Social Desire

Written on December 10, 2008 – 9:38 pm | by Shana Albert |

Right now SES Chicago is going on….. the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo in the Midwest. I had the good fortune of being able to interview Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit…. She was on the panel of the Podcast & Audio Search Optimization session. Here is my interview with Amanda.

Q. Why Podcast? Who Should be Podcasting….. And who shouldn’t be?

A. Podcasting allows the brand owner/entrepreneur to extend the brand’s reach with the powerful medium of sound. The entire media landscape is very fragmented, and interrupt advertising is increasingly ineffective. A podcast lets the medium bring the message without interruptions or noise. Because of the portability of podcasts, there is a unique opportunity to develop deep brand engagement and loyalty from time-shifting listeners downloading the podcast for at their convenience listening. We are preconditioned to tune in our radio dials to favorite shows. Now we can essentially tune in to our favorite podcasts, download them and listen at any time.

Almost any business can podcast, but this does not mean that everyone should. Podcasting has been embraced by indie musicians as a means of getting a wider audience for their music, technologists eager to stay in touch with the changes to occur almost daily in fast-moving technology fields and by those who provide spiritual counsel, advice and prayer. These types of podcasts dominate the directories. There are also a wide range of podshows that feature business advice, quirky humorists or political pundits of every type.

The most important point in deciding whether to podcast or not is to decide whether the user will find your audio content valuable and interesting. Another key decision point is to decide whether the podcast will be a one-off or part of a longer series. It takes a lot of effort and preparation to develop a series that has a broad following. Sustaining the effort at the same level of interest is very hard. If, for a moment, you question whether you can sustain the effort, step back and reconsider.

Q. Why is Podcast & Audio Search Optimization so important?

A. Search is the single best tool on line for capturing potential interested listeners. In looking at search and podcasting, I try to look across the continuum of interested parties. The media site, an aggregator of audio content, search can be a powerful tool for bringing in those looking for “mp3 download.” A site with a number of features on “techno music” would want to target keywords that included “techno music” and “download techno music.” An artist’s site would want to expand its reach by using search keywords that included the band’s name and the genre. Search connects the audio and the user.

Audio search optimization is really multi-part. The site page describing the audio will be found on search engines so it is important to do SEO on the page to ensure its relevance for the keywords that describe the podcast content. An RSS feed is a vital distribution mechanism for the podcast content, so this must be optimized. Finally, the audio file itself must be optimized since the ID3 information is useful to listeners who might want the information contained to relocate you or to learn more about the podcast – information that you can encode in the ID3 tags. Whether you are optimizing the podcast episode’s landing page, the feed or the ID3 tags the goal is the same – to make the podcast findable to users of the various types of search technologies that provide information on audio.

Q. Is search optimization for Podcasts and Audio much different than the search optimization one would do to a Web Page?

A. It is only different in that you must essentially optimize three different entities, each of which has its own tactical requirements. It is not difficult to optimize the landing page. It is basic SEO. Optimization of the RSS feed is very slightly different in that it requires astute attention to how the TITLE and DESCRIPTION are written. It is also a technical implementation – not a difficult one I might note. Optimizing the audio file similarly requires doing a few easy steps meticulously and carefully.

Q. I noticed that most Podcasts on blogs that they also had the content written out in readable form…. Is this a must for SEO?

A. The discussion of whether to include a full or partial transcript is a topic often debated among audio content optimizers. One school of thought is to put entire transcript on the landing page and in the ID3 tags of the audio file. Another school contends that a keyword-rich summary should suffice. In my opinion there is no really right answer since it is often impractical to create a transcript both in terms of time and cost, so it becomes beyond the resources available. In those cases, a keyword-rich summary would suffice. The summary and transcript are for the user and for search engines. The summary is the minimum level. The ideal for both user and search engine is to include a full transcript in the page content and in audio file. Is a full transcript a must for SEO? Not really. For a long rambling podcast, it is possible to create a rich summary that may perform better in search than a diffuse transcript. There is no hard fast rule.

Audio optimization is really a matter of simply remembering how the optimization elements will be used. The key elements are the audio file, the landing page, and the RSS feed. Attention must be paid the unique requirements of each of these constituencies; otherwise it neither complex nor difficult.

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Thank you so much for your wonderful interview, Amanda. It totally was a pleasure to interview you. Podcasting is an area I would love to try and this interview just makes me want it even more.

For the rest of you Marketers, SEO professionals, Webmasters, Business Owners or anyone interested in Search… if you are in the Chicago area the rest of this week SES Chicago is still going on. And, it is definitely a must attend.