Distributing your podcast is one of the most important steps when launching or growing your podcast. After all the hard work planning, recording, editing and finalizing your podcast audio and content, it’s time to distribute it to popular podcast platforms and directories. This often brings a very important question – How can I upload my podcast to all those directories/platforms? How does podcast distribution work? Where should I submit my podcast to? We’ll answer all of those questions (and much more) in this article!
Get your podcast ready
If you don’t already have a podcast, you probably wonder what is the process to start a podcast from scratch. To make a podcast, you need to first get a podcast host. Just like Podcastpage.io is a host for your podcast website, there are hosting companies that specialize in hosting your podcast audio files. The podcast host job is to store your audio files and make them available online for people across the globe. (where stability and speed are important).
When you upload your audio files and add the required metadata (like podcast title and description, along with additional details per episode), your podcast host will create a custom podcast RSS feed for your podcast. This feed is (usually) public and you can share it with your audience directly and also submit this RSS feed to podcast directories, or let your podcast hosting provider do it for you automatically.
We’ve created a list of all the podcast hosting companies. You can choose any provider from the list, or even host your own podcast yourself, before distributing it. Those podcast companies usually offer various features and different pricing plans, so you need to understand what’s important to you and pick the one that answers your needs. Most of these companies don’t include a website for your podcast (or a very simplified one without any reliable way to edit it), so in order to create a powerful website for your podcast, check out Podcastpage.io.
How to choose a podcast host – important questions
Choosing a single host from all these different competitors can be confusing. We recommend that you first figure out what you’re looking for from your podcast host, and create a list of requirements which you can use to compare between the companies:
- Do they offer enough storage space for your needs?
- Who owns the content?
- Pricing? Podcast hosting can range from free to hundreds of USD per month.
- Is there a limit on the audio file-size, number of monthly downloads, episodes, or shows?
- Do you have access to podcast statistics or analytics?
- Do they offer podcast monetization capabilities (if you are interested in those at this point)?
- Can you easily migrate from this host to another if you decide to move towards another host?
Only you can decide which host is the best according to your needs, so take a quick look at the list and choose the one you prefer.
How to record the audio for my podcast?
Some hosts will let you record on their platform (like Anchor), and some will ask you to upload audio files. To record the audio you can use Audacity (a free open-source audio recorder and editor). There’s much more you should know about recording and editing your podcast. We’ll cover it in a separate article so make sure to check back soon.
Podcast distribution
So now that you have chosen your podcast host, recorded and uploaded the audio to your host, you should be able to distribute it as well. What does “Podcast Distribution” even means? How can you distribute your podcast?
Well, in fact, your listeners can be using different apps, websites or platforms to find, subscribe and listen to podcasts. Distributing your podcast on more platforms means more listeners can reach your show, and use their favorite apps to do that. Here’s a short list of the popular podcasting platforms and directories (and links to how to submit your podcast in each one):
- Amazon Music
- Apple Podcasts
- Castbox
- Castro
- Deezer
- Google Podcasts
- iHeartRadio
- Listen Notes
- Overcast
- Pandora
- PlayerFM
- PocketCasts
- PodChaser
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- TuneIn
The usual suspects are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. We like to call these “The Big Four”. Submitting your podcast to the platforms mentioned above (and as many other platform as possible) would make a difference and help push your podcast. The largest platform nowadays is Spotify. These platforms have become the most popular podcast apps, and most listeners would use these to find or listen to podcasts.
The next tier of apps would include other popular directories like Stitcher, TuneIn, Pandora, Podchaser, and the likes.
You can upload your podcast to each of the platforms by submitting your RSS feed manually in each platform. (technically speaking you don’t actually upload your podcast to these platforms, but you do submit your RSS feed in there.)
An easier way to do it is to use the podcast host. Most hosts already offer a way to publish and distribute your podcast automatically in many of those platforms. Make sure to check which are included with your podcast host and which you’ll need to add on your own.
To conclude – Podcast distribution
Is really important to submit your podcast to as many directories as possible if you really want to grow your podcast. Once you have your own podcast hosted somewhere with a valid RSS feed, you can get right into submitting it to different platforms.
In many cases, you can automate the podcast distribution process by submitting your podcast via your podcast hosting company, but it’s not a big deal to do it manually as well. Some directories feed from others, so you can expect your podcast to be listed on several apps as soon as you submit to a big app like Apple Podcasts.
To complete your distribution strategy, it might be a good idea to add your custom podcast website. Podcastpage is the best website builder for podcasters. It was specifically created for podcasters, and it makes the entire process of running a podcast website easy and automated.
