The CEO of Oneupweb explains how to optimize your podcast for search.
By now you've heard all the arguments for natural search. Oneupweb's own research has shown that those who showed up on the first page of a Google search results page enjoyed six times the traffic to their websites. Not only were there more leads, but they were more qualified and twice as likely to make a purchase. So, you're a believer.
Being the leader that you are, you're probably deep into the next big thing in online marketing-- podcasting. If you haven't already begun your own corporate podcasts, you're considering it. You've heard the numbers and you're ready:
- Nine million people will listen to a podcast this year according to radio research firm Bridge Ratings
- $40 million has been invested in podcast-related businesses in the last two years, Dow Jones VentureOne reports
- Podcast ad spending will hit $80 million in 2006 and $300 million by 2010 predicts eMarketer.
You know the advantages of podcasting:
- They're portable: Commuters, joggers and travelers can download podcasts onto their iPods or other mobile devices and take them with them.
- They're new: And everybody is looking for an edge, a new way to deliver information to a time-stressed audience.
- They're personal: Listening is by invitation only, from your lips to their ears. The spoken word is sometimes more believable, particularly when it's an endorsement from a recognized authority figure delivered with confidence.
- They're entertaining: Music, sound effects, a variety of voices straight from customers in their own words, interesting speakers, humor, drama-- good audio programming is theater for the mind.
What you might not know is that podcasts can and should be optimized. First, they can be optimized for each of the major podcast directories such as iTunes, Singing Fish, Podcast Alley, Podcast Net, et cetera. Each has its own internal search mechanism, but an experienced SEO firm that has worked with these directories can help you here.
Second, a large number of podcasts are accessed directly through the major search engines. Where will your podcast appear on Google? That depends how well both your podcast and your website that leads to your podcast are optimized.
Search engines are looking for content and quality links. An experienced online marketing integration firm can optimize your podcast content and present it in a way that will improve your website's position on the search engines, so both your podcast and your website are found more easily.
As part of Oneupweb's new PodGarden podcasting production and tracking services, we apply our 10 years of search innovation to optimizing client podcasts and integrating them into an overall online marketing strategy. Here the same SEO basics apply. To optimize your podcast they should be tagged, linked and filled with keyword content to maximize their impact and reach to your targeted audience.
The results can be quite dramatic. Two months after its debut, our own Oneupweb StraightUpSearch podcast series was positioned eighth on the first page of Google for "integrated online marketing podcasts" and eighth and ninth for "search marketing services." Meanwhile, our website, which directs people to StraightUpSearch podcasts, commanded positions one and two on both the "integrated online marketing podcasts" and "search optimization podcast" search results pages.
The moral: Don't forget good, basic SEO when you're thinking about podcasting. And consider a company that has a proven track record of doing all that you need done. You'll be glad you did.
Lisa Wehr is founder and CEO of Oneupweb. Read full bio.