Podcast show notes. A template and a real example.
Podcast show notes are the text that goes with an episode: in the podcast app, under the YouTube video and on the episode page of your site. Write them for someone deciding whether to press play: the question the episode answers, who the guest is, and where each part starts. Below is the template we use, and a real episode page.
One episode, three places, three jobs
| Where | Who reads it | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Podcast app (Apple, Spotify) | A listener scrolling the feed | Two or three sentences: the question, the guest, one result. Then the chapters. |
| YouTube description | A viewer, and YouTube search | The topic in the first two lines, then timestamps for chapters |
| Episode page on your site | Google and AI assistants | Summary, chapters, the full transcript, a link to the guest page and the article |
On YouTube, timestamps become chapters only if they follow YouTube's rules: the first one is 00:00, there are at least three in ascending order, and each chapter lasts at least 10 seconds.
The show notes template we use
Copy it, fill in the brackets and delete what you don't use. Keep the first two sentences about the listener's question, not about the show.
[episode title: the question or the result, in your listener's words] In this episode, [guest name], [role] at [company], explains [the one question this episode answers]. [one concrete result, number or decision from the conversation.] You'll hear: - [point one] - [point two] - [point three] Chapters 00:00 [introduction] [mm:ss] [chapter title] [mm:ss] [chapter title] About [guest name]: [one line on who they are, with a link to their page or LinkedIn] Mentioned in this episode: [only links the guest or host actually mentioned] Listen and subscribe: [your show's links]
A real example: one episode page
Take The GM who builds future GMs, an episode of the series Unscripted Hospitality on Future of Hospitality. The page has:
- The episode title as the only main heading.
- Four short sections, one per part of the conversation, such as “Why the soft metrics drive the hard ones” and “A 400-room renovation without closing the doors”.
- A list of the five questions the episode answers, each with a short answer.
- Three key takeaways.
- The full transcript in six chapters, each one folded so you can open it.
- Links to more episodes from the series and to articles on the same topic.
In the podcast app, use the short version: the first lines and the chapters. The page carries everything else.
Common mistakes
- Show notes that repeat the title and say nothing else.
- A block of sponsor and social links before the first sentence about the episode.
- Timestamps that start at 00:30, so YouTube shows no chapters.
- A list of keywords at the bottom. It reads as spam to people and adds nothing for search.
- The same long text pasted on the episode page and in an article about the episode. The two pages then compete; let the article quote the episode and link to it instead.
Why the episode page and the article each have their own job is in our podcast SEO guide.
Let Page write them
For every episode, Page writes the show notes, the chapters and the episode page, and a producer checks them before you approve. Try it on your next episode, for free.