This article explains, in some detail, new concepts and new twists on old concepts. One of these successful marketing concept is blogging. “Blogging should be part of any online retailer’s SEO arsenal,” says Stephan Spencer, Founder and President of Netconcepts.

Read this entire article and learn about additional online marketing tactics to win the respect and appreciation of consumers.

But what about SEO’ing a podcast, the blog’s newest cousin?

Podcasting (where anyone can become an Internet radio talk show host or DJ) presents unique opportunities to the marketer/content producer that blogging does not. I expound on this a bit more in my recent MarketingProfs article but the benefits of podcasting from an SEO standpoint wouldn’t seem as obvious. Podcasts are usually audio content, so you don’t get all this rich textual content that the search engine spiders can snarf up. You also don’t get the rich inter-linking that happens with blogs because you can’t embed clickable URLs throughout your MP3 files.

Nonetheless, I believe you can SEO your podcasts. Here’s how:

1. Come up with a name for your podcast show that is rich with relevant heavily searched-on keywords.
2. Make sure your MP3 files have really good ID3 tags ?Į rich with relevant keywords. ID3V2 even supports comment and URL fields. The major search engines may not pick up the ID3 tags now, but they will! And besides, there are specialty engines and software tools that already do.
3. Synopsize each podcast show in text and blog that. Put your most important keywords as high up in the blog post as possible but still keep it readable and interesting.
4. Encourage those who link directly to your MP3 file to also link to your blog post about the podcast.
5. Consider using a transcription service to transcribe your podcast or at least excerpts of it for use as search engine fodder. Break the transcript up into sections. Make sure each section is on a separate web page and each separate web page has a great keyword-rich title relating to that segment of the podcast. And, of course, link to the podcast MP3 from those web pages. There are many transcription services out there, where you can just email them the MP3 file or give them an URL and they send you back a Word document. Here’s a partial list of transcription services .
6. Submit your podcast site to podcast directories and search engines such as audio.weblogs.com.
7. Let people in your industry, such as bloggers and the media, know that you have a podcast because podcasting is quite new and novel. It will be more newsworthy and linkworthy than just another blog in your industry.
8. Don’t just get up on your soapbox. Have conversations with others, in the form of recorded phone interviews, and podcast those as well. Pick people who have great reputations on the web and great PageRank scores, and ask that they link to your site and to your podcast summary page.

This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list of tactics. It is simply meant as a catalyst for creative thinking. SEO, in particular the link building aspect, isn’t about just following a set list of formulae. It is about creatively thinking outside the box and differentiating yourself in ways that make your site eminently more linkworthy than your competitors.

Podcasting refers to the technology used to pull digital audio files from Web sites down to computers and devices such as MP3 players. “Podcast” is derived from the name of the iPod MP3 player from Apple, although you don’t need an iPod to partake in podcasts.

Podcasting is a significant departure from traditional broadcasting because it removes the time requirement; you can listen to a podcast radio program or interview any time.

Think what audio books on tape did for the road warrior –turning our cars and airplane seats into mobile universities. Podcasting has the same capacity to change the way we learn and take in new information.

With news sites and blogs, you are anchored to your seat or computer screen to partake in the wisdom of your favorite blogger or journalist. For those sites that are also podcasting, you now have an alternative.

Podcasting isn’t just about downloading MP3 files. What makes it special is that it piggybacks on RSS technology, also known as Really Simple Syndication. Some Web site owners (including MarketingProfs.com), feature their most recently published content in XML files called “RSS feeds.” Software programs called newsreaders that are installed on Internet users’ PCs continuously monitor their favorite RSS feeds for new content.

From this evolved specialized newsreaders capable of accepting “enclosures” — multimedia files included in the RSS feed—and downloading them to an MP3 player or a hard drive (iPodder is one example). A user of this software can be presented with new podcasts of interest collected via RSS feed in a way similar to how he would follow the latest happenings on a blog through a traditional RSS reader.

