Why do you need show notes for your podcast? How can you make sure that they become a valuable asset and resource for your podcast and for your business? I’m going to put my hands up and say that when I started my first podcast, almost five years ago now, I had no idea no idea what show notes were really about. At that time my podcast wasn’t really standing out and I knew the audio quality was good. Some of that was actually down to my show notes. Thankfully, I paid time and attention to them and the difference was incredible.
So what are show notes? They are the description of every individual episode. They summarise what was talked about, who the guest was, and any additional resources that were mentioned. Each episode needs its own set of show notes.
Why are show notes important?
- Increase your SEO
Improving your search engine optimisation increases your podcast’s visibility, meaning a wider audience reach. If you optimise your show notes for search engines, littering it with key words, your podcast can pop up as a result for specific search queries.
2. Encourage Call to Actions
Your podcast show notes are an additional opportunity to call listeners to take an action. This could be simply to subscribe to your show. Or, it could be to subscribe to something else, like your newsletter or sign up to a freebie you are offering.
3. Add in Backlinks
Backlinks are links from one website to a page on another website. With your show notes you can connect to your Apple feed with a plugin, such as a simple podcast press and, hey presto, every single time you have a new episode go live on Apple it pulls it through to create a whole new post effectively on your website with the audio attached to it as well.
What to include in your show notes:
- Brief description of the overall topic
Currently on Apple and Spotify you have a maximum character count of 4,000 for your show notes. So you want to be effective. Highlight the main talking points from your episode and any interesting statistics. If you have a guest on, be sure to introduce them.
2. Breakdown of the key takeaways
Ultimately, you want to craft the content so it’s about what is in it for the listener and what their takeaways are. Always putting the focus on them and how valuable and useful they’re going to find your material, will entice your audience.
3. Potential actions for the listener
This could be a call to action to download your freebie or your opt ins, to sign up for your webinar or it could even be to sell your products and services directly or to book a call with you. Remember, in business, if we don’t ask people to do something, they don’t take the action.
4. Include links
This could be a link to your book you mentioned in the episode, videos, extra resources. If you have a guest on be sure to add links to their website and socials. If you show your guests that you value them they are more likely to share your episode.
5. Sponsor details
If you have sponsors or affiliate links that you have included within the episode, the show notes is the place to highlight those. Make sure you have a disclaimer around the fact that is an affiliate link as that is a legal requirement.
6. Mention relevant previous episodes
It is worth mentioning any relevant episodes in your back catalogue that would be pertinent to further exploration of the topic within the show. You want to use each episode and those associated with yours to bring your listeners back to your show. Keep them listening to you and your your content.
7. Credits
You might have some production credits, the person who crafted the music on your show or potentially an editor/an additional producer/co host that you would want to include in your show notes.
8. Legal Disclaimers
Does your show require any legal disclaimers or disclosures, particularly if you’re talking about anything medical or bordering on legal advice? If so, add these into your show notes to protect yourself.
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[…] Through powerful and specific SEO show notes, you can reach out to new audiences. Check out my previous blog here for more detail on why show notes are so […]