For hosts
Podcast Show Notes Template
Show notes are the text published with every episode: the description a podcast app shows under the play button and the page a search engine reads. Here is what they should include, a template for interview episodes and one for solo episodes, and a reusable guest credit block. In our feed sample, 16% of guest-booking shows had no outbound link in any guest episode we read; that does not mean they omitted the guest's name or bio.
7 min read
Most hosts write show notes last, tired, five minutes before the episode goes out. It shows: a single line that repeats the title, or a wall of sponsor codes with the guest's name buried at the bottom.
Show notes do three jobs at once. They tell someone scrolling a podcast app whether this episode is worth an hour. They give search engines and answer engines text to read, because nobody can search audio. And for an interview show, they are the credit the guest was promised when they agreed to come on.
This page gives you the parts good show notes include, two templates you can copy, and the details that decide whether anyone reads past the first line.
What should podcast show notes include?
A hook in the first two lines, a short summary, the guest with a link, the things you mentioned, and a next step for the listener. Timestamps, a transcript link and credits make them better but are optional. The table below is the full list, in the order it should appear.
The first two rows are what a podcast app shows before anyone taps to expand. Write those two last, once you know what the episode is really about.
| Part | What to write | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | One or two sentences on what the listener gets from this episode | Apps cut the description off after the first lines, so this is often all anyone reads |
| Summary | Three to five sentences, or a short list of what the episode covers | It is the text search engines and answer engines read |
| Guest credit | The guest's name, one line on who they are, and the link they asked for | It helps listeners find the guest and follow up on their work |
| Timestamps | The start time of each topic or question | Listeners jump to the part they came for, and some apps turn them into chapters |
| Links mentioned | Every book, tool, study or person named in the conversation | It saves listeners from searching, and it is where a transcript would send them |
| Call to action | One thing to do next: follow, review, join the newsletter | One ask gets done. Five asks get skimmed |
| Credits and disclosures | Producer, music, and any sponsor or affiliate link, labelled | Listeners should be able to tell which links pay the show, and credits cost nothing |
A free podcast show notes template for interview episodes
Copy this into your hosting platform's episode description and replace everything in square brackets. Delete any section you do not use rather than leaving it empty: a heading with nothing under it reads as an unfinished page.
[Hook: one or two sentences on what the listener gets. Name the guest and the payoff, not the topic. Example: "[Guest name] explains why [surprising claim], and what [audience] should do instead."] In this episode of [Show Name], I talk with [guest's full name], [one line on who they are and why they know this]. We cover: - [First thing the episode covers] - [Second thing] - [Third thing] About [guest's first name] [Guest's full name] is [one or two sentences, from the bio they sent you]. Find [guest's first name] at: [the link they asked you to use] Timestamps [00:00] [Introduction] [00:00] [First topic] [00:00] [Second topic] [00:00] [Third topic] Mentioned in this episode - [Book, tool, study or person]: [link] - [Book, tool, study or person]: [link] [Call to action: one sentence. Example: "If this episode helped, follow the show so you do not miss the next one."] [Transcript: link, if you publish one] [Credits: produced by [name], music by [name]. Sponsor or affiliate links labelled as such.]
Make the guest credit easy to find
Guests are told, on almost every page about pitching podcasts, that even a small show pays them in a link from the show notes. We checked that promise against the notes themselves. In our read of public feeds on September 16, 2026, we could see 205 shows booking guests. 64% of them published an outbound link in every guest episode we read, though a link we can see may be a sponsor's rather than the guest's, so that is a ceiling. 16% published no outbound link in any guest episode we read, so we found no guest link in those sampled feed descriptions. This does not measure unlinked credits or notes published separately on a website.
A reusable block helps keep the guest's name, bio and chosen link together. Put it in every guest episode, filled in from the guest's own answers, so nobody has to remember:
About [guest's first name] [Guest's full name] is [role] at [company or project], where [one line on what they do]. [One line on why they were on this episode.] Find [guest's first name] at: [the link they asked you to use] [Optional: their book, newsletter or social profile, one per line]
Ask for the link before the recording, in the same message as the questionnaire, and use the exact link they give you. A guest who sees their name spelled right and their link working is a guest who shares the episode.
For the full measurement, including how the same shows link on their own non-guest episodes, read do podcasts link to their guests.
