Podcast SEO 101: How to Rank Your Episodes & Get Found in Search

Podcast SEO 101

With over 4.4 million podcasts and more than 48 million episodes available globally, the podcasting industry is more competitive than ever. In such a crowded space, simply producing quality content isn't enough. Without proper optimization for discoverability, even the most insightful episodes can go unheard.

Podcast SEO, or Podcast Visibility Optimization (PVO), is how your show gets found. It involves aligning your podcast titles, descriptions, website content, and distribution strategy with how and where your audience searches. Just like with blog SEO, it starts with intentional content planning and continues through thoughtful promotion.

In this guide, we cover the core strategies that make a podcast discoverable. From foundational best practices to advanced techniques used by top B2B teams, you will learn how to turn each episode into a long-lasting asset that attracts the right audience.

Let’s begin.

Table of Contents

 


Why Is Podcast SEO Important?

Before you hit record, it’s worth thinking about discoverability. Great content means nothing if no one finds it. That’s where Podcast SEO comes in.

Let’s see how it works:

  • Search-driven discovery habits: In a 2024 survey, 11% of potential listeners said their first move is a Google/Bing search, and 5.5% found their last new show via a search engine. If your metadata isn’t dialed in, you’re invisible to roughly one in ten listeners looking for your show.

  • It increases podcast traffic: When This American Life added full transcripts, organic-search visits rose 6.68% and overall inbound traffic grew 4.18%, proving that searchable text keeps delivering listeners long after an episode drops.

  • Strengthens podcast site DR: Those transcripts also attracted 405 new backlinks, representing a 3.89% increase. They basically strengthened the show’s domain authority and lifted rankings across its entire archive.

  • Your show stands out in podcast directories: Apple Podcasts now hosts ≈ 95 million episodes across 2.7 million shows (Jan 2025). Strategic keyword placement and clean metadata are essential for your podcast’s visibility across podcast directories like Apple and Spotify. 

Of course, podcast SEO also helps you get indexed. But that’s such an important topic, that it deserves its own chapter.


What Gets Indexed on Major Platforms

Ranking algorithms rely on the same core metadata: your show title, episode titles, descriptions, and tags. By optimizing these fields, you gain leverage and position your show for better visibility across podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pocket Casts, and Overcast.


Apple Podcasts & Spotify

These are the two most influential podcast apps for discovery, accounting for more than 70% of global activity (Apple Podcasts 37.5 %, Spotify 33.2 %), and both index similar content types:

  • Show title: The name of your podcast is one of the most heavily weighted fields. It should be keyword-rich, not overly branded or vague. This is because listeners are 2.6 times more likely to discover a podcast through an episode title than through the main show title.

  • Episode titles: Arguably, this is the most important individual asset for SEO. Descriptive, benefit-driven titles that include searchable keywords consistently outperform clever or abstract ones. 

  • Show and episode descriptions: These fields get indexed and crawled. Use them to describe what the listener will learn, who the episode is for, and what topics are covered.

  • Categories and tags: Select relevant categories (and subcategories where possible) when submitting your RSS feed. Apple, in particular, uses these to fuel its search and browse algorithms.

We’ll talk more about optimization practices in a second.

But the point is, while neither platform indexes the audio itself (yet), metadata optimization dramatically increases your chances of surfacing in in-app search results.


Google Search

Google indexes podcast episodes in two ways:

  • Via RSS ingestion: If your show is submitted via a valid RSS feed, Google will crawl your metadata just like a blog post.

  • Via on-site episode pages: Google ranks podcasts higher when each episode lives on its own dedicated webpage with structured data, a transcript, and rich content.

In short: if your show isn’t surfacing in Google, it’s not because your content isn’t good. It’s because your infrastructure isn’t optimized.


YouTube

With YouTube now indexing full audio podcasts and automatically transcribing video/audio, the platform is becoming one of the most powerful podcast search surfaces available.

YouTube indexes:

  • Video titles

  • Descriptions

  • Tags

  • Captions and auto-generated transcripts

Given that YouTube is the world's second-largest search engine, with over 2.5 billion logged-in users per month and over 1 billion hours of video watched daily, every B2B podcast should be posting full episodes or highlight clips here, even if the primary audience is on audio platforms.

 

Podcast Visibility Optimization (PVO): A Framework for Discovery

Think of Podcast SEO as Podcast Visibility Optimization (PVO), a layered strategy to increase searchability across multiple surfaces.

