SEO for Real Estate Podcasts: Maximizing Your Reach

Podcasting has become increasingly popular, with millions of people regularly tuning in to their favorite shows. However, with so many podcasts out there, it can be challenging for new podcasters to attract and retain an audience. 

Hence, podcasters need to utilize search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to optimize their podcast and increase web traffic. Optimizing your content and website can improve your visibility in search engine results pages, attracting more listeners.

We've outlined some podcast SEO best practices to help you increase your reach, attract more listeners, and build an engaged audience for your podcast. But before we dive in, let's examine the role of SEO in podcast marketing and why Google shows podcasts in search engine result pages (SERPs).

The Role of SEO in Podcast Marketing

Podcasts are audio files available for streaming or download online in different episodes. You can use podcasts for interviewing industry experts, explaining relevant information, and exploring various topics. 

Podcast's popularity stems from its accessibility. It's also perfect for people who can't afford to read an article but want information on a topic.

On the other hand, search engine optimisation drives visitors to a site. If an online user enters a query in the search engine and your site is optimized for the term, the searcher can find your website. 

You might be wondering what makes SEO important for your podcast at this point. Podcast SEO helps optimize your podcasts to increase their visibility on the search engine result page (SERP). That way, potential listeners can easily find your podcasts through search traffic.

Why Google Show Podcasts in SERPs

Before, you had to search for the podcast channel on iTunes or Spotify or download a podcast app to listen to a podcast. Although most podcasting channels use keywords to appear in search results on Spotify and iTunes, that's the extent of their SEO for podcast. 

Fortunately, Google announced an algorithm update, allowing podcasts to show directly on search engine result pages (SERPs). Now, if someone keys in a search term on Google and a podcast episode addresses the phrase, the podcast might appear in the search results. 

Google transcribes and analyzes podcast content to learn its relevance for various search terms, making podcasts easily discoverable due to their inclusion in search engine results. 

Presently, podcast players don't need to search for your podcast by name to listen to a new episode. A simple search for the episode's main keyword will help them access your channel. 

Therefore, now is the time to implement vital podcast SEO tips to improve visibility if you haven't.

How to Optimize Your Podcast Content

• Have a Relevant Topic or Theme

While a podcast is structured like a casual conversation, it needs to have a relevant topic or theme. Check your audience data to know the type of topic to discuss. 

Defining your topic based on your audience's expectations and preferences will help Google understand your podcast content and how to index it. Podcast listeners can easily follow the conversation when there's a clear episode topic.

• Create Podcast Chapters

One benefit of creating podcast chapters is that it helps listeners fast-forward the podcast to the parts they find interesting. The trick is to improve user experience, directly impacting SEO.

• Add Transcriptions

Google transcribes your podcast episodes while scanning the audio files. Sadly, the technology isn't perfect and won't be as meticulous as when you handle the transcription. 

Transcribing your own podcasts and individual episode pages helps you produce the correct translation. You can clearly define relevant terms, correctly spell insider terminology, and highlight relevant keywords and topics.

Focusing on relevant podcast SEO keywords, key topics, and content structure can significantly improve your podcast discoverability. Podcast transcriptions also help people with disabilities to enjoy your podcasts, making your content more accessible. Hence, it's a vital part of your brand's content marketing. 

Although podcast transcription is often time-consuming, it's worth the effort if you're passionate about improving SEO for podcast and building your audience. Fortunately, many tools are available for transcribing your sound files. 

Simply review the transcribed content and edit the pauses and irrelevant sounds. You can seize the opportunity to add more keywords, including the ones you forgot to mention in the audio content. However, be careful so you won't be guilty of keyword stuffing. 

• Use Google Podcasts Manager

Like the Google My Business manager Google created for business owners, podcast owners can use a Google Podcast Manager tool to help them index their podcasts and enjoy Google verification.

By verifying and claiming your podcast channel, Google will promote and include it in relevant searches. Your podcast will also be found across various Google devices, such as Google Assistant and Google Home.

• Add a Podcast Description

Podcast descriptions are summaries of the podcast series. Potential listeners often read the podcast description when searching on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or other podcast apps. 

When writing the description, use the words listeners might use. It'd be best if you wrote the topics, the main points covered, the guest, and other essential details that a listener might search for in Google and other search engines. 

Include Keywords to Podcast Episodes

One essential part of an SEO podcast for beginners is keywords. Your podcast growth and success depend on this vital piece of digital marketing. 

Keywords are specific phrases and terms that people enter into Google and other search engines during a search. To ensure a successful podcast, your podcast website, episodes, and pages must rank high in relevant keywords to top the search results list. Remember to optimize the episode title by using a relevant keyword. 

