Podcast Show Notes Template: Copy-and-Paste Episode Template
Show notes are the hardest-working page your podcast produces. They are the landing page for each episode, the SEO surface Google can actually read, and the handout for listeners who want the links without replaying forty minutes of audio. Yet most podcasters treat them as a chore — a sentence or two and a link dump. This free podcast show notes template gives you a complete, copy-and-paste structure: episode summary, key points, timestamps, takeaways, resources, guest bio, and one clear call to action. It is built for podcasters, whether you are launching your first show or systematizing episode fifty, and it works for solo, interview, and co-hosted formats alike.
What’s inside this template
The template walks you through every block a professional show-notes page needs, in publishing order. The header block captures episode number, title, date, duration, and host. The summary section is written for the skimmer deciding whether to press play — two to three sentences plus the single biggest takeaway. Then come the scannable sections: key points as bullets, full timestamps for chapters, and numbered takeaways with the most quotable insight first. Links and resources get one-line descriptions so readers know why each matters. The guest block, “mentioned in this episode” glossary, and single call to action close it out, followed by your show boilerplate and an SEO keyword line. A seven-item publishing checklist at the end catches the mistakes that slip through when you are tired after editing.
The show notes template
Here is the complete template — copy it for every episode, replace everything in [BRACKETS], and delete the guidance notes before publishing.
EPISODE [NUMBER]: [EPISODE TITLE]
Published: [DATE] | Duration: [MM:SS] | Host: [HOST NAME]
## Episode summary
[2-3 sentences: what this episode covers and the single
biggest takeaway. Write this for someone deciding
whether to listen.]
## In this episode
- [Key point or story 1]
- [Key point or story 2]
- [Key point or story 3]
## Timestamps
00:00 - [Introduction / cold open]
[MM:SS] - [Chapter title]
[MM:SS] - [Chapter title]
[MM:SS] - [Closing / outro]
## Key takeaways
1. [Takeaway 1 — the most quotable insight]
2. [Takeaway 2]
3. [Takeaway 3]
## Links and resources mentioned
- [Resource name](https://example.com) — [one-line description]
- [Resource name](https://example.com) — [one-line description]
## Call to action
[One clear CTA: subscribe, leave a review, join the
newsletter — pick ONE per episode.]
The full version in the free download adds the guest bio block, the “mentioned in this episode” glossary, the show boilerplate with subscribe links, the SEO keyword line, and the publishing checklist.
How to use this template
- Duplicate the template file and rename it for the episode number before you start editing audio.
- Draft the summary and key points from your episode outline — do not wait until after editing when you are out of energy.
- Fill in timestamps during your final listen-through, when the chapter breaks are fresh.
- Send the guest bio and links to your guest for approval before publishing.
- Run the seven-item publishing checklist, then publish the notes the moment the episode goes live.
Batch the work: write notes for two or three episodes in one sitting while you are in writing mode, and publishing week gets dramatically easier.
Frequently asked questions
Do podcast show notes help with SEO? Yes. Audio is not directly searchable, so show notes are how Google discovers your episode’s topics. Keyword-rich summaries, timestamps, and takeaways give each episode a real chance to rank — and timestamped chapters can surface as key moments in search results.
How long should show notes be? Long enough to be genuinely useful on their own — usually 200 to 400 words plus timestamps and links. Thin one-paragraph notes waste the SEO opportunity and underserve the skimmers who decide in seconds whether your episode is worth their time.
Should I include a full transcript too? If you can, yes — transcripts are the ultimate SEO asset for an episode. But good show notes beat a raw transcript alone, because notes are structured for humans while transcripts are structured for no one. Do notes first, add transcripts when your workflow allows.
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