5 Benefits of YouTube for Your Podcast

If you've been happily working in your podcasting zone of genius and assuming that YouTube isn't for you, think again! It's a common mistake for podcasters to assume that YouTube isn't “their thing” since podcasts deal in audio content and YouTube relies on video.

 

YouTube has 2.1 billion (yes, BILLION, with a “B”) monthly users, and if you're looking for a place to expand your reach, that's a pretty massive potential audience. Not convinced yet? In a recent survey by Edison Research, 13% of people surveyed said that YouTube is the place they go most often to discover new podcasts. Friend, it's definitely time to look into the benefits of YouTube for your podcast! 

 

Benefits to podcasting on YouTube

YouTube can provide you with a whole new world of potential podcast listeners, making way for you to connect with a visual audience, offer enhanced engagement to listeners, and boost SEO rankings. Let's dive into the main benefits of YouTube and podcasting.

 

1. Reach out to a visual audience

There are so many platforms and ways to learn online these days. When everyone has their favorite places and ways to hang out and consume online content, why limit yourself to posting episodes exclusively to podcast listening platforms? YouTube is a hugely popular place for people to consume content they love, and podcasting on YouTube can help you expand your audience to those who might not frequent the places you usually show up for your podcast. 

 

2. Offer an enhanced visual experience to listeners

Since YouTube is a visual platform, you're not limited to posting just the audio component of your podcast. Video content allows you to add additional media that compliments your existing podcast audio or show people your face to promote better engagement and personal brand awareness. 

 

3. Encourage listener engagement

YouTube's comments sections are a great place to build community with your listeners and give them more access to directly ask you questions about episode content or add their own voice to the conversation. Since podcast platforms don't have comment sections, this is a great way for listeners to interact directly with episode content without moving to an entirely different platform. 

 

Your audience can simply listen to podcasts on YouTube, then scroll down the comments section to add their thoughts and interact with other listeners.

4. Increase your ranking on Google 

Did you know that Google shows YouTube content on first-page search results for relevant keywords? Not to mention, YouTube is the second most popular website in the entire world, so building a consistent presence and relevant content there is only going to help your SEO game.

 

5. Monetization Opportunities

Once you're well-established on YouTube, there are plenty of ways to monetize your podcast, from advertising to sponsorships to merch sales. This comes with the huge caveat that YouTube has some pretty specific monetization policies to abide by. I'm definitely not a lawyer, so I'll just leave a handy link to their policies right here.

 

Provided everything is on the up and up, and you're in line with their policies, you can earn money from display ads on your podcast videos. Aside from ads, you can create exclusive video content for paying subscribers via membership channels. 

 

Even if you're not ready to monetize with YouTube's ad tools, you could include sponsor and affiliate links in the episode description of each video or create private, bonus video content for podcast patrons. All you have to do is make an unlisted post with your bonus content, then send the link to your podcast supporters. 

 

Pro Tip! It's always a good idea to explicitly disclose which partnerships and promos on your channel are paid. Otherwise, people might feel like you're being dishonest (and you could get in trouble with the FTC!) 

 

How to rank on YouTube's search algorithms

YouTube's search algorithm works similarly to Google's, so whichever keywords you're already using to drive traffic to your website and podcast content will also work well in YouTube video titles and descriptions. 

 

First, optimize video titles with one primary keyword describing each episode's content. Keep it short; titles are limited to 100 characters and will be truncated at 70. Next, write a strong episode description that includes your target keywords. Provide a short overview of what viewers will find in the video, including any relevant links to social media or full show notes on your website. YouTube also allows creators to use tags and keywords to describe their content, so the algorithm can understand what your video is about and help interested viewers find it. 

 

Encouraging audience engagement on YouTube

All of my strategies for building more robust podcast audience engagement also apply to YouTube! However, there are also a few engagement strategies that are unique to YouTube. Have you ever noticed that YouTubers always call out viewers and ask them to like, comment, and subscribe to each video? That's because user engagement is a huge part of YouTube's search algorithm ranking. Even if it feels a little silly or repetitive, you're going to want to ask people to like, comment, and subscribe to your podcast videos!

 

How to promote your podcast on YouTube

Promoting an episode on YouTube isn't that different from promoting a podcast anywhere else. Encourage your audience from other social media channels to visit your YouTube channel and watch the latest post, promote guest appearances, and consider investing in some paid ads to get quick results! 

 

How to publish podcasts through YouTube

Until recently, YouTube didn't directly support podcasters using the platform to upload episode content. However, they recently made some changes that are super exciting news for the podcast world! Before, the algorithm would mix podcasts and standard content together on your channel. That might not seem like a big deal, but those users were penalized in the long term for posting hour-long content next to shorter videos. 

 

With the new changes, podcasts can be uploaded separately from video content and compiled onto a separate playlist. To help podcasters out, YoutTube has suggested some best practices for uploading podcast episodes: 

• Podcast channels should only contain full-length episodes in order.
• Avoid mixing clips, different shows, or uploads from other channels with podcasts.
• Don't break up seasons.
• Make it easier for audiences to find you by always using the same name as the podcast title.
• Add a detailed description to each podcast episode. 

 

YouTube and podcasting are a match made in heaven!

Embracing YouTube as part of your podcasting strategy can significantly expand your reach and audience engagement. Tapping into the power of YouTube's massive user base can help you find new listeners, boost your SEO rankings, and even monetize your content. Don't skip publishing your podcast through YouTube! 

Ready to start podcasting on YouTube? We can help you take your audio-only podcast up a notch by adding a video element that can be used on YouTube! Book a call now to discuss our video editing services.