PVO focuses on:

  • Structuring your RSS metadata for platform-level search (Apple, Spotify)

  • Creating search-optimized webpages for episode-level indexing (Google)

  • Publishing audio-video content with discoverable metadata and captions (YouTube)

  • Building external authority signals (e.g., backlinks, engagement)

This isn’t a one-time fix; it’s a system for ensuring that every episode you produce has the infrastructure to be found.

This video from RSS.com explains the basics of PVO in case you need a more in-depth look.

 
ahrefs screenshot showing keyword search results

Plug it into Ahrefs and here’s what you find:

  • Keyword difficulty: 2 (super easy to rank)

  • Search volume: 20 (U.S.), 150 globally

  • Traffic potential: 350

  • Top result: A Reddit thread, meaning content competition is weak

ahrefs screenshot showing keywords ideas

Related, more niche keyword ideas:

  • how to get freelance design clients (30)

  • how to get clients as a freelance web developer (30)

  • how to get clients as a freelance photographer (70)

From here, you can confidently build an episode or blog post titled:

“How to Get Freelance Clients in 2025 (Real Tips from Creatives Who Did It)”

Then support it with a broader pillar on “find clients” or industry-specific spinoffs (designers, photographers, etc.).

Finally, review your competitors using tools like Rephonic and look for keywords that sit at the intersection of your content, audience demand, and areas where your rivals are weak. Then, weave these keywords naturally into titles, descriptions, and transcripts for maximum discoverability.

Use Keyword-Rich Titles (Without Sacrificing Clarity)

Your show title and episode titles are the most heavily weighted fields across Apple, Spotify, and Google. Avoid clever phrasing that hides the value of the content. Focus on clarity, relevance, and searchable terms your audience actually uses.

Podcast title examples:

  • Weak: “The Edge”

  • Strong: “The Edge: B2B SaaS Growth Conversations”

  • Stronger: “The Talent Acquisition Leaders Podcast”

Talent Acquisition Leaders podcast on Apple podcasts

Source

Weak titles like “The Edge” or “Lessons from the Journey” are too vague and they don’t tell listeners (or search engines) what the show is about. They lack keywords, context, and relevance.

Strong titles clearly communicate the topic, audience, and value. They're optimized with searchable terms that align with what people are actively looking for on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google.

Episode title examples:

  • Weak: “Lessons from the Journey”

  • Strong: “How to Scale Enterprise Sales at Series B: Lessons from Drift’s Growth Lead”

Include keywords early in the title. For example, if your episode is about RevOps, “RevOps” should be in the first 3–4 words.

That’s extremely important.

According to the PodMatch report, podcasts that consistently include searchable terms in episode titles see a 30–50% increase in in-app search discovery.

Write Descriptions That Help Algorithms and Humans

Both Apple and Spotify index descriptions, and Google pulls them when crawling your feed or website. Treat them like meta descriptions for blog posts:

  • Front-load keywords

  • Clearly state the episode’s topic and takeaways

  • Include the guest’s name and role if applicable

Example structure:

“In this episode, we sit down with [Guest Name], [Title] at [Company], to explore [Topic]. You’ll learn [Key Takeaways]. Perfect for [Target Role or Industry].”

Show description of the Talent Acquisition Leaders Podcast on Apple Podcast

For greater results, consider adding timestamps as shown in the example above.

Make sure you use consistent phrasing across your episodes. This seemingly unimportant step actually reinforces your show’s positioning to both listeners and search algorithms.

Tag and Categorize Correctly in Each Platform

When submitting your show via your hosting provider (e.g., CoHost, Libsyn, Captivate, Buzzsprout), you’ll be asked to select:

  • Primary and secondary categories

  • Language

  • Explicit content flag

Select categories that align with your industry and audience, even if they’re broad. For example:

  • “Business > Marketing”

  • “Technology > Software How-To”

  • “Education > Courses”

This way, your show appears in relevant browsing sections and category rankings within Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In the example below, we see a podcast in the intersection of Technology, News and Business.

Podcast categorization on a podcast hosting platform

Source

Use a Consistent Naming Format

Consistency helps both search engines and listeners. Consider a structure like:

[Keyword-Rich Topic] | [Guest Name], [Company]

This ensures that every episode title is both informative and aligned with your brand. It also signals to Apple and Google that your content follows a structured publishing pattern, something that can positively influence indexing behavior.

