Something to Share

You have something great to share, but what’s the best way to share it? Blogging has been helpful in providing us with a wonderful space for education and entertainment, but is it the most effective medium for your content? As technology advanced, podcasting, which first started as some bloggers sharing their recorded voice on their blogs, has become more and more popular. Blogging and Podcasting are surprisingly similar but have some distinct features; each with its unique challenges and benefits. So which one fits better for you and your cause? Or should you use both? Consider the following points to make the best decision.

Time

So which takes less time, blogging, or podcasting? Time for setting them up is not very different. Both of them require similar things such as a concept, title, logo, and a web host. When it comes to the content, podcasting might be more time-consuming and frustrating initially, because you will want to prepare for recording, actually record, edit the audio, add intro/outro music, and make it sound professional. However, when you get used to it and have the skills, it might be faster than writing and re-writing your blog post.

Equipment & Cost

You might expect podcasting to be much more expensive than blogging. Wrong! You can get a decent microphone for around $50, and you can use free audio editing software such as Garage Band and Audacity. If you already have a website, you don’t have to pay extra for web hosting, and you can choose to get music, pictures, and art from websites that have free contents for commercial use. You can start a podcast under $100, so cost is not really a problem here.

Cost

Both blogs and podcasts get traffic from search engines, social media, and e-mail marketing. Plus, podcasts get listeners from related shows and podcast feeds like iTunes. If you have both a blog and podcast, you can advertise your blog in your podcast and vice versa. When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), blogs have more of an advantage because search engines sort information with words and they cannot read audio information. In order to overcome the disadvantage, podcasters can pick and use keywords in titles and captions, use meta-description, get on directories, and link the podcast to relevant web pages. However, Google announced last year that they are going to be adding podcasts to their search results.

Content and Voice

Blogs and Podcasts are suited for slightly different content. For example, podcasts are good for information, interviews, and comedy. Consider your goal and your target audience to decide what is the most effective medium. Some might prefer blogs over podcasts because the process of writing and rewriting will help focus on the message and allow them to fine tune their voice.

One advantage of podcasting is that the audience feels closer to the host or the guest when they hear the actual voice. You have probably had an experience where you listened to a podcast and felt like you had just had a meaningful personal conversation with the podcaster.

"Multitask-able"

People are busy, and they like to multitask. They listen to podcasts when they are commuting, washing dishes, or exercising. Also, a lot of people today prefer small munchable pieces of information rather than long, complicated essays, and podcasting has an advantage in that arena. Blogs are good when people want to skim through sources, want to really ponder what’s being said, or want to come back and find specific information later.