Blogging Vs Podcasting: Double Your Content, Not Your Workload
If you want to gain authority in your field, sell products, or influence others, then producing helpful content is a great way to roll out the carpet and invite folks in. Blogging and podcasting are the two biggest methods to make that content. But which is best for you?
Depending on your audience and your topic, one method may outweigh the other. But both can work together to make a more compelling, multifaceted content strategy. In this article, I’ll show you:
- the benefits of blogging and podcasting (respectively),
- how to integrate them,
- examples of how blogging and podcasting can work together
This way, you can make a content stream that grows your audience and aids understanding of your topic.
The Benefits of Blogging
Right off the bat, the most obvious benefit of blogging is SEO. Search engines take text-based requests and search for matching text. Blogging also makes your content easy for you to produce and your audience to consume. We’ve all learned how to read and write a persuasive essay, right? Plus, some people are visual learners. If not, screen reader software can take a blog post and read it out loud. But blogging has other benefits, too.
Detailed content, such as diagrams, images, or process steps (such as in a tutorial or recipe) are easier to share and digest in a blog post. Charts or graphs of data can provide in-depth analysis.
And, yes, of course, you can embed your podcast player or video in that blog post. All in all, a blog post is an excellent space for a multi-media exploration of any topic.
The Benefits of Podcasting
Podcasting provides auditory content for people who are multitasking or on the go. Podcasts are more than a pastime for auditory learners. The hosts’ voices provide companionship for the audience. And storytelling hooks into humans’ innate desires. Which do you suppose would have more impact?
- An 800-word essay about why it’s not a good idea to judge people based on their outward appearance
- A performance of the Middle Eastern folk tale, “The Unwelcome Guest,” starring a cast of professional performers, complete with music and sound effects?
As podcasting grows in popularity, tech companies develop companion features to make podcasts more accessible. Many media hosting services help podcasters include transcripts. Now, Apple Podcasts includes them in their listening app.
Just like how blog posts can hold many different kinds of media, podcasts have opportunities to incite the audience’s curiosity.
Blogging Vs. Podcasting: Why Not Both?
I’m not suggesting you repeat the same content in two places. Instead, let me show you some ways to integrate blogging and podcasting to cover all aspects of your topic and your audience’s needs. Like I said earlier, a blog post can be an SEO-friendly home on the internet for:
- Repurposed content. Summarize your podcast episode’s discussion to understand it in a new way.
- Complementary content. For example, a podcast episode about Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein can link to blog posts about her influences and the novel’s future impact.
- Accommodate different learning styles with images, charts and graphs, videos, and transcripts. When your audience can see a portrait of the 19-year-old Mary Shelley, your episode sparks imagination more vividly than simply describing a 19th-century novelist.
- Cross-promotion: Saying, “If you like this, then you’ll be interested in…” helps podcasters support each other, and audiences discover more shows to enjoy.
- Crowdfunding, affiliate, or sponsor links can help you pay your podcasting bills.
- Links to social media and other ways for your audience to get in touch with you.
Let’s investigate an example of one content creator who uses blogging and podcasting to increase understanding of her topic and monetize and promote her work.
Case Study: Very Pink’s Blogging and Podcasting Technique
VeryPink uses blogging, podcasting, images, and video to craft happiness through knitting.
I first found creator Staci Perry through her technique videos. If your knitting pattern suddenly calls for a three-needle bind-off or German short rows, Perry’s overhead closeup camera technique shows you exactly how to accomplish this, all explained in her grounded alto voice. Not only that but also she explains why knitters use the technique and how it affects the rest of the knitting project. But VeryPink is much more than a series of tutorials.
Her podcast, VeryPink Knits, discusses knitting topics, from “Why knit a swatch?” to industry issues like the knitting.com domain name controversy. The podcast helps her audience understand why knitting is important and how to improve it for everyone.
On top of that, VeryPink has blog posts with knitting patterns. Some are free, others paid, and many are designed by Ms. Perry herself. The patterns’ blog posts include links to videos for pattern tutorials and techniques for the tricky parts. She includes links to her yarn sponsors, and affiliate links for her knitting tools, even the nail polish she wears to aid visibility.
Staci Perry’s diversified content strategy, using blogging and podcasting, makes knitting more accessible and enjoyable for any audience.
Help Your Topic and Audience Meet On Their Own Terms
Once upon a time, my Uncle Dave asked how my podcast was going. I asked if he’d listened to it. He ruefully admitted that despite his ability to read and digest entire law books, he didn’t enjoy listening to people talking. When I offered him a link to the transcripts, he perked right up.
Your podcast’s topic can be more than a discussion. People all learn in different ways, and that’s the beauty of the Internet. Communication and exploration can happen in all kinds of different ways. When you combine blogging and podcasting, you can share your interests and knowledge with others in a richer, more satisfying, and engaging way.
Ready to get started with one or both? Here are our guides to walk you through the next steps and help you tie blogging and podcasting together seamlessly.
