WHAT’S THIS EPISODE ABOUT?
Definition of Podcast Transcripts
Okay, so really…what are podcast transcripts? When I talk about podcast transcripts, I’m talking about the written form of an audio clip. In other words, it means taking an audio file, running it through a program that takes all the words that you’re saying, and it transcribes them into a text form – whether that’s a PDF, a document, or a text form.
It’s a very simple document.
There’s usually little to no formatting, outside of paragraph spacing and punctuation. There’s nothing super, extra special about a transcript, except what you can do with it!
Okay, now that we’ve talked about the definition of podcast transcripts, I’m going to tell you why I use them and why I think you should too.
When I First Started…
I first wanted to tell you that I absolutely have a love-hate relationship with podcast transcripts. Just throwing that out there.
The reason I’m telling you this is because there are some pros and cons to them – that we’re going to talk about in a second. But back in the day, whenever I first got started, they were not as easy to create as they are today. That’s really where the deeply rooted love-hate passion that I have comes from.
I knew from the very beginning of my podcast journey, back in 2018, how important it was to have a written transcription of my podcast. I remember thinking,
“I NEED to have transcripts for my podcast!”
I’d learned from other podcasters and watching what they were doing just how important transcripts were. They were making one piece of content spin-off into multiple pieces.
And I thought it was incredible!
(Watch this video to see how you can repurpose podcast transcripts 3 ways!)
The technology in 2018 wasn’t what it is today. As fast as technology moves, what was around when I first started seems like the stone age compared to today’s affordable and easy-to-use tools. (We’ll get to those in a sec!)
Transcripts & SEO
But I really want to talk about SEO (search engine optimization) and your podcast transcripts. [If you’re struggling with SEO or just want to learn more about how you can use it with your podcast, check out this podcast episode: SEO for Podcasts – What You Need to Know.]
If SEO is something that makes you cringe, I get it. That’s how I felt about it for a very long time. And I’m not talking about a month or so. No, try the last 3 years! It’s only been the last year and a half that I’ve really understood SEO and how I can use it to my advantage make it easier on my podcast.
Search engines are constantly looking for content and keywords in podcast transcripts.
Which is good news for you! Because that means they’ll help your show get found easier.
Let me paint a picture for you. Whenever I first started my podcast and I was just getting things off the ground back in 2018, there were no podcasts that populated in Google. I don’t know if you remember those days or not, but they were not that long ago.
Previously, you’d search for something on Google and you would just get blog articles or websites or a YouTube video. Now, podcast episodes show up on Google.
I hope that you’ve seen this.
I hope that you’ve recognized this as a podcaster.
Because this is pretty important!
And this is why it is very important to have podcast transcripts.
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But Do They Have to Be Pretty & Formatted?
Shout out to my good friend Melanie from the DIY Marketing School Podcast! She recently asked me about her own transcripts and wanted to know, “Is it really worth it? Are they that important?”
When we started digging into the root of her question about podcast transcripts, I realized her issue was that she didn’t want to produce subpar content for her audience.
“Do they need to be perfectly formatted like a blog post?”
She was relieved when I told her, “HECK NO!”
You definitely don’t have to have your transcripts be perfectly formatted in order to get them out onto the internet.
Now, in a perfect world, you would have someone read through and check for everything spelling error, punctuation, and grammar mistake in your transcripts.
But, let’s be real…
You don’t have time for that!
Unless you have an employee dedicated to copywriting or blog posts that can devote their time to this task, I want you to settle for good enough.
My Process for Creating Podcast Transcripts:
- Download the MP3/WAV file (if not already complete).
- Upload to transcription software.
- I use Otter.AI. And if you’re a Buzzsprout user, you can get an extra 20% their annual rate! (See the coupon code under your ‘Resources’ tab within your Buzzsprout account.)
- Check that your name, your podcast name, and main keywords are spelled correctly.
- You can do a “CTRL F” and type in the words you believe are most important to be spelled right.
- For example, my name starts with a ‘K’, not a ‘C’. My last name is spelled ‘Proffitt’, not ‘Profit’. In The Ediful Garden’s Podcast, my mom talks about ‘thyme’, not ‘time’.
- Make any paragraph breaks you think will make it easier for your audience to read.
- Download the transcript.
- Upload to your podcast host (like Buzzsprout.)
And there you go. A step-by-step process to make creating your podcast transcripts that much easier!
Watch the video below to see how it works!
RECAP: Should I have podcast transcripts? Or Not?
- Love-Hate Relationship
- SEO for Podcasts
- Formatting Transcripts
- My Process for Transcripts with Otter.Ai
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
- “How to Repurpose Podcast Content – 3 Ways to Use Transcriptions”
- My Favorite Transcription Service: Otter.ai
- DIY Marketing School Podcast
- SEO for Podcasts Episode
- “Best Audio to Text Converter for Your Podcast – Otter.Ai”
- The Poddy Report
- 500+ Podcast Ideas for Any Industry
- Proffitt Podcast Online Community Facebook Group
- TheBestPodcastBook.com
- Facebook Group for Podcast Book Launch Team
- The Ultimate Podcast Checklist
- Proffitt Podcasting Course
- Podcast YouTube Channel
- 5-Day Podcast Bootcamp
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