeners often find podcasts through social media, ads, and other platforms, many will find them through good old search engines like Google. The good news is that as of 2019, Google started indexing podcast episodes. Even with indexing, you still want to make sure your SEO is effective.

How to do it:

Decide on your focus keywords of the podcast episode and add them naturally throughout the description.

Use your main keyword in the episode title, as close to the beginning as possible, so it will show up on the search engine results page (and doesn’t get cut off!).

Create a blog post on your website with expanded show notes. Here you can use headers, customize the URL with your keyword, add the keywords to the meta description, and even add an episode transcript. Use images with alt text, add internal and external links, and even embed an audio player for that episode.

I often see podcast episodes with only a few words in the show notes, none of which include keywords to help listeners find the podcast or Google to rank them. Without show notes and optimized episode titles, you won’t attract your target audience and grow your show.

Share Valuable Resources

How often do you listen to podcasts while driving or out on a walk? I’m always on the go when listening to podcasts, so when podcasters list resources, tools, and websites, I’m not prepared to write down the information. I know I’m not the only one, and in fact, 64% of listeners in the United States will listen while driving (podcasthosting.org).

This is where episode show notes come in handy. Show notes create a central place for all information related to the episode, whether it’s resources you mentioned in the episode, links to the guest’s social media or services, or other pertinent information. Podcast hosts will often ask guests for advice, favorite tools, books, or podcasts they listen to regularly. Show notes can contain all that information for listeners who want to find out more information when they are at a computer or can access their phone.

How to do it:
Include a resources section and add each link, book, podcast episode, or other resource mentioned on the podcast.

Create a section for guest contact information such as social media handles, websites, or other ways to get in touch with the guest.

Add your business contact information so listeners can find you, your business, and any promotions you might mention on the podcast, such as opt-ins, courses, sales, etc.

Show notes are a great way to centralize all the podcast episode’s resources for listeners to access at their leisure.

Optimize Lead Generation

You’re likely using your podcast as a content marketing tool to generate new leads in your business. Many podcasters do this in varying ways, by mentioning their products or services during the episode, creating ads for those products or services, or including a call-to-action throughout the podcast (usually beginning, middle, and end).

Show notes can help you optimize your lead generation. They provide listeners a place to find the links you mentioned rather than remembering everything mentioned in the episode. The listener will likely forget as soon as they finish listening, but if you can provide them with a place to access your call-to-action in the show notes, they’re more likely to click through the link.

How to do it:

Include a call-to-action section in the show notes. Add links mentioned in the episode and a brief description of the action you want them to take.

Separate the call-to-action from the episode description. I like to include this section after the description and define it with either a header (on the blog post show notes) or a bolded title.

Podcasts are an excellent way to bring new leads into your business, so you need to make it easy for listeners to find you and the call-to-action.

Show notes are a critical piece to your podcast and should not be disregarded simply because they take too much time. The added benefits to writing show notes outweigh the costs and include:

• Summarizing the episode for your listener
• Increasing your podcast’s SEO
• Sharing valuable resources
• Optimizing your lead generation

Write notes for a few episodes and see what happens to your podcast’s growth. If you decide you want to continue with show notes but just don’t have the time, consider outsourcing to a podcast manager or virtual assistant. Trust me, the cost will be well worth it.