Hello! This time I'm going to talk about SEO: how to get your podcast to the top of searches on podcast platforms.
If you're not planning to dive deep into this topic systematically, feel free to skip to the last section - there, I give three simple, free, and effective tips.
For those interested in a more detailed discussion, let's begin. 😏
Shall we?
If you're not planning to dive deep into this topic systematically, feel free to skip to the last section - there, I give three simple, free, and effective tips.
For those interested in a more detailed discussion, let's begin. 😏
Shall we?
SEO optimization gives 40% of listeners
Imagine: You notice that Bitcoin has fallen in price and are considering investing in it. Before spending money, you want to hear other investors' opinions. So you go to Apple Podcasts and search for "bitcoin," "is it worth buying bitcoin," or "cryptocurrency market." In response, Apple Podcasts offers you several relevant episodes.
According to Voxalyze, 38.1% of listeners find podcasts this way—by typing search queries on podcast platforms. For comparison, only 27.2% search for podcasts on social networks. Search queries are the main way for listeners and podcasters to connect.
If you're creating a podcast about Bitcoin, it's in your best interest to ensure that when someone searches for "is it worth buying Bitcoin," your show is suggested. However, you can't simply pay to rank higher in search results; there are no advertising opportunities on podcast platforms. The only way to become more visible is through SEO.
According to Voxalyze, 38.1% of listeners find podcasts this way—by typing search queries on podcast platforms. For comparison, only 27.2% search for podcasts on social networks. Search queries are the main way for listeners and podcasters to connect.
If you're creating a podcast about Bitcoin, it's in your best interest to ensure that when someone searches for "is it worth buying Bitcoin," your show is suggested. However, you can't simply pay to rank higher in search results; there are no advertising opportunities on podcast platforms. The only way to become more visible is through SEO.
What results can be achieved?
I'll demonstrate this using the example of a recent podcast - "Fucking English" Here are the numbers before working on SEO:
Visibility Rank is a composite metric from Voxalyze that indicates how search robots rank a podcast. Initially, this podcast ranked low, appearing only for three keywords: its name (first place) and two random words, "get invited" and "casually" (19th and 68th place, respectively).
However, this is what happens after a month of systematic work on SEO:
However, this is what happens after a month of systematic work on SEO:
We're ranked in the top 9% of most visible podcasts by Voxalyze, and we now rank for 17 different
keywords. Five of these keywords are quite popular, and three rank in the top twenty. This is already a
promising start.
keywords. Five of these keywords are quite popular, and three rank in the top twenty. This is already a
promising start.
How I worked on SEO:
Step 1
Brainstorm as many relevant keywords as possible for the topic. Work collaboratively to generate a wide range of ideas. For example, for "Fucking English," consider words related to sex, language acquisition, and cultural aspects. At this stage, focus on quantity and relevance rather than quality.
Here's what the initial keyword list looked like:
Here's what the initial keyword list looked like:
Step 2
Select main keywords. No more than 10 per podcast, including:
To evaluate keywords, I used Voxalyze's Search Volume and Difficulty parameters. They rate "search volume" with circles from 1 to 3, and provide a "Competitiveness" table.
- Branded keywords distinguishing our podcast from others. These are keywords typed by users purposefully searching for our podcasts.
- Nugget keywords with high search volume but low competition.
- Profitable niche keywords with low competition and low search volume, but relevant to our product.
- People searching for these words are likely to become our clients.
To evaluate keywords, I used Voxalyze's Search Volume and Difficulty parameters. They rate "search volume" with circles from 1 to 3, and provide a "Competitiveness" table.
So, I write a keyword and then check the search volume and competition in Voxalyze. Repeating this process multiple times, I became confused by the numbers and soon had to create my own guideline.
I learned from experience that if a word has a low search volume (1), it's best if its difficulty is below 40 or at most 50. For words with high search volume (3), a difficulty up to 60 or at most 70 is acceptable. This guideline allowed me to quickly identify "golden" or at least "red" words that have low complexity relative to their search volume.
Step 3
Identify the "low-hanging fruit" from your competitors. Determine which podcasts are already ranking according to our 10 key factors. These are our closest competitors in search engines, and surpassing them would be advantageous. To achieve this, analyze their keyword arsenal and add the least competitive ones to our "low hanging fruit" list. We can even target some of their "branded keywords" - fragments of their show names - to appear in second place when users specifically search for our competitors' podcasts.
Let's say I pre-selected the keywords "online dating," "flirt," "sexy," and "English." In Voxalyze, I find the top podcasts ranking for these words. In their lists of keywords, I look for "nuggets" (words that have low complexity for their search volume).
After three working days, I receive a table with carefully selected 10 keywords and a bunch of other candidates:
After three working days, I receive a table with carefully selected 10 keywords and a bunch of other candidates:
Step 4
Check how our already published podcasts rank for the top 10 keywords. We need this measurement to evaluate the experiment results. Save all metadata to compare "before" and "after" states later.
