5 Things to Know Before You Start a Podcast Blog

Go Beyond the Show Notes

Great podcasting is only the first step to making the most out of your audio content. If you want to boost your engagement and see more growth with your podcast, starting a podcast blog is a must. But how do you do that?

There are a few key things to bear in mind before starting a podcast blog. If you learn and understand the five things outlined below, you will put yourself in the best position to grow your podcast’s audience and get more out of it. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

1. Why Do You Need a Podcast Blog?

You might think that having a podcast is enough on its own. Perhaps you already see decent traffic and are even earning some money through advertising, brand deals or affiliate marketing. However, there is always more to get out of podcasting, and one of the easiest ways to get more out of your own podcast is to start a podcast blog.

Web search is still the number one way that people find spoken audio programs like podcasts. Whether it’s through Google, Bing, or Safari, many people find podcasts by searching for them first – and not on traditional podcast apps.

» The #1 Way to Get New Listeners: Showing up in Search Results

So, why does this matter to you? It’s important because if you want to gain more followers and grow your audience, you need to be visible in the search results. The best way to do this is to create a blog to accompany your podcast.

We’ll go over some specific tips for getting the most out of your posts below, but understanding the importance of having an accompanying blog is the first step to getting more out of your podcast. The next step is to plan how to manage the blog.

2. Have a Clear Game Plan

Creating a blog for your podcast needs a bit of forward planning. You need to decide how you’re going to get the content on the website in the first place. It doesn’t matter how often you record episodes, but it’s absolutely key that they all end up on the blog as soon as possible.

If you post an accompanying article 3 weeks after the podcast episode airs, you’re clearly missing out on an opportunity. Every episode needs a post to go along with it, and fast. But recording the podcast episode is a lot of work in itself, so how do you manage to do both?

» You’re Busy – Delegate! (This is Not “Next Level” any More, but a Matter of Sustainability)

The answer is delegation. If you don’t delegate the writing of the post, it probably won’t get done. It’s easy for time to get away from us, and unless you have enough time to record and write within a short time frame, you need to hire someone else.

There are lots of transcription services out there that specialize in transcribing podcast episodes. However, a transcript isn’t what you’re going for, as a standalone summary is far better. The spoken word doesn’t always translate well into the written word.

So, hire someone to write your summaries from your transcripts. It’s a good idea to write one or two yourself, so you can send that over to them as well so they can gauge what tone, style, and overall voice you’re going for with each post.

So, now you have a game plan, how do you create an effective podcast blog?

3. The Nuts and Bolts

You can get your podcast blog up and running by following a few simple steps. Just like podcast hosting, you want to carefully consider website hosting.

1. Self-Hosted Website with a Blog
2. Add Your Blog to a Blog Site

For podcasts, I recommend hosting your show with a Podcast Hosting company. On the other hand, when it comes to a blog, self-hosting is best. Although, “self-hosting” is really adding the blog to your website that is hosted by a website host – you click here to read more about blogging.

While other routes and software exist, this is exactly the process we recommend for getting your podcast blog off the ground successfully:

» Get a Domain Name: It’s Cheap and Easy

This is the .com address of your podcast blog. Try and get a .com address rather than a .net/.blog or similar. Not only does it look better and is easier to remember, it’s also better for SEO.

» Pick a Website Build Out Route

Option 1: Quick, Easy, and Affordable

This method is a good start, but not as Customizable and is Less Robust Search Engine Optimization / SEO

PodPage makes it easy to set up your website super easy, in just a few minutes. (Affiliate Links used here.)

• Click here for an example of a free page we set up quickly for our podcast, BreakAway Agents to try it out.

The design is customizable, it automatically pulls in episodes, and has a lot of features. Remember – you want a blog, so be sure to get the PRO option.

Option2: Your Own Site on the Top Platform, WordPress

Advantages are that you own your site, the SEO is amazing, and it’s easy to find developers and assistants who know how to use it. It can be as cheap or expensive to build it out as you want.

We highly recommend using WordPress, as our Profit Platform integrates into it seamlessly. However, it’s also just a great choice for SEO purposes, and most hosting services offer seamless WordPress integration too. So, for the easiest experience, go for WordPress. A good template to use is this one on the Envato Market.

» Write Some Copy (or Use a Writing Service)

You need a homepage, about page and perhaps some images too. You can write this content yourself, or have someone else write it for you. You don’t need to worry too much about SEO here, just make sure the content tells the reader everything they need to know about your podcast.

» You’re Busy – Delegate!

Finally, you need to delegate the writing of the blog posts themselves. If you want high-quality, brand-boosting podcast blog articles, our team can help you out. For between $1500-$2500, our team can help set up your website and delegate the writing to professional writers.

Here are some writing options we use:

• Contentfly: Affordable and Easy to Assign Writing Tasks
• Conversion.ai: Very Affordable, Requires Some Work, but an Outcome You’ll Love (we are an affiliate, but we love this amazing tool)

If you want more hands-on help, you can opt for one of the following:

• Verblio: This is an easy-to-hire service and they will even post your articles on your WordPress website! Again, we’re an affiliate, but we sought them out and recommend them highly.
• Independent Writer: There are thousands of freelancers to choose from – bring one onto your team for more personalized and usually higher quality work (although this is the most expensive option).

For this article, Tiffany Youngren wrote an outline, had the article written by Contentfly, then re-ran some of the content through Conversion.ai. This method is our favorite, as it is affordable and the outcome is an article that sounds like we wrote it (only much better).

4. Optimize

You don’t have to be an SEO expert to get a lot of traffic to your blog over time. However, you can do a few things to boost your engagement. The first is to ensure the articles are interesting. This is the only way the reader will enjoy reading it, and it boosts your chances of them then going to listen to the podcast itself.

» Make It Easy

Another great way to boost engagement with the podcast is to embed the episode both at the top of the article and also mid-way through if you have a YouTube video of the podcast. Make sure there are links for the reader to easily subscribe to any platform on which you post the podcast.

Finally, make sure to include the guest’s name several times throughout the article, and once in the URL. This is who the reader is usually there for, so make it clear who is in each episode from the start. Doing this will also boost your SEO for the guest’s name as a keyword.

5. Optimize Your CTAs (Calls to Action – The Key to Converting Listeners to Leads)

Once you have your blog accompanying your podcast, you need to optimize your CTAs. This is where you need to ask yourself what the next step is that you want your readers to take. Having two clear calls to action is the best way to approach each article on your podcast blog.

» Doing Their Job

The first one should be an easy way for them to sign up and receive some sort of benefit. Doing this provides the reader with more value, and it also allows you to capture their email address for future marketing opportunities.

The next CTA should function as an easy way for them to take the next step and work with you. This should also help you capture more email addresses. Treat each page on your website as a valuable employee, so they all need to have a job to do. So, make sure each page does that job, making it easier for your readers to take the next step with you.

If you bear these five things in mind when starting your podcast blog, you’ll put yourself on the path toward success. One of the extra benefits of starting a podcast blog, besides the extra traffic and audience exposure, is that it stays there forever. Over time, more and more people will come across your blog, boosting your engagement for years to come!