Newly available MP3 audio files that appear in a subscribed RSS feed can be downloaded to your MP3 player, burned to a CD for playback on your car’s CD player or simply listened to through your computer’s speakers.

The key to the early success of podcasting is its ease of use, according to Doug Kaye, founder of ITConversations.com and a podcasting pioneer. “It’s as easy as waking up in the morning, grabbing your iPod full of podcasts transferred invisibly overnight, and listening on your commute to the office.”

It’s the job of the podcasting client that you’ve installed on your computer (iPodder, for example) to do the hard work of monitoring your favorite podcasts via RSS.

So far, there are hundreds of podcasts out there, with new ones popping up every day. Many are talk shows on technology, business, entertainment, sports and so on. It’s amazing the quality of some of this audio commentary being published out there on the Web, free for the taking.

Business 2.0 magazine calls podcasting the “democratization of broadcasting.” Indeed, anyone with a computer and a microphone can try his or her hand at being an Internet radio talk show host, and building an audience of thousands, potentially millions.

Some early adopter bloggers are podcasting to augment their predominantly textual blogs, such as the very popular and highly regarded Dave Winer. Typically, their podcasts are far from professionally produced, however. Winer’s podcast posted on December 19 was a testament to this fact, as it was recorded during a road trip in his car over highway noise.

Laura Ries, author and reknowned expert on marketing and branding strategy, happens to also be a blogger (of the Origin of Brands blog), but not yet a podcaster. In Ries’s opinion, bloggers may have a hard time successfully transitioning to podcasting.

“Blogging is a written medium, and podcasting is an audio medium,” says Ries. “It takes a unique skill to deliver content verbally. Some bloggers could make the switch, but many I am guessing could not. Also, one of a blog’s unique features is the ability to link to other content on the Web — something that podcasting would have difficulty doing.”

Kaye echoes Ries’s sentiments that podcasting won’t be for everyone. “As the number of podcasts grow, amateur podcasters will find it increasingly difficult to compete with the more formal, information-packed, professionally produced podcasts,” Kaye says.

“People have a limited amount of time to listen to audio content,” he adds. “You can’t skim podcasts like you can skim blogs. Information consumers will become more discerning as they are offered more choices.” Clearly, not all podcasters will win the hearts and minds of their listeners.

It’s still early days to ascertain the ROI of podcasting. But results so far are encouraging. Kaye reports that traffic to his ITconversations.com site has doubled since podcasting came out; he attributes much of that growth to podcasting.

In a bold move, the BBC has started experimenting with podcasting by delivering the series “In Our Time” this way. The BBC also plans to put all of its radio archives online and to continue to deliver new shows online; it is possible we will see thousands of classic BBC radio shows podcast. It’s great to see a traditional broadcaster right at the cutting edge of technology!

Currently, podcasting exists primarily as audio content, but the technology also supports other rich media as well, such as photos and video. The new iPod photo MP3 player supports not just the playing of audio files but also the display of digital photographs, offering podcasters a new opportunity to mix audio with still images. The popular blog Engadget, for example, includes photos of the devices being reviewed.

Podcasting and Marketing

How will podcasting relate to marketing? And why is podcasting important for marketers?

Well, people like dealing with people. Audio commentary injects a human element not present on your typical passive brochure Web site.

Adding that human voice to your Web site through podcasting gives people the opportunity to reconnect with your business on a repeated basis, assuming they find your audio content to be valuable and interesting to them.

What would be some good applications of podcasting for marketing? A few come to mind:

Interview various authors and thought leaders in your industry, then publish these interviews regularly to your podcast on your site. You could even transcribe these podcasts to post on the site as well. It’s good search engine fodder if the interview contains the right keywords.

Provide a thought-provoking idea or tip of the day. Just a short bit of practical advice published on a frequent regular basis coming from one of the thought leaders within your own company helps establish their credibility in the listener’s mind over time, assuming the podcasts are really good.

