How to start a podcast with a co-host (in 5 simple steps)
Maybe you’re like Brittany circa early 2022, wondering to yourself, “is it worth it to start a podcast?”
Short answer—yes!
Longer answer—be thoughtful & strategic about how you approach podcasting—especially if you’re doing this with a co-host.
I’m writing this blog in the hope it will inspire you & give you more insight about the flow of The Simple + Smart SEO Show.
Crystal & I love what we do, but there’s more to co-hosting this podcast than meets the eye or ear...
Let’s start at the beginning.
↓ ↓ ↓
First, there was a podcast idea!
I’m an introverted extrovert who owns a business (2 actually) & has convinced the world I’m always smiling.
That’s a LOT of work already.
I didn’t want to expend more energy talking in a Zoom room, alone, to myself, & my mic. That = zero fun for me.
I like questions. And banter. And talking with other humans, who have wonderfully amazing brains.
Luckily—I knew just the lady to co-host a podcast with! My friend, Crystal Waddell.
We met in 2018—IRL at a Dunkin’ in Durham, NC.
Look at baby B+C!
Crystal has podcasting experience. (I was a guest on her show amid lockdown in 2020; recorded in my favorite place: my car).
ahh, memories
I was a beginner wanting to start a podcast. I had no clue about the tech or the startup costs or the time investment. She did. (This is just 1 of the 2,394,532 reasons why it was a no-brainer to partner up with her for this show.)
We’d had countless conversations in jest about starting a podcast.
Until that one time I said it, and meant it.
My braindump reasoning went something like this…
We’ve been business besties for several years. We know our strengths & “not-strengths.” We share lessons learned about SEO & business “stuff.” And we’re constantly laughing (with and at each other). There’s no one else I’d want to podcast with. And I don’t want to start a podcast without her!
Reasons it just made sense to partner up with Crystal for this SEO-focused podcast:
It’s a great way for us to tap into teaching, which we both love
We are both responsible, capable, & friendly business owners
We’re able to speak to service-based business owners and e-commerce
The topic possibilities are endless when it comes to SEO (meaning we’ll always be able to stay relevant for searches)
It could be good for exposure (marketing) for our businesses
I can finally talk with my friends publicly & highlight their smarts
Once it was decided I would NOT be talking at a mic all alone, there was real work to be done to get this podcast party started!
We made a list of all the things we needed in order to launch our podcast.
In short, we needed:
A podcast title
Show description
SEO strategy for the SEO podcast…
Tech-y things
Episode structure
Workflows
Etc., etc., etc.
We knew a few things: I wanted to show off my engaging email writing skills & take care of workflows & organization. Crystal wanted to use Jasper for the show description & show notes for each episode.
I decided to start with the SEO strategy & Crystal began the tech setup.
(I’ll share a little bit more about how we divvy up the podcasting tasks as we go along.)
Our very meta SEO strategy for our SEO show…
This was such a Frequently Asked Question that we created a podcast episode all about our podcast’s SEO strategy.
The Simple + Smart SEO Show’s SEO strategy was created in 5 steps.
Searched Google & various podcast players (Spotify, Apple podcasts, etc.) for “SEO podcasts/shows”
Did SEO research of SEO-related keywords & phrases
Found the gap in the market (based on who we wanted to help with our podcast)
Brainstormed several podcast titles
Shared with Crystal & agreed quickly!
Creating this podcast SEO strategy didn’t take too much time, but we both credit it with growing our podcast SO fast.
My theory? The entire show was created with intention.
One of my guiding values—as a person & business owner—is INTENTION.
Because when you work from a place of intention, the strategy is already 80% completed.
The SEO strategy has gone on to help us:
Title the podcast
Choose the best cover art
Create a detailed podcast description
Brainstorm episode topics
Strategically add keywords to show notes
Connect with the perfect guests
And give our show a very clear focus:
Share simple & smart SEO tips so business owners can create their own SEO strategies or confidently hire out the task & know what to realistically expect.
Dividing the labor worked out beautifully from the start! We’re both able to work with our strengths & we’re finding the workflows that work best for this 2-party team.
For example: this is our current system for creating & sharing episodes. ↓
How we plan for, structure, & record podcast episodes
We toyed around with the idea of doing solo episodes, but we just have so much FUN recording together!