Here’s an example from the Talent Acquisition Leaders Podcast:

SEO optimized podcast episode title

This title structure is packed with SEO signals. It starts with a clear, keyword-rich topic ("Creating a Tiered TA Model for Global Hiring Needs") that helps it show up in relevant searches. Then it includes the guest’s name and company, which not only adds credibility but also targets name-based and branded search queries. Plus, the consistency across episodes helps platforms like Apple and Google recognize it as structured, high-quality content. All this improves visibility over time.

 

Use Podcast Transcriptions to Improve SEO

Many podcasters overlook transcription because it adds time and cost to the production process. But if your goal is to increase visibility, transcribing every episode is one of the most impactful things you can do.

Why Every Podcast Episode Should Have a Full Transcription

Search engines can’t index audio the way they can index text. A full transcript gives Google the context it needs to understand and rank your episode content.

Here’s what transcripts enable:

  • Keyword density across the full topic range

  • Long-tail search term coverage that would never fit in a title or description

  • Rich content depth that improves the topical authority of your domain

If you're posting episodes to your website without a transcript, you're leaving most of your SEO value on the table. Remember that, according to This American Life, adding transcripts leads to a 6.68% increase in search traffic.

You want the same thing, but first, it’s important to see how this works.

How Podcast Transcripts Improve Discoverability Across Platforms

Google

When included on your website, transcripts become indexable content that reinforces topical relevance. Embedding a transcript under each episode, formatted with headers, timestamps, and speaker names, helps Google rank your episode pages for both short-tail and long-tail queries.

Podcast Directories

While Apple and Spotify don’t crawl transcript files yet, platforms like YouTube and Google Podcasts (via RSS ingestion) increasingly rely on textual context. Some hosting platforms even allow you to embed transcripts directly in your RSS feed, which improves indexing in third-party apps.

Pro Tip: Transcripts also boost accessibility and user experience, especially for professionals who prefer skimming over listening.

Tools to Automate or Streamline Transcription

You don’t have to do this manually. There are several reliable, AI-powered transcription tools that integrate directly with your podcast workflow:

  • Descript – Offers fast, editable transcripts with speaker labeling and auto-publishing features.

  • Riverside – Records locally and generates AI transcripts within minutes.

  • Rev – Offers both automated and human transcription for higher accuracy.

  • Otter.ai – A strong budget option for internal repurposing or team reference.

Whichever tool you use, make sure your transcript is:

  • Cleanly formatted (speaker labels, spacing)

  • Embedded directly into your episode webpage

  • Structured with H2/H3 headers if repurposed as an article

Here’s an example of a well-structured transcript from the This American Life podcast. 

Transcript portion from the This American Life podcast

This transcript does more than just show who said what. It’s built to reflect the listening experience. First, notice the note at the top: it sets expectations by reminding readers that this show is meant to be heard, not just read. That kind of context respects the medium and subtly encourages people to hit play.

Second, check the formatting: narrator lines (like Ira Glass) are aligned differently than dialogue (like Child Aric). This subtle shift visually separates narration from actual conversation, making the transcript easier to skim and emotionally easier to follow. It keeps the pacing, tone, and human feel of the original audio, and that’s what makes it a great model.

 

Source

Episode pages that include a transcript and internal linking structure can significantly boost time on site and reduce bounce rate. These are two signals that positively impact rankings, so you definitely can’t skip them.

Repurpose Episodes into YouTube Videos or Clips

Publishing your podcast to YouTube, either as full-length video episodes or short highlight clips, is a high-leverage tactic for discoverability. YouTube automatically transcribes spoken content, meaning your audio is now indexed and searchable.

Minimum video components:

  • Custom thumbnails

  • Keyword-optimized titles

  • Detailed video descriptions, including guest info, topics, and links

  • Timestamps (chapters) for easier navigation

  • Tags using primary and secondary keywords

Youtube video SEO example

Source

Why this works

The Zendesk episode shows how to optimize podcast content for YouTube. It opens with a custom thumbnail that pairs the series logo and the guest’s headshot, making the video easy to spot in a busy feed and boosting click-through rates. 

The title, “How Lush uses AI-powered efficiency to build connections | Conversations with Zendesk podcast,” places high-intent phrases like “AI-powered efficiency” and “build connections” right up front while also highlighting well-known brands Lush and Zendesk. This blend of topical and branded keywords positions the video to rank for both industry and company searches.