Offer late-breaking podcast industry news compiled from sources across the Web that you monitor on a daily basis. This is really no different from many of the blogs out there that focus on news. The difference is that someone doesn’t have to sit in front of the screen to get the latest happenings. People can subscribe to your podcast, download it and take it with them as they go out jogging or commute to the office.

Get your listener subscribers to participate in a kind of a talkback show where they can ask thought-provoking questions and make comments, which can then be addressed and elaborated on by your in-house experts or even a panel of experts.

Sponsor existing, high-quality podcasts. This allows you to associate your organization with a reputable podcast, and it gives you an instant audience. For example, sponsors of IT Conversations reach an audience of 14,000-15,000 listeners. Sponsoring others’ podcasts can be a viable alternative to producing your own podcasts and building up the listener base from scratch, for potentially less expense and better ROI. Sponsor slots shouldn’t sound like commercial interruptions; they should be relevant to the listener and add value.
To get started podcasting, all you’ll really need is a microphone and some software. There’s a great tutorial on podcasting, both for listeners and producers, on Engadget.com.

Why You Should Podcast

You will be seen as an innovator on the cutting edge of things. You will most likely be the first mover in your market to use podcasting as a marketing tool.

Loyal listeners will come to rely on you for the latest thinking, news or trends in your field of expertise and interest. As their thought leader, you can influence the listeners’ buying behaviors through a soft-sell approach.

People will regard you as a human being they can relate to. The personal voice of your podcast is more real than the “voice” of your company’s Web site. It is more disarming and makes your company seem more approachable if done right.

Because podcasting is novel at this point in time, there is some PR value to be milked when dealing with the trade press.
In addition, podcasting is quite suitable for recordings of conference presentations. Just think: if you weren’t able to attend the latest Pop!Tech conference, you could still enjoy hearing such thought provoking speakers as Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, offering insight into human nature as it applies to marketing and product development.

It occurred to me that the folks at Sky Radio could make excellent use of podcasting. Sky Radio produces the business interviews you hear on the in-flight radio on airlines such as United and American. I think those interviews would be fantastic material to make available on a podcast RSS-type format. Sometimes, you don’t get to listen to all the shows, or you want to recall something you heard when half asleep at 30,000 feet. Personally, I’d love that.

Podcasting has the power to change the way rich media information is broadcast. It’s kind of a mix of the Web, TiVo and portable consumer electronics, all in one.

Spread the word. Podcasting has arrived.

Listen to this podcast to get a historic glimpse into podcasting, its challenges and successes, and its potential applications.

I love the way that podcasting democratizes radio broadcasting. Literally anyone can do it — even me! It takes a bit of fiddling to get the right setup in place for good quality audio recording — particularly when there’s someone on the other end of a phone to interview — but I’ve finally nailed it.

I conducting my first successful podcast interview today. I phone interviewed Marc Holland, CEO of Sky Radio Networks. I’m not going to put it online yet, as the podcast is supposed to be released in conjunction with the publication of my upcoming MarketingProfs article on podcasting (due out within the next week or two). I will post here to my blog once the article and the podcast interviews are online.

You may wonder why I selected Sky Radio as my first interviewee. Well, while I was writing my podcasting article for MarketingProfs, it occurred to me that podcasting would be an obvious next evolution in Sky Radio’s business model. Sky Radio is the exclusive producer of the in-flight business audio programming on many of the major domestic airlines. They’re the folks you hear on the business channel when you fly United, for instance. I think their interviews would be fantastic material to make available on a podcast RSS format, as sometimes you don’t get to listen to all the shows or you want to recall something you heard half asleep 30,000 feet up. Podcasting would allow business execs who don’t even fly to regularly partake in these audio interviews as they become available. If Sky Radio developed a strong listener base and online distribution channel for the podcasts, then they could charge for this just like they charge for having professionally-produced interviews distributed to air travelers.

I’ve lined up some more great podcast interviews, so there will be lots to come! As they say in broadcasting, “Stay tuned!”