3 reasons to include a transcript with each podcast episode
Transcripts help podcasters serve a broader audience.
I’ve been podcasting since 2015. I have two shows currently. Since then I’ve released nearly 1000 episodes; the shows have been downloaded around 1.5 million times.
There are a number of apps that make creating transcripts easy. I use a service called Temi. It’s simple and cost-effective ($0.25 a minute). You upload your file and minutes later a fairly accurate transcript is completed. That AI-powered transcript next goes to my show notes writer, who cleans up any transcript errors.
This is a win-win situation. You’ll reach more people and it’s easy to do.
Transcripts make podcasts more accessible.
Having an audio-only show is great for those who enjoy that form of media. I love listening while in the car, out for a walk, and doing chores around the house. But I’m very fortunate, my sense of hearing is functional. That’s not the case for everyone. According to the World Health Organization, over 5% of the world’s population (466 million people) has disabling hearing loss. I’m not able to serve this group without transcripts.
Transcripts help with SEO.
SEO is search engine optimization. In layman’s terms, a search engine like Google reads a blog post, and keywords signal to Google what the blog is all about. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Google is indexing pages based on audio (yet). An embedded transcript provides more words that might be keywords I can rank for — improving my site’s SEO ranking and authority.
My website is powered by WordPress. I use a plugin called Fusebox which connects with Temi. If you want to see what a transcript looks like on my website, click here.
Transcripts add more value for your listeners.
Some people prefer to read and some need to read a transcript so that your content is accessible. Either way, transcripts add more value to the listener. Some of my “super fans” have told me they annotate my show notes like I would a book. They mark up the show note with underlines, notes in the margins, and questions to further explore. This deep listening and reading increase the show’s value for my listeners. Plus, transcripts can be searched, so if a listener wants to scan for a specific topic, she can easily identify if that topic is covered (and where) in a podcast episode.
Every podcaster should include a transcript through their production workflow. If you are a listener, please share this article with your favorite podcast host and ask him/her to start providing transcripts with the show.
If you’d like to check out my two shows:
The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast on Apple or Spotify
