On average, a podcast episode will take 6-8 hours to produce, from the start to finish. Add to that the need to create blog posts, YouTube, and social media content, and you’re in for a full-time workload. It’s this never-ending wheel of content creation that leads people to ask about content repurposing (i.e., how to turn a podcast into a blog post).
As a freelance content writer who’s helped countless clients do exactly this, I’m going to share why repurposing podcast content is beneficial and exactly how to do it. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Why Repurpose a Podcast Episode Into a Blog Post?
Your client can want to repurpose podcast content for any number of reasons, but here are a few of the most common:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) – Google hasn’t quite figured out how to show podcast episodes in search engine results pages (SERPs) because it’s tricky to give searchers an answer when the answer is within an audio file. Turning your podcast into a blog post, however, turns that audio content into a text-based document Google can serve up to its searchers. That means your content gets in front of more people.
- Reach a wider audience – Because Google is familiar with blog posts and is interested in showing quality content to its searchers, your podcast content has a higher chance of reaching more people if it’s featured in a blog post. That can be great for capturing traffic from people who haven’t discovered your awesome show or just aren’t podcast listeners.
- Reinforce key points -People listen to podcasts in their cars, on walks, while working out, cooking, and in many other places. It’s too easy for listeners to forget the amazing information you share. Putting your key points into a brief blog post is a great way to help those key points stick.
- Further repurposing – Content repurposing doesn’t just mean turning audio or video into blog posts. It can also mean creating infographics or social media posts or featuring your blog posts and episodes in weekly newsletters. These content forms are much easier to create when you already have a blog post to reference.
The 3 Styles of Repurposed Podcast Episodes
Understanding what you want your finished blog post to look like is critical. I cannot emphasize this point enough. I’ve seen countless clients who want one format work with freelancers who deliver something entirely different. Without the right vocabulary, asking for what you want is hard.
After having worked with podcast hosts, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders myself, I’ve managed to distill the many podcast-to-blog post styles into 3 main styles:
- The Transcript
- The Thought Leader
- The Traditionalist
1. The Transcript
This format is basically a polished transcript. While transcribing a podcast episode can take quite a while, this style also requires the least amount of thought. You’re simply writing down everything that was said non-verbatim. This means you remove all the uhs, ums, and unnecessary filler words.
If a client is interested in this kind of blog post, I recommend they find a good transcriptionist as this kind of work is more in line with what they do than what a content writer or copywriter does. However, I find most people are looking for style #3, so it’s unlikely you’ll run into this style very often.
2. The Thought Leader
This style is a mix between style 1 and style 2. It contains a large amount of quoted content, but it’s framed with non-quoted statistics and storytelling. Here’s an example of a piece I wrote in this style: ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Other AI Tools You Need to Know.
This style works great for:
- Thought leaders who create podcasts looking to cover new trends and topics, share their thoughts, and generate discussion in their field
- Podcasts that feature 2+ speakers and interviews
A blog post like this keeps much of what is said in quotes and attributes it to the original speaker. That’s great for groups because individual contributors receive credit for their contributions to the discussion. This style is also excellent for people who want to reinforce key points, as it’s easy to get lost when 4 people are talking, sharing their experiences, laughing, or speaking over each other.
3. The Traditionalist
This style is for those who want a traditional blog post as the finished product. For most businesses, that means:
- Avoid using the first person (I, Me, Myself). However, “we” is often allowed, but you’ll need to clarify beforehand.
- Engage in the second and third person (You, He, She, They)
- Avoid things that reference the podcast episode like “In today’s episode” or “In this episode.”
- Use a few, if any, quotes from the episode. (Most of the time, I have blog posts without any direct quotes from the episode.)
Simply put, you’re basically taking the outline you made from the podcast episode and filling it out with their ideas and talking points. Occasionally, you may need to elaborate on a point they quickly passed over but very little of what ends up in the final piece is content you’ve contributed.
As a writer, these are the easiest style to create. Which takes us to the fundamental question: how to turn a podcast into a blog post?
How to Turn a Podcast into a Blog Post
Now that you know what blog post style you need to create, you finally begin to write! I’ve boiled my process down to 5 easy steps to keep things simple. Step 4 and Step 5 are interchangeable, and Step 1 is optional.
1. Start With a Transcript (Optional)
Start with a transcript if you’re following the Transcript or the Thought Leader style. If you’re creating a more traditional blog post, creating a transcript can actually be counterproductive. They take a lot of time to create, and because you don’t need direct quotes, starting with a transcript doesn’t make sense, so skip to Step 2.
For those of you who do need a transcript, I like to use Rev AI (not an affiliate). This service is super affordable and can create transcripts within minutes. Once I have my transcript, I simply copy and paste it into my Google document for editing. Then I follow these steps:
- I always start by removing unnecessary words. Rev AI will give you a verbatim transcript, which includes any ums, uhs, laughs, mm-hmms, and so on. You don’t need these.
To remove them, simply go to the Edit tab in Google Docs.
Click on “Find and Replace.”
Then type the words you want to remove into the “Find” section.
Leave the “Replace with” section blank and hit “Replace all.” Double-check to make sure that section is blank or you’ll accidentally replace one unwanted word with another unwanted word or phrase, creating more of a headache for yourself.
This step will remove the word you’ve written in the Find bar, saving you loads of time.
