How to build a profitable podcast.
This post will show you EXACTLY how to create an easily accessible Podcast Library...
According to a 2021 survey, 116 million people worldwide said they listened to at least one podcast every month. So it’s no surprise that over the past few years entertainers, academics and experts, and fans from all fields of interest – from food to sports and the daily news – have been jumping at the chance to launch their own series, and get a taste of the podcast action.
However, with over 3.2 million podcasts released in 2021 on Spotify alone, presenters and producers are finding themselves scrambling to beat their competition and monetize their opinions and expertise. And in the world of podcasting, outdoing other shows doesn’t only come down to listener numbers or reaching as wide an audience as possible.
Cracking the podcast code
To win at the podcast game, producers and presenters also need to put out as many episodes as they can, as often as possible, to keep on top of the charts and consistently rank highly within the vast podcast library. Regular scheduling is key, but launching with only one episode under your belt is unlikely to catch a captive audience.
So with the heat on to create and publish content, and with over 65 million podcast episodes out there to compete with, it’s no surprise that hosts are seeking new ways to optimize their content and streamline their publishing process.
But creating a chart-topping podcast isn’t easy, no matter how effortless some of your favorite hosts might make it sound. And the more episodes you accumulate, the harder it can be to keep the archive organized, find information you need to reference from previous podcasts, and easily direct your audience to relevant information from past episodes so they can fact-check and listen to the source interview for themselves.
Why create an accessible podcast library?
As well as releasing engaging and relevant content, podcast creators must prioritize accessibility across their publishing platforms and podcast libraries. The most obvious reason for creating an accessible podcast library is that it makes finding and listening to podcasts more inclusive for audiences speaking in a second language, or for those with disabilities and other needs that affect their ability to simply plug in and listen.
Statistics show that 15% of Americans aged over 18 have hearing needs, and 41% of Americans listen to podcasts each month. Combined, that equates to a large number of potential listeners that would be unable to listen to podcasts, if it weren’t for podcast teams taking steps to make their content accessible to as many people as possible.
Today, posting a full written transcript alongside your audio podcast has become a far more common practice, thanks to advancements in technology and AI which make it quicker and easier for publishers to translate their audio to text. And as they’re beginning to find out: it’s not just listeners that benefit from accessible podcast libraries. These inclusivity measures can also help the hosts and producers and make the process of running a podcast much simpler and smoother.
That’s where speech-to-text transcripts come in.
Using transcription tools for podcast accessibility
Publishing podcasts with an accompanying written transcript of the audio can help producers edit episodes more accurately within minutes, direct new audiences to podcasts through SEO, and improve archive referencing. And each of these benefits also aids the development of a more easily accessible podcast library for all.
Using Trint for speech-to-text and audio transcription allows podcasters to download the full transcript of their audio recording in a moment – with no manual labor required. They can then use this transcript not only to boost their SEO and support listeners with accessibility requirements when published online, but also to speed up their production process.
In Trint, transcripts can be used as a reference point to help producers as they run through the recording. Time coding helps editors to identify and highlight the most important information from their recording, and quickly place any unwanted sections or references that they need to edit out.
Previously, podcasts that published written transcripts alongside their audio podcasts would need employees (or more likely volunteers) to manually type up their recordings each time. For an hour-long podcast this could take anywhere from a few hours to a full day. So for podcasters looking to put out as much content as often as they can – whether daily, weekly, or fortnightly – that becomes a time consuming and expensive addition to the process.
With Trint, all the editor needs to do is check through the automated transcripts for accuracy. And their podcast has the potential to be ready for publishing on their platform or network, on social media, and on accompanying blog posts, within minutes.
The benefits of an accessible podcast library for producers
Running the recording of a podcast through a transcription service like Trint also means producers can automatically create an archive of every episode they publish. So, rather than losing the information recorded to the airwaves as soon as the episode is released, there’s a written record of every fact, topic, and interview that can be searched within the podcast library at any time.
Producers can also tag various clips under different topic groups – for example, all instances of the President talking about the border. Then, when they’re looking to reference different quotes or times when the President has spoken on this subject, all the podcaster needs to do is search the topic or keywords in Trint.
In an instant they will have every archival reference from every previous podcast transcript where the topic is mentioned at their fingertips. Or, if they want to quote a previous interviewee in a new episode, they can use the same tool to say exactly which podcast listeners can find the source information in.
This gives podcasters the ability to include old clips, cite previous episodes, and add extra information to new topics of conversation without having to guess at the original source, rather than having to guess where they’re from or manually log information in another folder.
Even clips that have been edited out of episodes when they aired will be saved in text within the archival transcripts. So producers don’t need to worry about losing information in their edits – deleted archival clips will still be available to them in their Trint transcripts.
The benefits of an accessible podcast library for listeners
By publishing podcast transcripts run through Trint, producers also make it easier for users to find old episodes simply by looking up keywords in search engines, podcast apps and hosting platforms, or within their own podcast libraries.
So, if someone was researching a particular topic, for example the Russian invasion of Ukraine, simply searching this term would mean they will come across podcasts on the subject as well as news articles. So editors can ensure that their transcripts include keywords and phrases that will help them rank higher in search engines.
It also allows them to include back links to other websites and pages within their own site where relevant topics are mentioned, which is another effective way of boosting their contents’ SEO ranking.
Careful consideration around this approach to content and boosting SEO can even inform the way podcasters title their episodes, the descriptions and backlinks they include when they publish the audio file, and potentially even the words they use in speech – especially for scripted podcast episodes – that will appear in the transcript.
Together, all of these approaches to content-focused podcasting help podcasts grow a larger audience, present themselves as a useful resource, and create an easily accessible podcast library for both listeners and producers alike.
How to create a library of podcast transcripts
Adding another technical step to your podcast production line doesn’t have to mean extra work. In fact, it could save you and your team a lot of time. Here’s how to do it in Trint:
The result? An organized, searchable, and accessible podcast library that benefits your listeners and your podcast team.
Conclusion
Having an accessible and searchable archive of all recordings you’ve ever created opens up a new world of possibilities for your podcast creation moving forward. Being able to dig up moments relevant to current topics that may have happened years ago within moments allows you to add layers of detail that weren’t previously possible and enrich the quality of the content you provide for your listeners.
