How to Improve Your Podcast Show Notes For Your Audience

As the world gets busier, the podcast format has become incredibly popular. Podcasts allow listeners to multi-task and consume content on the go. So, if you’re thinking of starting a podcast, now is the perfect time. 

But there’s more that goes into podcasting than you might think. If you really want to excel in the podcasting world, you have to publish your podcast show notes. 

Read on for a guide to creating the perfect podcast notes for your podcast.

What are podcast show notes?

Podcast show notes are a page or post on your website describing what happened during a podcast episode. Show notes also often list any additional resources mentioned on the episode and provide guest bios and other relevant content. 

Podcast show notes are not to be confused with an episode summary, which is generally only one paragraph that details just a few high-level points. The summary is a gist, whereas show notes are more comprehensive.

Why are podcast show notes important?

Podcast show notes are important because they help to reinforce an episode’s message by complementing the audio content with images and articles, creating a more in-depth discussion on the topic that can be consumed both audibly and visually. 

These are handy for listeners who are seeking to learn more about the topic or those who just want to revisit the information you covered in your podcast episode. 

People also might be just keen to learn more about you so it’s good to have somewhere they can go to do a little snooping. Getting people to your website via your show notes page gives them the opportunity to poke around and get a greater sense of who you are and what you do.

What are the benefits of publishing podcast show notes?

As there’s already lots of work that goes into running a podcast, creating podcast show notes can seem like extra hard work with not much reward.

However, not publishing your podcast show notes is a big mistake and we are going to tell you why. 

Here are some of the benefits that creating podcast show notes can offer:

Show notes are great for SEO

If you want your podcast to reach a larger audience, it needs to be featured in search results.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of making sure content on your website is packed full of regularly searched keywords relevant to your niche. When you use relevant keywords in your content, more people will find your website and more people will listen to your podcast.

To be indexed by Google your posts need to be longer than 300 words which means you need to put a bit of effort in. 

An easy way to do this is by transcribing your episodes and placing the transcription on your show notes page or by using the transcript as the base to create a more detailed blog post.

Help your listeners

Your listeners have their own jobs and priorities which means it’s likely that they might miss the odd podcast episode. 

Podcast show notes make it easy for regular listeners to catch up on the episodes they missed without needing to re-watch the entire episode. 

You can also help your listeners by highlighting key points and encouraging them to share by creating tweetable quotes as part of the show notes. 

Not only this, but podcast show notes help listeners who are hard of hearing or deaf and provide a more inclusive space for everyone to enjoy the content you produce.

Helps to promote your older episodes

Show notes offer an opportunity to re-promote older episodes. Most podcasts are centred around a specific topic so referencing previously published episodes is bound to happen.

Including an internal link to older episodes helps both current and new listeners to consume your back catalogue, creating an audience of loyal audience members.

Provide content in multiple formats

Nowadays, there are a variety of different content formats so people can choose the type of content they prefer. 

This is why it’s best to provide your content in a number of different formats so more people can consume it however they choose. Creating and publishing podcast show notes allows you to repurpose your content to target different audiences.

How to improve your podcast show notes for your audience

Now that you understand the importance of podcast show notes, it is time to discuss how you can create the best podcast show notes for your audience. 

Here are some tips for improving your podcast show notes for your audience:

Write a loose content outline before recording

If you’re nervous about recording your first podcast episodes, don’t worry, it’s normal to feel that way with anything new. The best way to combat the nerves is to ensure that you are as prepared as possible.

Create a list of your main talking points to help organise your thoughts more clearly and gain confidence. It will also help you define what the main points of your podcast summary and show notes will be.

Create a compelling intro

The online world is fast-paced so you don’t have long to capture a user’s attention before they lose interest and click off.

This is why it’s so important to put a lot of time and effort into your introduction, as this is the point at which users will decide whether or not they want to read your content. For effective show notes, you should aim to make the introduction no more than three to five sentences. Aim to craft sentences that tread the line between not giving too much away while still capturing the reader’s interest enough for them to want to listen to the whole episode.

Use memorable quotes

Try to include the most memorable or noteworthy quotes in your podcast show notes. Having quotes means your audience is able to share the content across different social media platforms, such as Twitter, which increases your chances of attracting new listeners.

You can make sharing even easier by creating “click to tweet/share” for the quotes in your show notes.

Include a list of resources mentioned

If you mention any books, films or specific websites in your podcast episode, it is important to include a link in your podcast so that listeners can access it later. 

Make sure you include all details of the link and write it out in full as some platforms do not allow clickable links so having the full link available in the show notes makes it easier for users to copy and paste and follow the link.

Add keywords

As mentioned earlier, including relevant keywords is vital for ensuring your content is easily findable online. 

Do a little research regarding keywords associated with your topic and podcasting in general. Try not to use irrelevant keywords or too many keywords (keyword stuffing) in your content as Google will penalise this and potentially remove your website altogether. 

Just make sure to use relevant keywords as naturally as possible in your content and you’ll soon see your audience begin to grow.

Include a call to action

Show notes are a great way of connecting with your listeners, your sponsors, or any user engaging with your content. This can be done through a call to action at the end of your show notes.

A call to action is a marketing term prompting an immediate response or encouraging an immediate sale. This could be a link to your podcast, previous podcast show notes or even any merch or products that you might be selling. Other types of call to action include prompting readers to sign up to your mailing list where they can glean more valuable content.

Refrain from using the same phrase repeatedly in your call to action as this will diminish its effectiveness. Instead, change or modify your call to action every three or four episodes for the best results.

Guest Information

If you have a guest on your episode, it is important to include their social media links or website (depending on how they wish to be discovered), as well as any links to any products or services they are promoting or are connected to.

It’s a good idea to do this as one of the main reasons for appearing as a guest on a podcast is to gain more exposure so you need to make it easy for your listeners to connect with your guests.

Use a podcast production company to assist you

Another way to guarantee better podcast show notes is by hiring a podcast production company to assist you. 

At Listening Dog Media, we can help you create compelling podcast show notes using our knowledge of SEO and podcasts in general.

Listening Dog Media Ltd: Podcast strategy and podcast script services

If you are looking to take your podcast to the next level, at Listening Dog Media, we are here to help.

We can do this in a number of different ways, from a bespoke editing service to content marketing to ensure your commercial content is of the highest possible quality.

For additional information on the services we provide, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our professional team here today.