(I mean… have you heard the giggling?)
And… if one of us wasn’t there for a recording, we’d miss out on asking some really good questions or insights.
We record episodes at least once a week—sometimes twice a week if we have guests to interview.
This allows us to have a small reserve of podcast episodes. One episode is released each week, but we typically have 3-4 episodes waiting to share with you.
(The podcast does cut into “work” time, but once you see how it has impacted our businesses I think you’ll understand why we totally think it’s “worth it” to dedicate time to this show.)
Here’s how we create those episodes ↓
1. CTA (call to action)
I know, I know! How weird that I’d start with the end in mind.
(Except that I’m a copywriter & that’s kind of the basis for all my work, so…)
Having a clear & consistent CTA for the show enables us to create meaningful & helpful content.
Like most podcasters, we were just focused on sharing our knowledge with our audience at first!
We’re getting better at thinking of clear & easy CTAs for each episode.
Our CTAs are often things like:
→ “If you think this podcast was helpful, just wait until you hear about the private podcast!”
→ “If you’d like an SEO audit for your site, apply through the link in the show description.”
→ “If you found this show helpful, share it & tag us!”
To be fair—we usually start with the episode topics before we brainstorm a CTA. So here’s more on that…
2. On-going topic list
In one form or another, we’ve managed to keep a pretty organized list of potential podcast topics running.
We haven’t gone so far as to create mini series, but the more you do, the more you learn, & the smarter your processes get. (Translation: be on the lookout for mini series!)
We both have access to the document, but what happens more often than not is we text each other (about a topic idea that seems so exciting to us) & I add in the new topic suggestions on a weekly basis (roughly).
Usually we add topics because of something we’ve heard someone say, but if we come up with a topic & need to find a guest expert, we just make a note.
Which brings me to…
3. Research
Our podcast is 100% conversational. But with some episodes, it makes sense to have data & numbers to reference in support of our talking points.
(Gotta make sure we keep The Simple + Smart SEO Show… “smart.”)
For example:
the live SEO site audit episode (← the most downloaded episode!)
the GA-4 Google Analytics update episode (← the most important episode!)
the SEO for Shopify store owners episode (← the most ecommerce-focused episode!)
So, if a podcast episode needs a little extra oomph, we make a note. And often have our notes & articles pulled up as we’re recording.
(If you’re ever recording with us, you’ll notice we typically drop those articles in the chat.)
4. Links
Being that we have an SEO show, all about SEO strategies—you know we had to work in some of those magical backlinks! (← if that confuses you, check out our SEO Dictionary episode)
Something that usually makes more sense to do after we record a podcast episode is to create a list of links.
We tend to mention:
affiliate links
offer links
links to resources
SEO tools we want you to know about
We do our best to make notes while we record & add them into the episode show notes.
(And when I say “we” please know that it’s Crystal creating those information-packed show notes! Here’s her Jasper affiliate link if you want to see if this AI copywriting tool could help you too.)
5. Title + description
The episode titles are also typically determined after the recording.
As mentioned above, the SEO strategy for the show has helped us keep the titles intentional & searchable.
We don’t yet have a certain method for naming the episodes. However, If we have a podcast guest, we include their name in the episode title.
The episode descriptions are all done by the incredible Crystal Waddell. While I handle ↓
6. Emails
Yours truly has been crafting the episode-specific emails! And I’m (not-so-obviously) very excited about this.
In 2021, I went through Marisa Corcoran’s Copy Confidence Society. The main thing I wanted to walk away with? Improved storytelling skills.
It worked!
This is the ONE regular podcast marketing thing we’ve stuck with since we launched the show.
I draft an email with language that works for me or Crystal, we use our separate links & sign-offs, & we schedule the emails in advance!
Now that we’re making an effort to move beyond emails…
7. Social posts
I love sharing Instagram Reels—here’s my Instagram profile if we’re not friends already. And this is Crystal’s Instagram handle.
We haven’t been as structured with our social posting for the podcast.
Yet.
We’ve recently started to share Pinterest pins & idea pins, Instagram Reels (with sound bites from episodes), & Crystal has been sharing the episodes (sans video) on YouTube.