Step 5
Step 5
Write your first body paragraphs using the selected keywords. This is where the real fuss begins: the GPT chat is distorting the key points (for AI, there's a difference between "how-to" and "how to," but the GPT chat under my guidance didn't account for such nuances); I don't know English well, and the drafts are multiplying.
Write your first body paragraphs using the selected keywords. This is where the real fuss begins: the GPT chat is distorting the key points (for AI, there's a difference between "how-to" and "how to," but the GPT chat under my guidance didn't account for such nuances); I don't know English well, and the drafts are multiplying.
I spent another workday on this, and all that remained was to incorporate the SEO texts according to the metadata. Here's the impact cheat sheet:
Step 6
Conduct a series of experiments. A positive result will be improved search rankings for the selected keywords.
Consider these experiments:
Conduct these experiments one at a time, allowing 2-3 weeks between changes (the typical time for search engines to update data). This approach will help identify which changes affect search results and which do not
Consider these experiments:
- Add one of the 10 main keywords to the podcast title.
- Incorporate one of the 10 main keywords into the author's title.
- Replace underperforming keywords with less competitive or more specific alternatives.
- Explore different niches. Once the podcast gains a listener base, try moving it from the education category to humor to assess category impact.
Conduct these experiments one at a time, allowing 2-3 weeks between changes (the typical time for search engines to update data). This approach will help identify which changes affect search results and which do not
This is what I do, but the challenge lies in rewriting all the meta-texts for all episodes with each new experiment. Replacing "sexy" with "juicy" required an hour of intense, tedious work. Meanwhile, I still haven't developed a successful program for working with GPT.
Conclusions:
- SEO optimization of podcasts appears to be an attractive area, as it offers a unique promotional avenue for this medium.
- This work requires consistency, regular efforts, and constant experimentation.
- If we cannot find an existing, well-functioning neural network service for selecting keywords and generating content, we should incorporate this feature into our own service.
How to organize systematic work on SEO
We typically follow this process:
1. Collect the maximum number of keywords related to your podcast:
2. Select keywords that:
For example, Bitcoin is clearly too competitive, while zero-knowledge proofs are highly relevant to the topic but not very popular.
We choose 5 keywords of varying popularity and competitiveness as a hypothesis.
3. Optimize content:
4. Wait 2-3 weeks for search engines to index the changes.
5. Present results for analysis:
6. Based on first-round results:
1. Collect the maximum number of keywords related to your podcast:
- Extract from the podcast and descriptions
- Ask you to add
2. Select keywords that:
- Correspond to the topic
- Are quite popular
- Are not too overused
For example, Bitcoin is clearly too competitive, while zero-knowledge proofs are highly relevant to the topic but not very popular.
We choose 5 keywords of varying popularity and competitiveness as a hypothesis.
3. Optimize content:
- Add keywords to episode and show titles
- Include keywords in the podcast author's title
- Add 1-2 paragraphs of SEO text with keywords to podcast and episode descriptions
4. Wait 2-3 weeks for search engines to index the changes.
5. Present results for analysis:
- Popularity of selected keywords
- Achieved positions for keywords
- Performance across platforms and countries
6. Based on first-round results:
- If you want to continue, we develop a new hypothesis and test
- If successful, we can repeat this process every 1-2 months
Three free SEO hacks
It's beneficial to work on SEO systematically, but if you choose not to do so now, you can use free and quick life hacks. First, you still need to develop several keywords you want to rank for. Then:
1. Include them in the podcast title, as search engines prioritize this. Use a colon to create two-part names, such as "Future of zero knowledge: AI, Web3, blockchain." This clarifies the content for listeners and improves search rankings.
2. Add keywords to the "podcast author" field, as search engines consider this secondary. For example, write "Questbook - zero knowledge, AI, Web3, blockchain" in the author line.
3. Create SEO-optimized text—coherent but keyword-rich—and place it after each episode description.
This one-time process requires minimal effort and should theoretically improve the podcast's search engine visibility. Without systematic work and analytics, we can't measure the exact impact, but this is the minimum you can do without significant investment.
🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
1. Include them in the podcast title, as search engines prioritize this. Use a colon to create two-part names, such as "Future of zero knowledge: AI, Web3, blockchain." This clarifies the content for listeners and improves search rankings.
2. Add keywords to the "podcast author" field, as search engines consider this secondary. For example, write "Questbook - zero knowledge, AI, Web3, blockchain" in the author line.
3. Create SEO-optimized text—coherent but keyword-rich—and place it after each episode description.
This one-time process requires minimal effort and should theoretically improve the podcast's search engine visibility. Without systematic work and analytics, we can't measure the exact impact, but this is the minimum you can do without significant investment.
🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
That's all for now. Stay patient, adapt to trends, and continue experimenting to find what works best for your unique voice and niche. Happy podcasting!