Two episodes ago, I tried to convince you that you need to take the time to create quality show notes. If you missed that episode, you can go to www.PodcastfastTrack.com/20 to hear my reasoning.
In the last installment of Podcastification I showed you the first step my Podcast Fast Track team takes to begin the show notes creation process. It included:
If you missed that episode, you can find it at www.PodcastFastTrack.com/shownotes2
Remember, if you've followed my formula so far (covered in the last two episodes), you've already got 2 vital steps done:
So let's dive in...
The main reason is really two reasons:
ONE: To give your readers a true TEASER (keep that word in mind... )a TEASER of what they will hear in the audio content!
You want your show notes to draw you reader IN to becoming not just a reader, but a LISTENER to the audio, which is where the true value is.
500 words is about right to do that in a way that reveals JUST ENOUGH, but NOT TOO MUCH.
TWO: 500 words is just about right to get some search engine attention.
Any shorter, it might be seen as an invaluable resource.
Any longer, it could be TMI (too much information).
500 words is just like the baby bear's porridge that Goldilocks ate... JUUUUSSSTTTT RIIIIIGGTTT!
And before you get too anxious about the word count... let me put your mind at ease: WE NEVER COUNT THE WORDS!
500 is our target. We write what we need to write. We usually go over or under just a tiny little bit.
So relax.
There's a handful of important things you need to include in your show notes. We choose to include most of these in our 500 word summary:
Why do we include these things?
KEYWORDS - it's obvious. We're trying to get the show notes post to rank for organic search traffic which in turn might lead to new listeners/followers.
DEEP LINKS - linking throughout your own website to RELEVANT content improves your SEO juice.
OUTBOUND LINKS - again, SEO is improved if you demonstrate that you're writing for your readers, providing them value, even if that value is NOT ON YOUR WEBSITE! But make sure the outbound links you include are to reputable sites, not some junky, spammy, ad-filled site.
HEADINGS - Why? We want the post to be scannable (since most people nowadays scan websites instead of reading them). Headings break up the content, highlighting some of the most important topics (hint: keywords), and ENTICING the readers to become listeners.
SHORT PARAGRAPHS: Did you get the operative word there? SHORT! We put these under each heading as mini-blurbs of what the heading-topic covers, and we do our darndest to write it in a way that makes the reader WANT TO LISTEN...