A detailed description sits underneath and does most of the discoverability work. It starts with the guest’s name, role, and company, outlines the main talking points, and offers resource links plus a free-trial call to action. The keyword-rich text gives YouTube plenty to crawl and helps viewers decide to watch. Clearly labelled timestamps break the conversation into chapters; for example. This structure lets busy viewers jump straight to the segment that interests them and improves overall watch time.

Tags are not visible in the screenshot, yet Zendesk typically adds a balanced mix of primary and secondary keywords such as “AI customer service,” “Lush,” and “Zendesk podcast.” These tags reinforce the signals already present in the title and description, rounding out an optimisation package that maximises reach, engagement, and search visibility for the episode.

Even if your original podcast is audio-only, pairing the audio with branded visual elements or headshots can make it YouTube-ready. Tools like Descript and Riverside make this process seamless.

Bonus: YouTube videos often show up in Google search results, giving your podcast another chance to surface beyond Apple and Spotify.

Optimize for Cross-Platform Visibility

To maximize visibility:

  • Keep titles consistent across your RSS feed, website, and YouTube channel

  • Use the same primary keywords in meta descriptions, tags, and video titles

  • Cross-link your YouTube videos from your episode pages (and vice versa)

Optimizing your podcast across these platforms ensures that whether someone searches in Google, YouTube, or a podcast app, they can find your content.

 

Rank Higher: External SEO Tactics for Podcast Promotion

Even with perfect metadata and transcripts, your podcast content won’t rank competitively without external validation. In SEO, this comes in the form of backlinks, shares, and social engagement; all of which contribute to visibility on platforms like Google, Apple, and YouTube. And the impact is huge: the average #1 Google result has 3.8 times more backlinks than results in positions #2–#10, illustrating just how important backlinks are for discoverability.  

Here’s how to use those external SEO tactics:

Turn High-Performing Podcast Episodes into Long-Form Blogs

Search engines prioritize long-form, keyword-dense content. For example, the average page holding Google’s #1 position runs roughly 1,500 words, long enough to cover a topic comprehensively without drifting off-point. By repurposing top episodes into full blog articles, you can capture new traffic and establish content authority around high-intent search terms.

Here’s how:

  • Identify episodes with high engagement or strategic relevance

  • Expand the transcript into a full blog (~1,000–1,500 words)

  • Include quotes, examples, and calls to action for deeper conversion

  • Link back to the episode page and embed the podcast player

This not only boosts SEO but creates content that can rank independently from the podcast feed itself.

Pro tip: Use tools like Google Search Console or Ahrefs to track which episode blogs are ranking and optimize them further based on real search terms.

For example, one of the episodes of the Talent Acquisition Leaders Podcast featuring Assil Omar, the Chief Equity Officer and Vice President People Experience at AbbVie, is ranking for “Assil Omar.” 

ahrefs screenshot of a high performing website page

From this, you can turn the podcast episode into a full SEO article and share with Assil as an executive thought leadership content piece, which can go live on the AbbVie website and can earn you a backlink from a high DR website.

ahrefs screenshot of a high DR website

Ask Guests to Link Back from Their Website or Press Pages

Backlinks remain one of the top-ranking factors in SEO. A 2024 Semrush study that analyzed 300,000 SERP positions found that a typical page in Google’s top 10 carries roughly 2,418 backlinks, a clear reminder that robust link profiles correlate with higher visibility. Quality, however, often outweighs quantity: 65.4 % of SEO professionals say the referring site’s domain authority matters more than the sheer number of links. When a guest shares their episode on their site, especially if it’s a high-authority domain, you gain a credible link that lifts the visibility of your content.

To make it easy:

  • Provide guests with a short write-up, embed code, and custom graphic

  • Ask if they can add it to their press page or “In the Media” section

  • For enterprise or thought leader guests, suggest a LinkedIn post that links to the episode on your site

Prioritize guests from high Domain Rating (DR) companies. According to Leah Bryant Co., backlinks from sites with DR 60+ can meaningfully increase your authority score and episode-level rankings.

Use Social SEO to Extend Reach and Indexability

Platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube have evolving algorithms that factor in engagement metrics, hashtags, captions, and timing to determine post visibility.

To maximize impact:

  • Add keywords to video/audio captions; they’re indexed by LinkedIn and YouTube

  • Use 2–3 niche-specific hashtags that are active but not oversaturated

  • Tag your guests and their companies to boost reach through shared audiences

  • Post during peak engagement windows (e.g., Tuesday–Thursday between 9 am–11 am for LinkedIn)

Trucking Tomorrow Podcast LinkedIn post

Source

Why LinkedIn Hashtags Work

LinkedIn’s algorithm treats hashtags as topical signposts. Posts that include at least one hashtag attract up to 29% more engagement than posts that skip them, a lift large enough to translate into extra listens for every episode you promote.