A shorter template for solo episodes
Solo and co-host episodes need less: no guest block, and usually fewer links. What they need more of is the hook, because there is no guest name doing the work of getting someone to press play.
[Hook: the question this episode answers, in the listener's words. Example: "Should you [common decision]? Here is how I decide, and the mistake I made the first time."] In this episode: - [First point] - [Second point] - [Third point] Timestamps [00:00] [Introduction] [00:00] [First point] [00:00] [Second point] Mentioned in this episode - [Resource]: [link] [Call to action: one sentence.]
Write the first two lines for the app, not the page
In most podcast apps the description is cut off after a line or two until the listener taps to expand it. Those lines are the only show notes most people ever see, and they sit right under the play button.
- Lead with the payoff, not the housekeeping. "Welcome back to another episode" wastes the one line that decides whether anyone listens.
- Name the guest in the first sentence. A listener who knows the name is looking for it.
- Do not start with a sponsor read or a discount code. Put those at the end, labelled.
- Do not repeat the episode title word for word. The app already shows it directly above.
Timestamps and transcripts
Timestamps are the most useful thing you can add in five minutes. Write the start time of each topic as you edit, not afterwards: it is much faster while the edit is open. Put each one on its own line at the start, in minutes and seconds, and some apps and video platforms will turn them into clickable chapters.
A transcript is the other half of what makes an episode findable, because search engines read text, not audio. In our read of 384 public podcast feeds on September 16, 2026, 71 of them (18.5%) published a transcript that apps and search engines can find. If your hosting platform can produce one, turn it on and link it from the notes.
For which hosting platforms publish a transcript and which do not, read do podcasts publish transcripts.
Five show notes mistakes
- One line and nothing else. It gives a searcher nothing to find and a listener no reason to press play.
- A full transcript pasted into the description. Link the transcript instead: a description that long is cut off anyway and buries the guest link.
- No guest link, or the wrong one. Use the exact link the guest asked for, and click it before you publish.
- Five calls to action. Pick the one thing that matters most this week.
- Unlabelled sponsor or affiliate links. Say which links pay the show. Listeners trust notes that are open about it.
Sources and benchmark date
The figures above are derived at build time from our own reads of public podcast feeds, not typed in. The methods and their limits are published with the measurements:
- Do podcasts link to their guests?
The link-out measurement in full: 14144 episodes across 383 feeds, read on September 16, 2026, and what a visible link can and cannot prove.
- Do podcasts publish transcripts?
The transcript measurement: 384 feeds read on September 16, 2026, split by the platform that publishes each one.
Frequently asked questions
What should podcast show notes include?+
A hook in the first one or two lines, a short summary of what the episode covers, the guest's name with one line about them and the link they asked for, the books, tools and people mentioned, and one call to action. Timestamps, a transcript link and credits for the producer and music make them better. Label any sponsor or affiliate link.
How long should podcast show notes be?+
Long enough to hold a hook, a summary, the guest credit and the links mentioned, which for most interview episodes is somewhere between a short paragraph and a single screen. The first two lines matter far more than the total length, because podcast apps cut the description off there until a listener taps to expand it.
Do show notes help a podcast get found?+
They are most of what can be found. Search engines and answer engines read text, not audio, so the episode description and any transcript are what they index. A specific summary that names the guest and the topics gives an episode something to be found for; a one-line description gives it almost nothing.
Should podcast show notes link to the guest?+
Yes. The link in the notes is part of what a guest agrees to come on for, and it costs the show nothing. It is also often missing: in our read of public feeds on September 16, 2026, 16% of the 205 shows we could see booking guests published no outbound link in any guest episode. Ask the guest for the exact link before the recording and put it in a fixed credit block.
Should I put timestamps in podcast show notes?+
Yes, if the episode covers more than one topic. Put each timestamp on its own line at the start, in minutes and seconds, followed by the topic. Listeners use them to jump to the part they came for, and some podcast apps and video platforms turn them into clickable chapters.
Where do podcast show notes go?+
In the episode description field of your podcast hosting platform, which sends them out with the episode to every app that carries your feed. Many shows also publish the same notes as a page on their own website, which gives the episode a permanent address to link to and share.
More on promoting the episode
Book guests who arrive with their bio and link ready
List your show, say what you are looking for, and let guests who fit your topic come to you with a pitch, a one-sheet and the link they want credited.