Search engines don’t listen to audio. However good an episode is, its content is invisible to search until it exists as text somewhere. That’s the entire case for transcripts, and it’s a strong one — no growth-hack statistics required.
What a transcript actually does for an episode
It makes the episode findable. A transcript page can be indexed, so the things you actually said — names, tools, techniques, opinions — become searchable text. Without it, the only indexable content is your episode title and description.
It makes the episode quotable. Listeners who want to share a point can copy the words. Writers who want to reference your episode can cite it. Neither happens with audio alone.
It makes the episode accessible. For deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, and for anyone in a situation where they can read but not listen, the transcript is the episode.
Producing one without typing it yourself
The AI Speech to Text tool takes an audio or video file and returns a timed transcript. It accepts MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC, OGG and FLAC audio as well as MP4, MOV, WebM and MKV video, and gives you the result three ways: plain text for reading, and SRT or VTT if you want the timings attached. It labels speakers as it goes, and can optionally translate the transcript into another language.
Automatic transcription gets you most of the way; plan a quick read-through pass for the things automatic systems reliably miss: proper names, brand names, technical terms. Fix those, leave the rest.
Publishing it
Put the transcript on the same page as the episode’s player and show notes, as normal page text — not inside an image, not as a downloadable file only. One episode, one URL, with the audio and its text together. If the transcript is long, a heading per segment helps readers skim and gives the page useful structure.
Timestamps: keep them or strip them?
For a published transcript page, light timestamps at section boundaries are useful; a timestamp on every line is noise for readers. Keep the fully timed version for yourself — the SRT or VTT export is exactly what you need later to find quotable moments or cut clips from the right places.