Having a podcast website may seem like a low priority in your podcast setup process, but a website is an incredibly important part of growing your podcast. A podcast website can be the difference between a potential listener subscribing and leaving without listening. Although creating a podcast website might seem like a daunting task, the positive impacts from having one will undoubtedly make the time, effort, and money spent on it worthwhile. For 8 reasons why you should have a podcast website, keep on reading!
1. Content Ownership
Content ownership is always an asset. Owning your content means that you can ensure that you stand out from the crowd and deliver something unique and authentic. A podcast website is a great place for your podcast to ultimately live. Sure, you may be using a podcast hosting service as well as directories to make your podcast discoverable and accessible, but a podcast website is important to have in case there are changes or technical difficulties with your hosting service and directories. Your podcast website can be a place that listeners depend on in these instances because they know your content will still be there. Having a podcast website also gives you complete control over your podcast and the decisions. It ensures that you don't have to depend on anyone else to deliver your content correctly and no one can take your content away from you either.
2. Content Archive
Having an organized, searchable location for all of your podcast episodes is an extremely important part of gaining and retaining listeners. Potential listeners do not want to go digging for your old episodes, they need to be neatly laid out for them. This is where a website can really come in handy because you can have a designated page on your website for a content archive. If you have all your podcast episodes in one accessible place, your content archive on your website, potential listeners will be able to easily navigate through your content to become familiar with your podcast. This makes it much more likely that they will become a regular listener and maybe even a subscriber.
3. Additional Content
In addition to a content archive, a website can be a great location to offer more content to your listeners. Although your podcast episodes are filled with content, you can create even more value by delivering additional content on your website. Additional content can be repurposing your podcast episodes into transcripts, blog posts, videos, etc. However, it can also be new content that you are interested in creating, but may not be able to due to your podcast topic or medium. Not only is additional content beneficial for your SEO and general discoverability, but you can attract new listeners with more content since blog posts, transcripts, and videos make your content more accessible to a variety of people, such as those that suffer from hearing loss.
4. Central Hub
Centralizing everything related to your podcast in one place is crucial to making all your content easily accessible. A podcast website is the perfect place to centralize your content. You can then direct anyone and everyone to your website because it contains everything you want them to see. Your website can contain all your podcast episodes, additional content, your social media links (and maybe even social media previews), sponsor information, "about" information, feedback forms, easy share links, and so on. Anyone that navigates to your website should be able to find everything they are looking for regarding you and your podcast and this will help you to reach and gain more listeners. Also, having a website is a great place for related future business endeavors.
5. Increased Discoverability
Given that there are so many podcasts out there, it can be difficult to make your podcast discoverable and thus gain new listeners. A website, especially one containing a content archive as well as additional content, can be incredibly helpful in increasing your podcast's discoverability. If you have a podcast website with lots of content, this will help with SEO. This means that it is easier for potential listeners to find your content when they are searching online because of your website's relevance. Additionally, it is more likely that they will become a listener because of your user-friendly website that showcases your podcast and its value. Your website is just that added avenue for new eyes to find your podcast.
It's also worth noting that while your podcast hosting service might provide you with a webpage, these provided pages won't ever rank highly on search engines since there are so many and they are all incredibly similar. Having your own website is the best way to reach a wider audience while targeting a specific niche because you have a much better chance at ranking highly on search engines.
6. Community Building
A website can be a great place to interact with your listeners and build a community around your podcast. While social media is a great place to interact with your listeners, a website provides a specific space they know they can go to in order to be involved with you and your podcast. You might consider creating a feedback form, questionnaires, etc. so your listeners can communicate with you, contribute to your podcast, and feel included overall. The more involved and included your audience feels, the more likely it is that they will become loyal listeners. Having a loyal community around your podcast is a huge asset and this interactive relationship with your audience will only help your podcast survive and thrive in the huge sea of podcasts out there.
7. Boosted Brand Reputation
Having a podcast website gives you a lot of credibility and will boost your brand awareness and reputation. A podcast website rounds out your brand, taking your podcast from simply that, a podcast, to an established brand delivering value to its loyal audience. Now, generally speaking, a podcast website will boost brand awareness and reputation, but a poorly designed website will do the complete opposite. So, it's important to remember that quality is key and throwing together a website quickly doesn't mean you are going to give your podcast's credibility a big boost.
8. Monetization Opportunities
Finally, a podcast website helps with your monetization efforts as well as provides further opportunities for monetization. As mentioned, providing additional content on your website is crucial. Besides delivering more value though, you can turn that content into an opportunity for monetization as you can exclusively offer the extra content through paid subscriptions or memberships. You might even consider creating a Patreon page and linking to it from your website or adding a Paypal donation button to your website. Also, a website is the perfect location to promote products for current sponsors and encourage future monetization by including sponsor information, such as past sponsors and your press kit. Running giveaways and contests on your website can be a great tool to encourage people to navigate to your website and can tie into monetization efforts as well.
You can also use your website as part of your sales funnel where you collect email addresses that can be used for further promotions, newsletters, future business endeavors, and so forth. Ultimately, your website is the place where you should be selling and monetizing your podcast. You can direct listeners there and show everybody who you are, what you do, and what makes you stand out from your competition.
As you can see, having a podcast website is incredibly helpful for monetization, your brand reputation, growth, developing a loyal audience, and delivering value to your listeners. A website goes a long way with transforming your podcast into a reliable, valued brand. So, consider putting the task of creating a podcast website as a higher priority so you can take your podcast to the next level. Happy podcasting!
Tip: If you decide to create your own website using a free website hosting service, do your research on what they are offering and what you need in order to have a high quality, user-friendly, and discoverable website. Keep in mind that many necessary website features might not be free on a website hosting service's free plan. Also, with some free website hosting services, you might run the risk of not owning your content because you don't necessarily own the website when you are using their hosting server, their domains, their designs, their templates, etc. This then puts you in the position of being unable to rank well on search engines since so many sites are using those same exact servers, domains, designs, and so forth.
For information on how to build a podcast website, check out our article here.
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