The SEO Benefits of a Podcast Interview Strategy with Sarah McDowell

In today's episode of The Best Guest we welcome SEO specialist, Sarah McDowell. Listen as we talk about: The importance of SEOHow being a guest on podcasts is good for your SEOThe ways you can maximise the SEO benefits from being a guest on podcasts About Sarah McDowellSarah is based in the UK and has around 10 years of experience in Digital Marketing, specialising in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). She is currently the SEO Manager at Captivate, a growth-orientated podcast hosting platform, which is part of Global Media & Entertainment. She has worked both inhouse and agency side, meaning she has experience in working in a range of different sectors and industries. Before joining Captivate she was part of the SEO team at Holland & Barrett.Sarah’s early career plans didn’t involve marketing, let alone SEO. After graduating with a 2:1 in Dance & Culture from the University of Surrey, Sarah was unsure as to what career she should pursue. She enjoyed dance but knew she didn’t want a career in it. After applying for a range of different roles, Sarah accepted a job at a web design and marketing agency, and it was here that she fell in love with SEO. The rest as you could say is history… cheesy right?Using data, customer insights and her understanding of how search engines work, such as Google, she implements SEO strategies to best optimise websites, with the end goal of increasing relevant traffic, conversion and improving user experience.Sarah is also a podcaster, conference speaker, previous judge of the Drum Search Awards, trainer and co-author (book yet to be published). In her current role at Captivate, she is combining her two passions which are SEO and podcasting. She has four podcasts under her belt, mainly about SEO, with the latest one only launched a few months ago, called The SEO Mindset podcast.Key TakeawaysSEO is a channel for discoverability of your brandThe better visibility you have in Google, the better chance you have to attract prospective customers.Every time a website links to your website this is a back link. Back links help Google to trust your websiteUse tools such as SEM Rush to see what links you have to your site and what backlinks your competitors have.Appearing on podcasts is a good way to build back linksWhenever you appear on a podcast you are getting links to your websitePodcasts are evergreen. People can always come across it and find you.You're targeting a new and engaged source of traffic. You're tapping into other people's audiencesPodcast interviews feed into EAT - Expertise, Authority and Trust. Google looks at this when ranking pages and websites. Podcast interviews help with EAT because you're seen as authoritative by GoogleTo maximise your podcast appearances for SEO - Suggest a topic, do some keyword research to see what people are searching for and base your episode on that topicYou'll receive backlinks in the show notesMake sure you share your episodeRepurpose your podcast content. Transcribe it and turn it into a blogTurn your podcast interviews into social media contentEmbed your podcast interviews on your website but add some text for context. This is good quality content for your website and Google is going to see this.Make your page different from the podcast show's site so you're not competing. Find a different angleQuoteSetting up a website and leaving it is not good enough. It's like buying a lovely plant for your house and not watering it. Even a cactus needs a bit of water. So if you don't nurture it, it will die. It's the same with your website.Mentioned in This EpisodeSEM RushThe Women in Tech CommunitySEO Mindset PodcastConnect with Sarah McDowellTwitter - @sarahmcdukTwitter - @seomindsetpodLinkedInConnect with Victoria BennionBook your free podcast guesting strategy session today.To learn more about working with us visit https://victoriabennion.com/