Dedicating more time to keyword research will enable you to find more relevant podcast keywords for each episode. Your episode title can largely determine the engagement, so ensure it's keyword-rich. Also, make it as descriptive and clear as possible while considering character limitations. 

Remember to include keywords throughout the podcast but be careful not to keyword stuff the content. Choose terms with low competition and high search volume. Consider getting inspiration from Google Keyword Planner or similar keyword tools.

• Focus on Building Authority With Quality Content

Google constantly strives to promote authoritative content, whether written or audio. Therefore, you need quality content to become recognized as an expert in your field and build authority. 

Low-quality content won't provide the right information, appeal to audiences, or get many views. Therefore, focusing on quality over quantity is best to maintain relevance amongst your listeners and build brand authority.

• Know the Trends

Creating content relevant to emerging topics and industry trends ensures your podcast is found on Google. While it's good to have backup ideas for your podcast episodes, focusing on relevant and new trends is more important than general industry news or background information. 

Paying attention to trends ensures you rank higher for those search terms since people frequently search for them. You can use Google Trends to find emerging topics for your podcast.

• Leverage Podcast Metadata

Metadata is the summary of images, pages, and even podcasts. Podcasters can use podcast metadata to improve their visibility by adding keywords to the podcast pages' meta titles and meta descriptions. That way, you help Google learn more about you while improving podcast ranking. 

Metadata helps explain the podcast episode to the algorithm and your listeners while tags allow people to discover your podcast by searching for specific genres or categories. 

Although you can use multiple tags, ensure they're all relevant to your content. Consider what your potential audience will search for to help you pick your podcast tags.

• Promote and Link Podcasts on Social Media

The number of comments and shares your podcast gets on social media indicates its success. Therefore, your social media strategy should revolve around generating topics suitable for your target audience. 

Since podcasts are popular amongst millennials, promoting your content to that demographic is best. Create social media accounts on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Then share valuable social media posts on your walls. 

Create tracking links after sharing your content to help you discover your best-performing channels and utilize the information for better optimization results. 

Besides helping you build authority, promoting your podcast on social media makes you more discoverable. When your podcast appears in multiple channels, Google can easily pull it into search engine result pages.

• Leverage Backlinks

Backlinks are links from an external website used on your pages or podcasts. As an essential part of SEO, you can build trust with backlinks. Having other website links on your site shows Google that your podcast and pages are relevant and authoritative to audiences. 

Your link-building strategy should include the following tactics:

1. Asking for reviews on third-party websites
2. Being a guest speaker on another podcast
3. Linking your podcast to industry podcast lists
4. Creating a podcast visual that other websites can use

• Repurpose Podcasts

Your podcast content should be entertaining, educational, informative, and relevant for listeners. As a valuable piece of information, you can use it in different contexts. For instance, you can turn your podcast episode into a downloadable eBook, blog post, or YouTube video. 

Repurposing your content will help you build authority and promote your podcast by adding its links on different pages.

• Ask for Reviews

While social media helps you reap social proof benefits, another way to boost your podcast's success while enjoying social proof is through reviews. Reviews help new audiences see your content while notifying search engines of successful content on your site.

Google values review, especially from third-party authority websites. Therefore, always encourage your listeners to drop a review after your podcast. Make the process simple and fast so loyal fans can easily drop comments. With time, more listeners will be comfortable enough to share their reviews.

• Create a Podcast Site

While you don't need a website to start podcasting, the benefits of having your own podcast site are enormous. Google search engines can easily discover your episodes through your website and increase their traffic. You can even build an email list through your site to grow loyal listeners. 

Remember to create blog content and release it alongside your podcasts. You can optimize this blog content, add links to your podcasts in the blog posts, add related posts, and keep your visitors engaged.

Improve Speed and Responsiveness

Your listeners will appreciate your podcasts loading quickly. Therefore, you need to ensure your page speed is fast and your site is mobile-friendly. Search engines like Google notice when pages load slowly, which might affect your recommendation since the podcast won't entertain listeners on time.

Final Thoughts

Implementing SEO strategies is crucial for podcasters looking to increase their reach and build a strong audience. With millions of podcasts competing for attention, optimizing your content for a podcast search engine like Google can make all the difference in attracting new listeners and growing your audience. 

Conducting keyword research, optimizing episode titles and descriptions, building backlinks, and leveraging social media are some of the SEO practices that can help podcasters improve their visibility in Google search engine results pages and increase their chances of being discovered by potential listeners. 

It's important to remember that SEO is an ongoing process that takes time to see results. However, with patience and persistence, podcasters can build a loyal and engaged audience and take their podcast to new heights.

Optimizing your podcast for SEO is easy if you follow the right tips. If you're a real estate agent struggling to optimize your podcast and increase its search traffic, consider creating backlinks by appearing as a guest on Icons of Real Estate, a leading real estate podcast.