Here’s the Helpful Content Episode on YouTube.
It can be a lot to dream up the podcast, set up the tech for the show, & then record the episodes.
But a critical piece of running a podcast is letting people know the show exists!
My personal podcast marketing tip? Start with what you love.
Which means choosing ONE of the following:
Audio (go on other podcasts to share about yours + post sound bites)
Video (share it on YouTube or in quick Instagram Reels)
Written (blog about each episode or write solid social captions)
Some podcast co-hosts choose to create social profiles for the podcast. And others do what we did: keep your own profiles & share to both audiences!
There’s no right or wrong option—only whatever works best for you.
A peek at our podcast guest workflow
Crystal & I weren’t sure if we wanted to have guests or not. But the decision was kind of made for us when I piped up with, “Hey! Would you be open to having my friend [insert a dozen names] be a guest on the podcast?”
It became quite clear our show was going to have guest interviews. And we wouldn’t change it for the world!
This is our workflow for having guests on the show:
Outreach or follow up
Most of our guests have been friends of ours, but a few have found our Podcast Guest Application Form. (Look how formal we try to be, haha!)
That form is always Step 1.
We collect a little info: what the guest is known for, who they help, what they want to talk about on the show, etc.
Then Crystal & I confer (like the professionals we claim to be) & if it seems like a good fit, we send a follow up email with this…
Schedule & get info
Another form! (Which I won’t be linking because if I do, I’ll mess up our entire system. 😂)
This one helps us gather info we’ll likely use to introduce the guest & frame the episode.
It also enables us to collect any remaining links we haven’t captured, but will need in order to connect our audience with the guest!
(Links for places like Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, websites, podcasts, free resources, etc.)
Interview (recording)
We record the actual thing! I can’t speak for Crystal, but recording these podcast episodes has GOT to be my favorite part of this entire thing.
We try to tag-team everything in the interviews: introductions, questions, & wrapping up.
Our shows aren’t scripted—something we’ve heard our listeners appreciate! Instead, we have a rough “outline” we follow.
The podcast flow goes something like this:
Introduction
Each guest shares how they define SEO
The conversation kicks off
Questions are asked
We wrap up with connecting the audience + the guest
We block off 60 minutes for guest interviews—BUT we’ve had a few conversations that were just so good (and everyone had time to stay on the call longer) that we ended up creating TWO episodes from ONE interview!
→ How your VA can support your SEO goals w/ Emily Reagan
→ How SEO can support your Ads strategy w/ Ashleigh Chanél
And just in case you’re interested in our podcast recording equipment & tools we use—I’ll link them:
Podcast Mic with this Wind Screen
(I also considered this Blue Yeti mic with this mic cover.)
Airpods (I still love my wired Apple earbuds.)
We record in Zoom & upload the recording to our Google Drive. And our podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout.
(↑ some of those are affiliate links, which means we make a tiny bit of money if you click + make a purchase)
Share assets w/ our podcast guest
Remember I told you we’re getting better about promoting the podcast on social media?
Well… we owe our guests a huge round of applause for sharing about their interviews!
And we try to be helpful. We’ve recently started using Headliner App + Canva to create “Guest Assets.”
These shareables include:
Email Swipe Copy (to share with their email subscribers)
Pinterest Pins (1 has an audio clip & 1 is a static photo—perfect for creating Idea Pins!)
Instagram Images (again, 1 has a sound bite & 1 is a static post—great for using in Stories or in Reels or as a regular post)
I know it’s always made me feel wonderful to be a podcast guest & have someone deliver swipe copy and/or images! And we wanted to do the same for our lovely guests.
It seems to be working—look at what one guest shared with us:
aww, how sweet is that ^^
…And that is how you create backlinks a podcast with guests!
What else is there to share except what we’ve done to grow the podcast? ↓
Lessons learned about growing a podcast
Our Podcast Audit Strategy Session w/ Leah Bryant was incredibly enlightening!
(↑ If you reach out to Leah, tell her Brittany sent you! She’ll hook you up.)
We were doing ok, chugging along—and honestly, we were doing preeeetty amazing for a brand new podcast!
(Like “hitting 3k downloads only 3 months after launching the show” level of amazing.)