LinkedIn itself recommends sticking to 3–5 highly relevant hashtags per post to maximize visibility without looking spammy. The example screenshot nails that best-practice balance:

  • #TruckDispatcherPodcast targets the exact show brand.

  • #TruckDispatch narrows the audience to professionals who care about dispatch operations.

  • #TruckingIndustry casts a slightly wider net to pull in anyone following broader freight topics.

Using a tight trio of branded, niche, and broad tags like this:

  1. Clarifies context: Algorithms immediately understand what your post is about.

  2. Extends discoverability: The content surfaces in dedicated hashtag feeds, reaching users beyond your follower list.

  3. Maintains readability: Three concise tags keep the caption clean and professional.

While these tactics won’t influence Google directly, they signal quality and relevance to in-app algorithms and often lead to unstructured backlinks when your episode gets reshared on other blogs or newsletters.

 
 

FAQ

How do I rank my podcast?

Treat every episode like a mini blog post. Start with keyword-rich show and episode titles, front-loaded descriptions, and the correct Apple / Spotify categories. Add full transcripts (This American Life saw a 6.68 % organic-traffic lift after doing so) , embed each episode on its own SEO-friendly page, and secure backlinks (the average Google #1 result has 3.8x more links than positions 2 to 10) 

How do podcasts go viral?

While B2B shows rarely go viral, you can improve its visibility by clipping magnetic moments into short YouTube or LinkedIn videos, because both platforms index captions and reward engagement. Encourage guests to post the episode; their backlinks and social reach amplify visibility, while LinkedIn posts with hashtags gain up to 30 % more engagement. Momentum snowballs as each share adds the authority signals search and in-app algorithms love.

Does Spotify have SEO?

Yes. Spotify’s search algorithm ranks shows on the same metadata Apple uses: show title, episode titles, descriptions, categories, and tags. Because listeners are 2.6x likelier to find a podcast through an optimized episode title than through the show name, precise keyword placement inside Spotify can dramatically improve your in-app ranking

Is YouTube part of the strategy?

Yes. YouTube now indexes full podcast audio and auto-generates captions, making it one of the most powerful search surfaces for repurposed episodes and highlight clips. Beyond basic uploads, we publish full-length videos and short teasers, write keyword-rich descriptions, add timestamps, and link back to your episode pages. Because YouTube serves more than 2.5 billion logged-in users each month and is the world’s second-largest search engine, these optimizations open an entirely new discovery channel for your show. Cross-linking videos to your website also sends authority signals to Google and creates additional backlinks that lift overall rankings .

Why does Podcast SEO matter for B2B shows?

With roughly 95 million episodes competing on Apple Podcasts alone as of January 2025, listeners are 2.6 times more likely to find a show through an optimized episode title than through the series name. For B2B brands, that visibility translates into high-intent traffic from prospects who are already researching your domain.. Effective Podcast SEO also future-proofs your content, letting each episode continue to attract inbound leads long after initial promotion.

How does Content Allies help with Podcast SEO?

  • Metadata precision: We audit and refine show titles, episode titles, descriptions, categories, and tags so they are keyword-rich and aligned with listener search intent. Apple and Spotify both weight these fields heavily.

  • Keyword research and naming standards: Using tools such as Ahrefs we discover high-value terms, then embed them in titles and descriptions without sacrificing clarity.

  • Show-notes and on-site episode pages: Every episode receives its own webpage with an optimized H1, meta title, full transcript, internal links, and calls-to-action. This structure gives Google the text depth and signals it needs to rank the content and improve time on site.

  • YouTube optimization: Audio is repurposed into video or audiograms with custom thumbnails, keyword-focused titles, rich descriptions, and chapters so episodes can show up on the world’s second-largest search engine.

  • External authority building: We equip guests with shareable assets and can assist with a backlinking process. High-quality backlinks remain one of the strongest ranking factors; the average Google top result carries 3.8 times more links than positions two to ten.

  • Content repurposing and social SEO: We can expand high-performing episodes into long-form blogs and promote them on LinkedIn with targeted hashtags, boosting engagement and adding new indexable surfaces for keywords.

PodcastingSheila Wupodcast SEO