Can You Listen To Podcasts Inside A Google Search?

Can you listen to podcasts in a Google Search? Is it important for podcasters?

Quick answer: YES, this is VERY relevant for you and your podcast.

Google recently posted an article on their website about podcasts now showing up in search results. For example, if you put in "crossfit podcasts" in the search bar on Google, you're going to be served a certain number of results along with webpages, new stories, videos, and now podcast that all relate back to crossfit.

This is something I think is important for you as a podcaster--whether you're a comedy podcast, a business podcast, true crime podcast, etc.

How Does This Feature Work From The Search Query End and How Will It Work For Podcasters?

Full disclosure, I am NOT an SEO mega-expert, so I'm just sharing with you my assumptions of how these results are showing up in a Google Search.

If I had to guess, this is what is happening:  Google is pulling keywords from the title of the podcast episode and as well as the keywords in the description of podcast episodes. When you place the word "podcasts" at the end of your query, you should see those results with podcasts.

Examples:

"Crossfit podcasts"

"Tech Tip podcasts"

"Health and wellness podcasts"

I think you get the picture.

Soon the results are just going to show podcasts along with video and webpage results without the word "podcasts" in your search query.

Quick Tip: Search Results Will Share Other Platforms Where Listeners Can Find Your Podcast--Including Subscription-Based Programs

Soon, Google is going to be adding the ability for publishers to specify where listeners can listen to podcasts. In other words, this means that search results will allow you to drive traffic to areas where people can listen to your podcast on other platforms as well as platforms where you are offering a subscription for your podcast.

Search Engine Optimization For Podcasts

SEO is the reason I THINK podcast results are showing up inside of Google search.

One thing that I've always stressed to podcasters is the need to create quality show notes for podcasts. I talk about this in transcription and SEO videos I've created on my YouTube channel. Every podcaster needs to be adding some form of text that will improve the search results of their podcast episodes. Search friendly titles and descriptions for Google search are a must!

Let's say for example you have a podcast episode that talks about LinkedIn tips for realtors. The title of that podcast may very well be, "LinkedIn Tips For Realtors Looking to Gain More Sales."

What will you need to do for this podcast to possibly show up in a search query with a podcast player?

1. A captivating and descriptive podcast title with keywords that will help a user find your podcast.
2. A descriptive show description with the appropriate keywords that will help your listener find your podcast.

How Many Words Should Your Podcast Description Be?

I would say 300 words at most for a quality description. This description should go into your hosting platform that holds your podcast audio. Does this mean that you need to get rid of your blog and get rid of putting show notes on your blog? No.

It means you need to also put show notes on your blog.

How To Get Listeners To Discover Your Podcast Organically

The goal for every podcaster is to have someone hopping onto your website and finding a way to subscribe to your podcast. When podcasters complain how they're not getting traction to their podcast episodes, they have no one to blame other than themselves for not adding this easy optimization technique to their program and descriptions.

Even though podcasters are always pushing their podcast out on social media doesn't mean that they can hope someone stumbles upon their podcast by chance. Let the search engine do the work for you so that you don't have to push as hard.

Promoting your podcast is a balance between sharing episodes and web pages to make those pieces of content more authoritative in the search engine while the search engine will do some of the work organically for you.

In other words, inbound traffic is just as important as outbound traffic.