Here is part 5 of the series I will post over the next few months based on chapters from my new book, A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization.

This book is meant to be a guide to building an optimized foundation in social Web for beginners and advanced users alike.

Chapter 5 of the book discusses in detail podcasts, vidcasts and Webcasts, including what they are and how to create and publish your own. This chapter provides tips for preparing a script and key terms, as well as tips for optimizing podcasts for search engines and podcast directories.

The following excerpts are from A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization: Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web by Deltina Hay

Creating podcast episodes

Preparing the Script and Key Terms

Below is a typical podcast script. You can get royalty-free music for your podcast episodes at a number of sites on the Internet, such as PodsafeAudio. Always make sure that the music you use is royalty-free and offered freely for use in podcasts, and give the author credit. This script outline can also be found on the resource CD.

• Opening (30-60 seconds)
  • Introduce the podcast as a whole.
  • This should be the same for each episode.
  • Mention the name of the podcast, what its purpose is, and the URL where it can be found.
  • Introduce yourself and who you are.
  • Introduce the topic of the episode.
  • Mention the episode number.
  • Introduce guests if you have any.
• Opening Jingle (30 seconds)
• Main Topics (6 to 12 minutes)
  • Depends on the type of episode you are recording.
  • An informational podcast is typically only six minutes long.
  • A panel or interview could be as long as twelve minutes.
• Intermission (30 seconds)
  • Break up longer episodes with an intermission.
  • Use music for the intermission.
• Closing (2 minutes)
  • Thank your guests if you have any.
  • Thank the audience for listening.
  • Announce the next episode topic.
  • Repeat the podcast URL.
• Closing Jingle (60 seconds)

Make a list of the best key terms for each episode and repeat these key terms at every opportunity that feels natural in your script. Of course, you can write the script first and extract the best (most repeated) key terms for use in the metadata and landing page of the episode.

Copyright 2009 by Deltina Hay. All rights reserved.

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This chapter also includes information about publishing options for a podcast, including publishing to a blog or Website, or using a service, as well as creating and optimizing a podcast or Webcast. The resource CD offers further reading, linkable resources, an example podcast, and a fillable PDF form called "Podcast Script Outline."

Read more about this social media book at the publisher's site.

As always, Socialmedia.biz readers also get a special price of $16 (shipping included — retail $24.95) for this book - just click the buy now button.

Previously in Socialmedia.biz:

• Survival Guide Chapter 4 Overview
• Survival Guide Chapter 3 Overview
• Survival Guide Chapter 2 Overview
• Survival Guide Chapter 1 Overview

Deltina Hay is the author of The Bootstrapper's Guide to the Mobile Web and The Social Media Survival Guide. She is a veteran developer and programmer with over 25 years experience. She also blogs at Social Media Power and at Mobile Web Slinger. Deltina offers consulting for search, social, semantic, and mobile optimization at PLUMB Web Solutions, and teaches the graduate level social media certificate course for Drury University. You may also enjoy her video tutorials on YouTube. Contact her or leave a comment below.