Turning Your Blog into a Podcast: A Guide to Getting Started

You’ve poured time and expertise into creating a great blog but what if that content could work even harder for you? Podcasting is a fantastic way to re-use your existing knowledge, connect with a new audience who maybe prefers listening over reading and build a more personal relationship with your community.

Turning your blog into a podcast isn’t about starting from scratch; it’s about giving your brilliant content a new voice. You might think it’s a complicated, technical process but with a bit of planning and the right approach, it’s more accessible than you might imagine.

The Prep Work: Building a Foundation for Your Podcast

Before you hit record, a little bit of preparation goes a long way. The first step is to get your content ready. It’s a good idea to have at least 3 to 6 episodes ready to go before you launch. This gives you a buffer in case your schedule changes and you need to focus on other tasks for a while, ensuring you have a consistent flow of content for your listeners from day one.

Next, you’ll want to turn your written blog posts into engaging podcast scripts. While you could read your blog posts word for word, a conversational approach often works best.  This is where AI can be a helpful assistant. You can use an AI writing tool to help you structure your script, break down your blog post into key talking points, or even refine the tone to be more conversational.

The most versatile option is a general-purpose AI like ChatGPT or Google Gemini. You can feed in your blog post and give it a simple prompt, such as “Break this blog post down into a conversational script for a 10-minute podcast episode,” or “Help me find the 5 key talking points from this article.” It can also be used to refine the tone. For example, you could ask it to, “Rewrite this section to sound more friendly and less formal.” For a more specialised tool, platforms like Copy.ai or Jasper.ai have templates specifically designed for content creation and can be used to generate scripts or headlines with a consistent brand voice.

However, always remember the human-AI-human approach: your initial expertise is key, the AI assists with the framework and your final review and personal touch are what make it authentic and sound like you.

The Right Tools for a Professional Sound

While you don’t need a professional studio to create a great podcast, the quality of your audio is non-negotiable.

The most critical investment you can make is a decent microphone. Your laptop’s built-in microphone simply won’t cut it. There are many affordable USB microphones available that will significantly improve your sound quality, making you sound clear and professional.

While a good microphone is a non-negotiable, you don’t need to spend a fortune. Entry-level USB microphones like the Rode NT-USB or the Blue Yeti are popular choices for beginners in the UK because they offer fantastic sound quality and are easy to set up. It’s also important to use a good pair of headphones while recording. This allows you to monitor your audio in real-time, helping you catch any unwanted background noise or technical issues before they ruin a take.

Once you’ve recorded your audio, the next crucial step is editing. This is where you can remove any mistakes, long pauses, or frustrating background noise to create a polished and professional-sounding episode. Don’t worry, you don’t need expensive software for this. Free, user-friendly tools like Audacity, which works on all computers, or GarageBand for those on a Mac, are excellent for beginners. Learning a few simple editing skills will make a huge difference to the final quality of your podcast and give your listeners a much better experience.

If you plan on creating a video podcast, you’ll also need to consider your camera and lighting. A good quality webcam is an excellent starting point and positioning yourself in front of a window for natural light can make a huge difference to your visual quality without spending a penny.

The Practicalities: From Podcast housing to finishing touches

After you’ve finished editing, you’ll need a place to store your audio files. You can’t upload them directly to Spotify or Apple Podcasts. This is where a podcast hosting service comes in. Think of it as your podcast’s digital home. The host stores your episode files and most importantly, generates a special link called an RSS feed. This is the link that all the major podcast platforms use to find and display your show to the world. Popular and beginner-friendly hosts used by many in the UK include Buzzsprout and Podbean, which handle all the technical details for you.

With your episodes uploaded to your host and your RSS feed ready, the final step is to submit your podcast to directories. This is the one-time process of telling platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts where your show lives. Once you’ve submitted your RSS feed, these platforms will automatically pull in new episodes every time you publish one. This is how your podcast becomes discoverable and available to millions of potential listeners around the world.

Every podcast needs a great image to stand out on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The standard is a square graphic, typically 3000 x 3000 pixels. A user-friendly design tool like Canva is perfect for this, allowing you to create a professional-looking cover art that includes your podcast’s title and a logo.

Next, you’ll need show notes. These are the written descriptions that accompany each episode. Show notes are essential for a couple of reasons: they make your podcast more accessible to those who are deaf or hard of hearing and they’re great for SEO, helping people find your content through search engines.

Use the show notes to summarise the episode’s key points, list any links you mentioned and importantly, link directly back to the original blog post for anyone who wants to read more.

Turning your blog into a podcast is a brilliant way to get more mileage from your content and connect with a new audience. By having a solid plan, focusing on good audio quality, and covering the practicalities like graphics and show notes, you can create a professional podcast that extends your brand’s reach and builds a more personal connection with your community. It’s a journey that starts with a single episode, so why not give it a go?