But Leah brought a few key things to our attention—
Podcasting is so rewarding! But since it does eat into a good chunk of our available work time, we needed to think of how we could monetize the show.
We’ve been able to do this in a few different ways.
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
1. Offers
We needed to do a better job promoting our offers.
But before that… we needed to dream up some offers.
After some thought, some time, & some laughs—we decided it would be perfect for us to offer SEO or content audits!
Now, we offer SEO Audits!
These audits are designed to share with you:
Where you’re at
What opportunities exist
What “issues” you could fix
It’s a 1-hour Zoom + easy-to-use Google Doc that shares your current SEO data & a prioritized list of next steps.
An audit is a great fit for listeners who:
Don’t have a big budget to hire out SEO research, strategy, & implementation …yet!
Want a quick-n-dirty birdseye view of how their website is performing
Need a little inspiration when it comes to content creation
(As an added bonus, we can totes fix your SEO problems for an additional fee.)
Another thing we realized we wanted to do was create a paid, private podcast option.
Introducing…
SEO SHORTS
**SEO Shorts is no longer a paid private podcast. Now you can find new episodes on The Simple & Smart SEO Show every Friday!
These weekly mastermind-ish paid private podcast only costs $10/month.
(We want to help YOU! The one staying up after the kids go to bed just so you can pack an order. The one binging every single SEO podcast you can find just so you maybe figure out what to do with those URL slugs. The one who doesn’t have a giant marketing budget.)
So at $10/month—
🧋 That’s 2 lattes or
⛽️ 1.5 gallons of gas or
🍳 3 cartons of eggs
(inflation, amiright?)
…the show delivers weekly 5-10 min episodes & a Q+A thread so you have a super simple SEO task for that week and a place to share your progress (find accountability) or connect with & support others.
And then—Crystal made my SEO sweatshirt dreams come true!
She made Simple + Smart SEO Show merch. 🥹
(As soon as I get my hands on it & yank it over my head—I’m taking a photo & uploading it here!)
as promised!
Crystal thought of everything—tumblers, sweatshirts, notebooks, & more.
(Yet another reason I love that I have an ecommerce-savvy podcast partner.)
together again! December 2022 back in Durham, NC but this time we visited WeWork.
2. Community conversations
Ok, so after we got all that out of our systems, we realized Leah mentioned the coolest podcast feature!
A conversation thread—using Galas.fm (**no longer in use, instead reach us on Instagram) we’re able to receive and leave audio or text messages with our audience.
(I know… totally blew my mind too.)
We make sure to shove this in every episode description & podcast promotional email & anywhere else it makes sense!
A huge part of why we wanted to start this podcast is because we wanted to share what we’ve learned on our SEO journey.
That’s much more fun & meaningful if we’re able to talk with you as you work through your own experience with SEO.
So, like—go say hi in the thread!
^^ get a load of that! you can TALK to us!
3. Ads
While I’ve shied away from all things ads—Crystal has been ALL about them!
She and Leah managed to convince this ad novice that it would be O.K. to try running ads to our show.
And they were right!
Just look at the income we’ve made in the short amount of time we’ve been running ads.
Buzzsprout makes it incredibly easy to toggle ads on or off.
They also make it super simple to select the ads that seem like the best fit for your podcast.
And my biggest fear has been assuaged—we haven’t had people writing us angry messages about running ads during the show.
(If they’re anything like me, they’re just skipping through them—and I totally support that decision!)
4. Cross Promotion
The final idea (and one I was already putting to work) was cross promotion.
This is where Crystal or I go on another podcast as a guest & talk about our show.
I’m not 100% sure which of my interviews I’ve done this, but if you like what I have to say—I made this SEO interview Spotify playlist for you!
In summary—
I love co-hosting the next best SEO podcast with one of my business besties!
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’d encourage you to consider podcast co-hosting IF:
You want to launch a podcast, but you don’t want to do all the work
You have the perfect co-host in mind (don’t do this with just anyone…)
You want podcasting to be fun!
Resources you should definitely check out if you decide to get this podcast partnership rolling ASAP—
And, of course
The Simple + Smart SEO Show—so you can see ALL of this in action!
^^ click it to listen!