Introduction to the impact of podcast content on SEO
Known for their mobile format and comfort, podcasts have transformed the way we consume news and entertainment around the world. These digital audio streams offer listeners a convenient alternative to books, films and music, often in the form of discussions, interviews and narrations. But did you know that podcast content can also have a significant impact on a website's SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
Optimising tags and transcriptions for better SEO
Creating podcasts is not just about producing quality audio content, it also includes an effective digital strategy. As part of this, SEO plays an intrinsic role in enabling your podcasts to reach the best possible audience. Optimising tags and transcripts is a key approach to achieving this result. Tags allow search engines to understand the content of your podcast and improve indexing, while transcripts provide readable text that can be indexed by the same search engines, offering greater accessibility.
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The evolution of research: from text to multimedia, and why podcasts play a decisive role
Search engines, led by Google, have gradually developed their algorithms to include
universal search: YouTube videos in SERPs, image carousels, voice extracts for
assistants, and more recently, podcast episodes displayed as thumbnails that can be listened to at the click of a button.
This change is not simply a question of modernising the company.n user interface. It meets a need
structural: capture the attention of Internet users on a channel that is more immersive, longer-lasting and highly loyal.
At a time when competition for the number one organic position is fierce, the podcast opens a door to
even less saturated areas of visibility, provided that the right optimisation practices are mastered.
In 2019, Google announced that podcasts would be officially indexed and proposed in the results.
and not just via the Google Podcasts vertical. At the same time, Spotify acquired
Anchor, Apple reorganised Apple Podcasts around the channelsand Amazon Music added a
dedicated section. The evidence is clear: a well-marked episode becomes a landing page in its own right,
capable of generating as much traffic as a text article. The question is no longer "is it necessary
podcast? but rather "how to do it SEO-first? .
The strategic importance of tags: title, description, meta tags and microdata
The episode title: a tag
still underestimated
Each episode page has a
in the HTML code of the site or in the RSS feed,
picked up by streaming platforms. A keyword-rich but succinct title, ideally less than
60 characters, influences organic positioning as surely as a classic article title.
For example, Dan Nelken's "Copywriting Game Changers" programme saw its SEO traffic jump by 28 %
after replacing "Episode 12" with "StoryBrand: the narrative framework that doubles your conversions .
Referencing the long-tail term "StoryBrand narrative framework" enabled the author to capture a large share of the market.
audience hitherto unknown to classic audio platformssiques.
Meta-description and rich snippets: driving engagement in the SERP
Although Google often generates its own meta-description, filling in the tag is still relevant:
it can be included in embedded players or in the Google Podcasts search.
A text of 150 to 160 characters structuring both the hook of the episode and the keywords
(guest post, specific theme, call to action) encourages clicks. HubSpot has published a
benchmark indicating that a well-written descriptive meta tag increased by 5 to 7 %
the click-through rate on their episodes of the podcast "The Growth Show .
Schema.org and the "PodcastEpisode" type: the shortcut to audio zero position
Since 2020, Google has recognised the ownership @type: PodcastEpisode
Schema.org vocabulary.
Add a JSON-LD block containing the duration, publication date, series name and file URL
audio allows you to obtain an enriched result with an integrated player.
NPR (National Public Radio) reported an 18 % increase in organic traffic, including
This mark-up is systematically displayed on every episode page of "Planet Money". The reason for this? The episodes
now appear in "instant listening" just below the response zone, reducing friction to zero
between searching for and consuming content.
Optimised transcriptions: the semantic engine for podcasts
Why transcription is not just a bonus for accessibility
Long seen as a service for the hearing-impaired or a RGAA requirement, transcription has become an essential part of our daily lives.
pillar of voice SEO. Over a 30-minute episode, we obtain an average of 4,000 to 5,000 words, the equivalent of
of a long-form article. This textual material provides the algorithms with a well-trodden path for understanding the subject,
named entities, search intent and content granularity. It enriches the
Knowledge Graph thanks to co-occurrences and contexts of use. In other words
transcription is the bridge between the spoken word and indexable semantics.
