If you’re marketing anything online, SEO knowledge is crucial. Even if social media is giving your site a lot of attention, remember that 68% of online experiences begin with search engines, while as much as 53% of website traffic comes from organic search.
And what could be a more convenient way to learn more about SEO and stay up to date than by listening to a podcast?
It’s just so easy to fit into your day. You can listen at the gym, in the car, or even as you do housework (also see, ‘Things To Do While Listening To A Podcast‘).
To that end, we decided to put together a quick summary of what we believe to be the best podcasts to listen to in order to learn more about SEO and search marketing news.
Each SEO podcast has its pros and cons, so it’s kinda tricky to put them into the form of a shortlist. What might be good for some might be less beneficial for others.
But we did manage to whittle it down to the 8 best SEO podcasts. We’ll provide you with a brief description of each, and of course, the necessary links to find out more about them.
And without further ado, let’s get straight to it!
SEO 101
- Topics: SEO marketing, paid search
- Listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Spreaker
- Hosts: Scott Van Achte
- Frequency: Every 3 weeks
This is a great podcast for those just starting out in learning search engine optimization, due to its excellent coverage of SEO basics.
What’s more, it’s not too technical in nature and the podcast has excellent co-hosts which bring a little humor to the conversation, making it something of a feel-good podcast.
It’s great for more experienced SEO professionals as well, due to their coverage of keyword research tips and Google core updates.
Each episode is only 30 minutes long, which is perfect for trying to fit it into a busy schedule.
- Stitcher is a podcast streaming platform.
- Offers on-demand access to podcasts and radio shows.
- Provides both free and premium services.
Edge Of The Web
- Topics: SEO, social media, content marketing
- Listen on: Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Spotify
- Hosts: Erin Sparks
- Frequency: Weekly
This award-winning podcast provides a full hour of all things in digital marketing, including not only SEO tactics but also social media and content marketing.
All the latest news and trends in both SEO and digital marketing generally are covered by the host Erin Sparks, who often hosts useful interviews with some of the biggest names in the industry.
You don’t have to look far to find glowing testimonials for this podcast!
Authority Hacker
- Topics: SEO, marketing, content marketing
- Listen on: Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher
- Hosts: Mark Webster, Gael Breton
- Frequency: Every 2 weeks
This is one of the industry’s most informative podcasts on SEO trends and marketing. Not to mention great fun to listen to, with all the witty banter between co-hosts Mark Webster and Gael Brenton.
There are well over a whopping 250 episodes of this podcast available to download, and their coverage is impressively fresh and bang up to date.
In addition to covering the various Google algorithm updates, they also take questions and volunteer their personal experiences on running websites, including some very interesting content on how they sold a particular site for a six-figure sum!
- SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform.
- It allows artists to upload, promote, and share music.
- Offers both free and premium services.
Unknown Secrets Of Internet Marketing
- Topics: SEO, social media, content marketing, PPC, CRO
- Listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podomatic, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts
- Hosts: Matt Bertram, Chris Burres
- Frequency: Every 2 weeks
This is perhaps the SEO podcast with the biggest fan base, having gained a whopping 3.6 million downloads since its beginnings in 2009.
It has an excellent breadth of topics, covering everything from SEO strategies, social media, content marketing, and even PPC and CRO. And there’s also good depth of the topics, too.
We particularly like the well-balanced perspectives offered up by the co-hosts and guests, and how they cover everything from local SEO, technical SEO, enterprise SEO, and the difference between non-branded and branded traffic.
Not to mention coverage of Google algorithm updates, of course.
Recipe For SEO Success
- Topics: Search engine marketing, social media, content marketing
- Listen on: Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher
- Hosts: Kate Toon
- Frequency: Every two weeks
The great thing about this podcast is that both newbies and seasoned professionals can take something from it.
This is because the episodes are split between “newbie” episodes, aimed at those just starting out in SEO; and “techie” episodes, where the topics discussed can get a little more technical.
Another thing we like about this podcast is just how pleasant it is to listen to. Host Kate Toon has a chirpy, uplifting voice that draws you in.
There are concise tips on content marketing to glean from the podcast, and a little on website building.
And some big-name guests have made an appearance on the show to disclose both their recommendations and personal experiences to glean lessons from.
Search Engine Journal Show
- Topics: SEO, paid search, social media, entrepreneurship, content marketing
- Listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
- Hosts: Loren Baker, Danny Goodwin, Brent Csutoras
- Frequency: Every two weeks
The Search Engine Journal Show, previously known as Search Engine Nerds, is aimed at SEO professionals, and features probing interviews with SEO experts, with a particular emphasis on the latest search news.
One of which is the future-proofing of SEO practices, and if you’ve been in the business for a long time, you already know how important that can be.
Another great feature of this podcast is the inclusion of contests and occasional giveaways.
The matters discussed can get rather technical, so it may be a little off-putting for beginners.
Webcology
- Topics: SEO, digital marketing, search marketing
- Listen on: Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher
- Hosts: Dave Davies, Jim Hedger
- Frequency: Once a week
Now, rather than zoning in solely on SEO and Google update algorithms, this podcast takes quite a different approach, looking at the wider digital marketing ecosystem and what webmasters and their colleagues can do to better market what it is they have to offer.
There’s great chemistry between the two podcast co-hosts, Dave Davies and Jim Hedger, who’ve been doing this now for well over 10 years.
The topics they have been known to cover include ranking in Google Discover, mobile-first indexing, Google core updates (obvs), and Google Knowledge Panel management.
The conversations are always lively, although they can get a little technical at times, which is not surprising given their level of expertise. And they often bring in other experts to interview as well.
Search Off The Record
- Topics: SEO, tech SEO
- Listen on: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts
- Hosts: Google’s Search Relations team
- Frequency: Once a week
What could be a better way to find out how to rank well on Google, than from Google workers themselves?
The hosts of this podcast take you behind the scenes to discuss the inner workings of Google Search.
They often feature such topics as Google Search Console feature prioritization.
And it’s always great to hear what projects the Google Search teams are working on, and what it’s actually like to work for THE tech giant itself.
Occasionally some of what they talk about can be a little technical. To make the most out of your listening experience to this tech SEO podcast, it would help if you were familiar with Core Web Vitals, robots.txt, and JavaScript.
That said, transcripts of each episode are always readily available, so if you don’t quite understand something that they covered, you can always get hold of the transcript and come back to it once you’ve read up on what you need to.
As you can imagine, they have quite the following on Twitter, so you can always go on there if you don’t have time for a full podcast episode.
Wrap Up
I guess which of these SEO podcasts is best for you depends pretty much on how strong your knowledge base already is.
What I would advise for newbies to SEO, is to first identify where your knowledge gaps are, and bring yourself up to speed by going through podcasts that specifically cover these areas.
Once you have developed a good foundation in SEO, you should then seek out podcasts that provide their listeners with more current movements in the industry, with particular attention to Google algorithm updates and trends.
Fortunately, most SEO podcasts do offer the latter, so long as you subscribe to at least one of the suggested SEO podcasts referred to here, then you can rest assured that your SEO knowledge base is as current as can be.
I would recommend listening to at least one SEO podcast episode every week, and don’t limit yourself to just one podcast – it helps to get multiple perspectives on what’s going on in the industry.
