Once you record and edit a podcast episode, you may be wondering, 'what's next?' You want your podcast to be accessible to the public, but you may be unsure about how to accomplish that. Uploading your podcast to a podcast hosting service and then ensuring that it is available on your website and various directories are the "steps" for making your podcast accessible. Figuring out how to upload and publish your podcast can be difficult since there are a couple moving parts. So, we broke it down for you below!
After you record and edit a podcast episode, you're ready for your podcast to be heard by the world. You may be thinking that you just need to get your podcast up on Apple Podcasts and that's it. However, while that's important, there are a couple other crucial steps that you have to take.
Podcast Host
Your podcast host is the place where your podcast lives. Having somewhere to host your podcast is what allows you to publish it to the internet. There are a lot of options for hosting, but generally speaking, you either host your podcast on your own or on a podcast hosting platform. Hosting your podcast on your own takes a lot of technical know-how though. Therefore, we recommend using a podcast hosting platform as they are reliable, easy to use, and have extra features.
For more information about hosting as well as some options for podcast hosting platforms, see our article here.
When you create an account with your podcast host, you will be prompted to fill in the details of your podcast, including the title, artwork, a description, and your podcast category. Then, you are ready to upload your podcast episodes. The process is similar to that of entering in your podcast details. You upload your podcast episode audio and then you will be prompted to enter the details of your episode, including the title and a description.
After you have at least one episode uploaded, your podcast host will create a webpage for your show that will make your podcast accessible to the public. Your podcast host will also create a podcast RSS feed that will be the key to getting your podcast on your website and in directories.
Keep in mind that after publishing your podcast, you still have to take a few more actions before your podcast will appear in any directories or on your website.
Directories
Directories are the best way to share your podcast and make it easily accessible and discoverable. To submit your podcast to directories, all you have to do is copy your RSS feed that your podcast host creates for you and paste it into the various podcast directory submissions. Your RSS feed updates as you upload more podcast episodes, so after you submit your podcast to directories, the newest content will always appear there as well. For a list of directories that you can submit to, click here.
The most popular podcast directories are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. We recommend that you submit your podcast to these directories first before submitting to any other directories.
Website
Having a website is a really important part of your podcast and it's not very difficult to build one. Perhaps the most important reason to have a podcast website is so that you can direct listeners to your website to listen to your podcast and access exclusive content.
You can easily add your podcast to your website by copying and pasting your RSS feed onto a page on your website. Many podcast hosts also offer an embeddable player that you can copy and paste onto your website. Additionally, you can create separate pages for your podcast episodes as you publish them. To do so, copy the embed code that your podcast host provides for each episode and paste the corresponding code to your various pages. With this option, you will need to update your website regularly, but this is a great option for providing more value and information about each episode for your listeners. And, if you plan on offering more content surrounding your podcast episodes, this can be a great organization technique for any exclusive or repurposed content. Keep in mind that you may want to have your RSS feed on your website, your embeddable player, and your podcast episodes embedded on individual pages to give listeners the option to listen where they like.
In order to make your podcast accessible to the public, you have to do a few things. First, you need to upload your episodes to a podcast host, which is where your podcast will technically live. Then, listeners can discover and access your podcast via your website and directories where they can play and download your podcast via your RSS feed that your podcast host creates for you. Although it may seem like a complicated process to upload and publish your podcast, you only really have to do the bulk of the work once, so no need to worry! Once you have it all set up, you can upload your podcast episodes and forget about it since your RSS feed will keep everything up to date. Happy podcasting!
Note: It is always a good idea to check occasionally that your podcast is displaying correctly on the directories that you submit to. Your podcast RSS feed should update your podcast in the various directories with no problem, but it is best to keep an eye on it just to make sure you never unknowingly experience any issues with your RSS feed.
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