Writing quality: from raw dictation to editorial content
Many are content with a raw export from a speech recognition tool (Descript, Whisper, Sonix).
However, a text full of hesitations, tics of language or syntactic breakdowns hinders comprehension.
Google BERT values semantic clarity and penalises drafts.
A good workflow consists of :
1) transcribe automatically; 2) proofread to remove duplicates; 3) add intertitles (tags
<h3>
or <h4>
) and bulleted lists; 4) insert outgoing links
5) summarise and contextualise important passages with introductory sentences.
This is exactly the method that helped Buffer position the episode
"How TikTok redefines the social algorithm on 16 top 10 keywords, whereas the raw version
stagnated on page 3.
Semantic tagging in transcription: named entities, FAQs and key moments
Adding time anchors (timestamp links) helps Google detect "key moments , a format
now available for audio. In practice, tagging a
<a href="#t=15:32">Why UX Writing influences the bounce rate</a>
indicates to the crawler the relevance of a specific segment. As a side effect, these anchors can become
in deep links ("key moments") directly in the SERP. A gain in displayed surface area comparable to
the one obtained when an extract from a YouTube video is chaptered.
In addition, structure the guests' answers in the form of FAQs within the transcript,
then encapsulate these questions/answers in FAQPage
from Schema.org
increases the chances of obtaining an accordion insert in the SERP. The Orbit Media agency has tested the
technical: out of five episodes, three won the rich result FAQand overall organic traffic
of the episode page has increased by 22 % in three weeks.
Internal and external networking: turning auditors into visitors and vice versa
The episode page, thanks to its long transcription, becomes a hub for internal meshing.
You can direct :
- in-depth blog articles on each subject;
- the corresponding service or product pages;
- other related episodes to encourage binge-listening.
This mesh reinforces the thematic structure (topic cluster) and signals the relationship between content to search engines.
A telling example: the fintech Revolut inserts, in each transcript of its podcast "RevInsider,
links to the help centre to convert listeners into active users, while at the same time increasing the number of visitors to the site.
SEO value of its support pages. Result: +40 % in organic acquisitions in the "financial tips" category.
External networking completes the strategy: inviting recognised experts, then obtaining
a contextual backlink from their own sites or newsletters to the episode page.
This is the Masters of Scale (Reid Hoffman) approach: each guest receives a pre-filled press kit.
containing a tweetable quote and the deep link. The number of referring domains on these pages
is 30 % higher than that of average items, giving them greater authority and ranking.
Rich formats and duplication: how to avoid cannibalisation between audio, video and blog posts
Publish the video version of a podcast on YouTube, the audio version in RSS, and the transcription on a blog
may seem redundant, but the duplication is manageable. Firstly, each media is located on a domain or
a separate URL; then the contextual content differs (thumbnail, chaptering, description, CTA).
However, it is crucial to define the canonical URL. On the blog page, add the
beacon <link rel="canonical" href="https://votre-site.com/episode-42" />
avoid
that Google does not choose the PDF transcription or RSS feed as its main source.
This is the strategy of "The Daily" (New York Times): despite being reused on Spotify, Apple,
YouTube and NYTimes.com, the search engine recognises the NYT page as a canonical priority,
reinforcing the newspaper's SEO dominance.
In-depth case study: "Marketing Mania" by Stan Leloup
Stan Leloup built his reputation on YouTube, but his move to the podcast format represented a major step forward.
SEO challenge. In April 2021, he reorganised his site:
- Integration of markup PodcastSeries
and PodcastEpisode
;
- Systematic publication of careful transcriptions (nearly 6,000 words);
- Chaptering with time anchors ;
- Optimised meta titles ("IU 234] Neuromarketing: why your brain loves the mirror effect ).
