Importance of Podcast Show Notes

Are you one of the many podcasters who don’t consider show notes essential to their podcast publishing workflow? Podcasts are meant to be consumed because of the ease of use due to their audible nature, so what’s the big deal with them anyway? 

Well, as you can probably guess by now, we have a definite opinion about the importance of utilizing podcast show notes on your website. With that thought in mind, let’s unpack the difference between show notes and an episode summary, as well as why you’re missing out on a golden opportunity if you aren’t utilizing show notes for your podcast!!

Like Vivian says in Pretty Woman, “Big Mistake. BIG. HUGE!”

SHOW NOTES vs. EPISODE SUMMARY

One of the questions we frequently hear when we are talking to clients about utilizing show notes is this… “What is the difference between those and what goes on Apple Podcasts?”

Show notes are a more in-depth account of what was discussed on a particular episode + additional resources that can take your content one step further. These additional resources can be links to an article mentioned on a guest’s website, videos, pdfs, a guest’s latest books, and relevant calls to action.

This is NOT the same thing as the episode summary because the episode summary is the description that you put in when you’re uploading your episode to your podcast hosting site. The summary is usually one to two paragraphs that touch on a few high-level key points. The summary is a quick overview, while the show notes are much more comprehensive. 

Where your audience can access the episode summaries and the show notes differs as well. Summaries are usually attached to each episode and appear within most podcast listening apps. For example, on Spotify, users can click on each episode’s title to reveal the summary. On Apple Podcasts, it shows there within the app for each episode.

The majority of podcasts generally summarize their episodes within two to five sentences with a brief call to action about how to get in touch with the podcast host, subscribe, rate, review, access the show notes for that particular episode, and a short bio of the guest… as we said, a very brief overview. Show notes will include the same summary but then go a step further. It has additional links to other resources that were mentioned throughout the episode.

The main reason for utilizing show notes on your website is that some podcast apps restrict HTML links in the description field. Basically, it’s not possible to make a clickable link to some of these other resources directly from the app. So instead, you can add all the details in a blog post on your website.

This will help your listeners access the information later on because sometimes they may be listening while on a walk with their kids or driving in a car, and they don’t have time to write down a URL – your show notes allow them to come back to all this information later on in one place.

As we have said to clients many, many times… it is a BIG, no scratch that… it is a HUGE mistake to ignore utilizing podcast show notes for each episode you release. 

Let’s unpack this a little bit with a few things we think are really important to consider. This is not a comprehensive list by any means. If you do not currently have podcast show notes, we recommend you start with your very next episode.

Top 10 Reasons WHY

1. SEO helps people find your content in the first place. When you create show notes, you can create content that search engines can crawl and index so that your podcast starts appearing in relevant searches on Google or any other search engine. This will help you to get more traffic, and this will help you get more listeners. 
   
2. When you publish detailed podcast show notes, your visitors can instantly see how valuable your content is to you as a podcaster. In turn, this will make your visitors/listeners want to go subscribe, which helps you grow your listenership.
   
3. Having show notes makes content creation easier for long-term marketing strategies. When you write a blog post of over 2,000 words, you are primed for better search engine rankings, more social shares, increased online authority, and improved viral potential.
   
   Now there’s just one problem with that… not everybody is a writer, and, for some, writing a 2,000-word blog post is seriously time-consuming and not something they want to do. You have to research, write, and polish it. In contrast, if you create a blog post out of your show notes… this process is much easier.
   
   You basically record your content as usual and then have it transcribed to effectively create another format of your audio file. The transcription part of this process can be completed by either of these two recommended resources or many others available out there.
   
   Otter
   Podscribe

    

4. Show notes allow you to publish your podcast content in different formats. Even though there are millions of podcast listeners out there, there are also lots and lots of other people who prefer to get their content in other ways, so creating show notes allows you to repurpose your content for those specific audiences. When you repurpose your content, you give it much longer shelf life. 
   
5. Not every podcast listener is going to listen to your podcast from start to finish, but even if they listen to your episode from the first second to the last second, they’re not always going to hear everything that you and or your guests say… distractions are all around us always right?!
   
   When you utilize the show notes, you guarantee that after the episode, your listener can go in to catch up on anything they may have missed.
   
6. Highlighting key points is another way to help your listener + it may even help your podcast if you find ways to encourage them to share these nuggets of wisdom with others, whether on social media or in other ways. 
   
7. Using show notes also helps those with special needs, especially the deaf and hard of hearing community. If you think about it, if a podcast does not have a transcript or something that the listener could read, those who are hard of hearing may be unable to be part of your community (and may even feel left out).
   
8. Utilizing show notes is a great way to collect and dispense information on a particular topic and share it with your audience. This enhances your expertise + your overall value to them, and in turn, It is much more likely going to make them want to subscribe, rate, review and possibly even buy if you sell products or services.
   
9. Help grow your email list. Your listener can go back to read your show notes at their leisure and check out that link you were talking about, download the PDF or sign up for your email list.
    
10. You can also make your podcast notes as part of a content upgrade to entice your listeners to subscribe to your email list. If your listener signs up to your email list, they could receive the notes in email format following the release of each episode. Maybe provide the option to download the notes in a PDF format or even include bonus resources within that email.

So you may be asking yourself right about now… “Exactly what should my podcast show notes look like?” We recommend that you create a template that works for your branding + messaging and is consistent for each episode.

Here are some of the basic things you will want to include::

• A brief overview of the episode
• A few key points from the episode with timestamps
• Key quotes said within the show
• Links to websites and/or resources mentioned
• Places the listener can go to subscribe to your podcast
• The episode embed player from your podcast host
• Don’t forget your Call To Action (CTA) for this episode – sign up for the email list, download your lead magnet, rate/review, etc.

So… we here at Wildfire Creative hope that you are beginning to see just how extremely important having show notes is to the success of your podcast. We truly believe it is a BIG missed opportunity if you are not utilizing them.

With that said, if you have any questions about show notes, we are more than happy to answer them. Please be sure to reach out to our team by emailing hello@wildfirecreativecompany.com.