- After removing those words, I’ll check grammar and spelling. I go to Tools > Spelling and Grammar > Spelling and Grammar Check.
Then I just click through every error. There’s no need to pay attention to each suggestion because you’ll go through the full transcript in the next section. - And for the third and final step, I label the speakers, so I know who said what. Rev will label speakers with Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc. Once you understand who Speaker 1 is, I use the same Find and Replace function from before to replace “Speaker 1” with the speaker’s actual name.
Once you’ve done these three things, it’s time to move on to Step 2.
2. Listen to the Episode
Now it’s time to listen to the episode. I typically listen at 1.25x, 1.5x, or even 2.0x speed for the first listen-through. Whether you’re working with a transcript or not, the goal of the first listen-through is to identify key points and sections. This will give you a rough outline of what the podcast episode covers. When done right, you’ll end up marking your H2 and H3 headings. Pro tip: I like to include time stamps along with the sections as well. They help me to jump between sections in the audio quickly.
If you’re working with a transcript…
Feel free to remove any large sections of text that aren’t relevant to the episode’s main points as you listen. Many times, show hosts get off track or share one too many examples. And if you’re trying to create a blog post between 1,500 and 2,000 words, a 10,000-word transcript will require a lot of editing.
If you’re working with a traditional blog post…
Take notes as you listen through the episode. Try listening at a slightly slower speed, around 1.25x. Write down sub-points, statements, concepts, terms and definitions, and main ideas. If you get it right the first time, you probably won’t need to listen to the whole episode again.
3. Conduct Keyword Research
Now that you have a rough outline with headings, key points, and the main ideas it’s time to do some SEO research. After all, one of the reasons you might be converting a podcast episode to a blog post is to appear on search engine results pages.
At the start of a project, I always ask my clients for their recommended keywords and post titles. If they can provide them, these will help you perform your research faster. Otherwise, you may need to come up with post titles and keywords on your own.
If they’ve provided a keyword and a title…
Type that keyword into Google and see what comes up. You can also use free versions of tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs (both of which I use) for more detailed SEO info. Look at the top-ranking web pages to see who your competition is. Also, look for any other words you can include in your post. The “people also asked” section is great for finding other keywords or key phrases.
If you don’t have a keyword or title…
Start by searching for the main topic of the episode. Say your episode is on “dog adoption.” Start by typing that in. It may take some research to narrow your keyword to something like “What to do after adopting a dog: day 1.” But with the right research, you can determine which keyword your article will most likely rank for.
I always perform SEO research. Skipping this step is like trying to create a geographically correct map without using any measurement tools or a compass. It just won’t get the results you want.
As a general rule of thumb, include your primary keyword in the:
- Title
- First paragraph of the post
- In at least one H2 or H3 heading
Depending on the length of your blog post, you should use the keyword between 3 and 10 times.
4. Write the Introduction and Conclusion
Now it’s time to write! You can move on to Step 4. Or, move on to Step 5 and come back to Step 4 after. Every writer has their own preferences. Sometimes I like to start with an introduction; other times, I save it for last.
Whatever our preference, write your introduction with your primary reader in mind. What problem does this blog post solve? Who is the ideal listener/reader? And explain what they’ll learn by reading your post. If you’re really stuck, check out some of the other ranking articles you found in your SEO research and see how they started their articles.
When it comes to a conclusion, your goal is to summarize what you’ve covered and leave the reader with a strong call to action. This may be a call to send in their thoughts and ideas, engage with the host on Twitter, listen to the next episode, or sign up for a newsletter. Whatever it is, you never want to leave your reader wondering what to do next.
These two sections always take the most time (in my experience), so if I can start with them first, then I get through the project much quicker. Just remember to come back and revise them, even if you start the writing process with them, as you might end up taking a different direction or covering different points than you initially thought.
5. Write Like a Professional
Finally, finish writing the blog post.
If you’re working with a transcript…
Your final steps are to polish the transcript and send the project in for approval. If you’re creating a thought-leader style post, finish framing your quotes, add relevant statistics, intros, and conclusions, and reread the piece to make sure you tell a story that’s true to the original episode but gets the main points across.
Pro tip: Always write at least 1-2 sentences following a heading. If you follow a heading with quotes, the reader might get confused. So instead, prime them for the quote with a thought, a statistic, or an overview of the section.
If you’re creating a traditional style blog post…
All of the hard work is done for you. The podcast host has already outlined the post and explained which key points you need to cover. Now, you only need to turn those bullet points into sentences and paragraphs.
Regardless of which style of blog post you’re writing, you should aim to achieve the right style, tone, and voice in the final piece. Look at other pieces published by your client for guidance. And if they don’t have anything published yet, ask for websites and blogs they turn to for inspiration.
To take your content to the next level, interlink for the client. This can help boost your SEO, and it only takes a few minutes. Look at terms or ideas you think are common in the industry and search your client’s website for related articles. If you find some, hyperlink to them in the post using relevant anchor text.
When you’re finished drafting, take a break. I try to give my brain at least a day’s break from the piece before reading it over one last time. I find that a fresh mind always finds tiny ways to improve a piece, no matter how much I’ve already looked at it.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! That’s how to turn a podcast into a blog post! Ultimately, every client is unique, and my approach might not work for each individual client. Listen to what they want, learn what, how, and when to ask the right questions, and improve over time.