Every day, the Content 10x team spends hours repurposing all kinds of content. But one of our favorites is when we get to repurpose a podcast episode into a blog post.
Podcast episodes and blog posts are both extremely valuable pieces of content for businesses. And repurposing your content into both audio and text format helps you connect with your audience in ways that suit them.
Each episode of the Content 10x Podcast is repurposed into a blog post so that our message is shared in different formats to reach more people. So, we thought it was about time we pulled back the curtain, and shared how we do it.
Keep reading or listen to the podcast episode below to find out how to repurpose a podcast episode into a blog post. Learn our tried-and-tested method, how to streamline your repurposing process, tips for writing a great blog post (even if you’re not a writer), and discover how to unlock the repurposing potential of a podcast!
Press play to hear the podcast episode…
Or read on for the repurposed blog post!
Quick note: if you’re looking for help repurposing your blog post into a podcast episode you can find our guide to that in this post, How to Repurpose a Blog Post into a Podcast Episode.
Why should you repurpose a podcast episode into a blog post?
If you have a podcast or are thinking of starting one, there are many reasons why repurposing your episodes into written content is a good idea. Here are two of the main ones:
- Audiences prefer to consume content in different ways – they may not want or have time to listen to a ten-minute or even hour long podcast episode, and prefer to scan a blog post.
- Blog posts help your content get found by search engines – text is still the main type of content that search engines use to determine if your content is relevant to an audience.
By repurposing your podcast episode into a blog post, your content will be more easily found on search engines, reach a wider audience, and provide valuable information your audience needs in their preferred format.
Can I repurpose my podcast episode into a blog post?
We have one simple answer for you: yes!
No matter the style of your podcast, you can turn it into a great blog post. We work with many different styles of podcasts from our clients and every one of them has valuable information that can be repurposed into written content.
Whether you’re creating...
- Solo or co-hosted episodes sharing thought-leadership style content or how-to advice
- Interview-style episodes with presenters and guests
- Panel/round-table conversations
...the valuable insights that come from these discussions are well worth sharing in a new format.
Here’s how to do it…
How to repurpose a podcast episode into a blog post
This is the five-step process we use at Content 10x to transform our clients’ podcast episodes into blog posts.
1. Listen to the podcast episode to find key points or a strong narrative thread
Listening to a podcast episode will give you a good sense of the key points, themes and the overall narrative. Note these down as these will form the basis of your blog.
The trick here is to be selective. Choose the most valuable moments and consider your blog post as a showcase of the conversation’s highlights rather than a play-by-play.
In a podcast episode, you’ll might get a bit of chit chat that doesn’t need to be included in your repurposing, so be ruthless about what points will make it into the blog. At the end of the day, a short and highly valuable blog post is far more useful than a rambling one.
2. Get a transcript of your podcast episode
For longer podcast episodes in particular, a transcript can really speed up your repurposing process.
Firstly, it’s like having all your notes done for you. Secondly, the ctrl + F search function will save you so much time compared to scrubbing back through an audio file.
You can use this to help give your blog post structure, find quotes and just generally help with the end-to-end writing process.
If you’re just using these transcripts for writing assistance, you can use a site like Otter.ai or Descript to convert your podcast episodes into text. If you want to publish your podcast episode’s transcript to your website, then we recommend getting a high-quality, human-written transcript from Rev.
A word of caution about transcripts: they are not a replacement for a well-written blog post.
They are undoubtedly very useful. See our blog post, How Transcriptions Can Play A Key Role in Content Repurposing, if you want to learn more about how you can use them. But transcripts and blog posts are two different beasts. Transcripts are typically not very reader-friendly and make it tough for search engine bots to read. A blog post is written with the intention of being read, unlike a transcript, and should make it easy for readers to digest the most important points.
Keep in mind why you’re repurposing your podcast episode into a blog post. Remember that a blog post will help you achieve things that a transcript just can’t – such as a better chance at appearing higher in the SERPs.
3. Do keyword research
This is where podcast episodes and blog posts really differ. A podcast episode might have a clear theme or topic, but you don’t necessarily need to worry about searchability in your recording.
To ensure your blog post has the best possible chance of getting found by search engines, you’ll need to use SEO best practices. For blog posts, this means incorporating keywords that your audience is searching for.
SEO is a big topic, but for blog posts, the top things you need to do are:
- Research keywords that your audience are using
- Find ones that relate to your blog post's overall message
- Put these keywords in the title, headings, body text, URL and meta description
It’s also a good idea to check out SEO tools for your CMS. If you’re using WordPress, we recommend Yoast.
There’s a big wide world of SEO practices that can help you improve your search rankings – and the rules are changing almost all of the time. So if you want to brush up on your knowledge, there are plenty of resources out there to help. We recommend checking out Google’s guidance, Moz’s learning centre, and the Learning SEO roadmap.
4. Add extra information
Missed out something important in your podcast episode? Include it in your blog post!
Effective repurposing is all about adding value in new ways, so feel free to elaborate on key points, explain topics in-depth or even add new/alternative analogies.
Your blog post doesn’t have to include every piece of information in your podcast episode – but it also doesn't mean you're limited to only write about things mentioned in the episode. You can use your blog post to talk about other things too, including things you missed in the episode or other ideas ideas you feel are relevant and work better in blog post format. You’re free to be creative with your repurposing.
You could even write your blog post as a companion piece to your podcast episode. For more on how to do that, see this post: Repurposing Your Core Content Into Companion Content.
5. Write with confidence
Here’s some good news: you don’t have to be a professionally trained writer to repurpose a podcast episode into a blog post.
The great thing about repurposing a podcast episode into a blog post is that you already have all your awesome content. It’s just about chopping and changing it with a few writing techniques.
Here are some pointers to keep your writing on the right track:
For blog posts, you’ll want to ensure an easy-to-read style. Use short sentences, lots of white space, and write how you speak.
Before you publish, give your blog post a final once over with a tool like Grammarly, to ensure no spelling or grammar errors have slipped through the net. To go one step further and refine your writing, try Hemingway.
If you want more guidance on how to improve your writing, check out our episode with Copyhackers' founder, Joanna Wiebe. How to Write Better Content with Joanna Wiebe, which is packed with useful writing tips and tricks!
Bonus tip! Make your blog a multimedia experience
Blog posts are no longer about just words. The most engaging blog posts out there use visual elements like graphics, podcast players, videos, or GIFs to break up the content into bite-sized pieces.
You could embed your podcast episode, add a link to your transcript and any supporting internal or external articles (great for SEO!), plus any graphics or videos. Think of your blog post as a hub of all the repurposed content you create for that episode.
You could use this post (or any of the Content 10x blog posts) as a template!
That’s our process for repurposing a podcast episode into a blog post. Feel free to switch it up and find a method that works for you. Repurposing regular podcast episodes can be a laborious project, but it’s worth it for the benefits your audience and business will reap long-term.
If you need help repurposing your podcast episodes, you don’t have to go it alone. We work with a wide range of businesses to transform their awesome audio content into winning written content every week. Discover our industry leading podcast repurposing service here.
Or if you prefer a DIY approach and want a little more help, then do check out the book, Content 10x: More Content, Less Time, Maximum Results, which is the ultimate guide to repurposing all kinds of content – in all kinds of ways!
Very interesting article. Thank you !