As a result, Semrush has seen a leap from 14,000 to 42,000 monthly organic visitors in less than a year,
mostly from long-tail expressions such as "loss aversion marketing .
The halo effect: podcasts boost brand awareness, while transcriptions position search queries.
information prospects are looking for.
The contribution of podcasts to local SEO and voice searches
For local shops, the scenario may seem less obvious. However, a regional podcast
("Les saveurs d'Occitanie" for a local grocer, for example) can capitalise on geolocalised queries
such as "the best olive oil in Montpellier . Mentioning the town, the district, local partners, etc.
and adding <geo>
tags or attributes areaServed
in Schema.org,
increasing relevance for local search and voice search ("OK Google, where can I find an oil?")
artisanal olive oil? ). Podcast + transcription = double ticket to the featured voice snippet and the
geolocation on Maps.
KPIs and measurement tools specific to podcast SEO
Analyse organic traffic and the position of episodes
Google Search Console now displays "Content type: Podcast" in certain properties. Couple these
data with a personalised UTM tag in the URL of the on-board player makes it possible to distinguish on-site eavesdropping,
from SERPs and from social networks. The main KPIs :
- impressions and CTR on targeted queries ;
- average viewing time (cross-reference with bounce rate) ;
- post-listening conversions (newsletter, lead magnet).
Libsyn and Podbean offer dashboards, but from an SEO angle,
Screaming Frog (crawl of episode pages), Ahrefs (backlinks) and
ContentKing (Schema.org monitoring) completes the arsenal.
ROI compared with other content formats
According to a Backlinko 2022 study, producing a 2,000-word article costs an average of €1,250. An episode
of 30 minutes, including transcription, can be negotiated at €1,000. However, the consumption time is 4 times
and re-use (TikTok video extracts, infographics, newsletters) multiplies the points of view of the public.
of contact. Coupled with well-executed search engine optimisation, the cost per acquisition falls by an average of 25 %.
DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) brands like Casper have understood this: their podcast "In Your Dreams génère
a constant stream of "better sleep tips" queries, an angle they have dominated in SEO since 2020.
Complete optimisation checklist for your next episodes
Prior to publication:
- Primary and secondary keyword research, aligned with intention (informative, transactional).
- Preparing a title
< 60 characters + tag<meta name= »description »>
. - Export transcription, clean up and segment (H3s, lists, quotations).
- Add Schema.org
PodcastEpisode
+FAQPage
+ timestamps. - Link to 2 to 3 internal resources and 1 to 2 external high authority resources.
- Declare the canonical URL to the episode page.
- Generate an image Open Graph personalised (improving social engagement).
Outlook: generative AI, audio-first SERPs and the future of podcast SEO
With the rise of Google Bard and ChatGPT, conversational search amplifies the need for content
long, rich and contextual. LLMs (Large Language Models) train on huge volumes of text;
transcriptions of podcasts are an ideal source.
Eventually, a query could return not only a text response, but also an audio passage.
to listen to. Spotify is already experimenting with automatic chaptering using AI.
Creators who mark up their transcriptions will therefore be the first to
served when the algorithm searches for a relevant passage.
Finally, the Web3 Audio Foundation is working on a decentralised protocol for indexing podcasts: each
episode becomes an NFT containing metadata and micro-licences. If this standard catches on, the SEO
could even influence discoverability in streaming dApps. Suffice it to say that the project is
But the foundations laid today will make all the difference tomorrow.
Conclusion: from voice to leading positions
Integrating podcasts into your SEO strategy is not just about hosting an audio file; it's about embracing
a complete workflow: meticulous tagging, editorialized transcriptions, coherent meshing and tracking of
performances.
The examples of NPR, Buffer and Stan Leloup demonstrate this: when the spoken word meets the technical rigour of the
voice is becoming a particularly powerful and under-explored vector of organic traffic.
It's up to you to press "Record", but above all to fine-tune the meta.