When choosing a podcast website builder for your podcast, a few Internet giants come to mind. WordPress, Squarespace and Wix are the main players in the site building space. You can host your podcast website on Wix, but is that the best platform for your site?
In recent years, new companies have entered this market, offering tailored platforms or branding themselves as ‘no-code’ solutions for apps or websites (like Webflow and Podcastpage.io). When zooming in to websites for podcasts, a good podcast website has many different requirements. In this article we’ll deep dive into Wix’s offering and see if it’s the right platform for your podcast website.
Since launching back in 2006, Wix now has 180 million users around the world. Wix lets users build websites through one of two options. The first method is by an automated tool offered by Wix, which tries to design the website for you based on few questions. The first question is about the type of site you want to create (restaurant / marketing agency / non profit organization / etc.). This only works for a handful of website types, and still not ready for podcasting. If you want to create a podcast website on Wix, you’ll have to select a template and create the site in the second method – the manual site building.
After you pick a template for your podcast you can start editing the page itself. You’ll need to change the dummy content that is provided by Wix with your own podcast content. Next, you can go to the episodes page, connect your RSS feed (add your podcast), and start editing the view of the episodes page and singular episode pages.
Using the Wix website builder for your podcast – Pros
Here are the pros to consider if you choose Wix as the platform for your podcast website:
- The Wix CMS is fully visual – you can edit right on your screen.
- Easy to connect your podcast feed once you understand where to do it.
- You can add images, paragraphs, and social media buttons easily.
- There are blog pages and custom pages you can add to your podcast site.
Cons for using Wix for your podcast website
- Using an all-purpose template (branded for “Restaurants / Startups / Podcasts” for example) – is not ideal. You can feel it is a one fit all solution, and certainly not dedicated for podcasting.
- While it is easy to change the text as it’s a visual editor – it’s not really an intuitive setup for a podcast website.
- You can’t import your podcast host embed audio player. The Wix audio player is basic. Audio timestamps are not supported, and the audio player lacks basic customization options.
- The customization is a bit limited. For example, you can only decide between a grid view to a list when displaying your podcast episodes. There is no way to decide how many columns to show or what information to include in the episode card.
- Links – there are only 6 apps you can add so your listeners could subscribe there (RSS.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and SoundCloud). This is very limited and podcasters often times need to add more links.
- Requires quite a lot of manual work to get started.
So what’s your conclusion?
There are better solutions out there if you’re looking to build a podcast website. A bit (or a lot) biased here, we strongly recommend our dedicated podcast website builder platform.
Alternatives to creating your podcast site on Wix
- Podcastpage.io – Podcastpage is a podcast website builder created specifically for podcasters – How cool is that? Podcastpage was created with podcasting in mind from the get-go. It is built around core features necessary for podcasting, packed with features for podcast SEO, and supports an automated website creation with an easy-to-use interface. It has a quick setup process that helps you create a working website in minutes. You can customize the website, including; design, layout, colors, text, and more.
In addition, you can add custom pages and blog posts and change to your custom domain. It’s also important to mention that there is a lot of flexibility with the audio player; you can change the entire design, use an embed player from your podcast host, or add a sticky player that stays across pages. Podcastpage supports automatic timestamps to help your visitors navigate through your podcast episodes. - WordPress – Similar to Wix, WordPress is a generic CMS, that could work out for podcasters as well. You’ll need to buy a template, or use a free theme, and add a few plugins to import the podcast and display the audio player. Adding a page builder or using the new “Block Editor” can make it much easier and intuitive to design the pages and layouts. Since WordPress is open-source, it has a huge community behind it with many resources, plugins and themes available.
- Squarespace – Squarespace is another all-in-one platform for creating websites. Many podcasters are aware of Squarespace (or even use it) because of their heavy advertising spend during podcast shows. For years now they have put ads on podcasts, and so it’s a popular solution among podcasters. Just like Wix and WordPress, Squarespace is more of a generic platform and seem to lack features necessary for podcast websites.
What should you include in your podcast website?
Once you decided which platform is best for your podcast website, there are few key requirements you should keep in mind when creating your site.
First, and most importantly, make sure to add your custom domain. Promoting your podcast under another brand name is a huge drawback in terms of marketing and SEO and this could be solved very easily – just use your own domain whenever possible. When your listeners know your brand, they can easily share it to their friends with your custom URL. Additionally, if for some unexpected reason your podcast is banned from one of the big platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts etc.) you can always have the content on your website. (True for when you switch podcast hosting services as well).
If you are saying “Find us on iTunes” (which was renamed to “Apple Podcasts” a few years ago) or something like “Listen to our podcast on Spotify” – you are essentially promoting their platforms more than you promote your own brand. Don’t use a middleman – and showcase your podcast on your own domain.
Beyond the domain and marketing considerations, your website should include specific content that fits your podcast audience. Assume that your website visitors include those who searched specifically for your podcast, as well as those who stumbled upon it. The content needs to speak to all types of visitors. Here are a few guidelines to make your website relevant:
Guidelines to make your podcast website stand out
1. Audio player
The most important part of your podcast website is the audio player. Why? The answer is simple – this is the main reason visitors check out your site. A podcast website must have a great audio player, that is easy to customize, and interact with. It’s true that the default audio player you have in your browser is easy to add, but it’s a big no-no for a podcast website. We strongly recommend you use a custom audio player, or your podcast host embed audio player, and possibly add timestamps to your podcast as well.
2. Podcast description
Describe your podcast in few sentences. You want to make it interesting so people would click the play button. What is your show about? What genre? Who are the hosts? Relevant keywords here could also help target potential listeners through improved SEO.
3. Episode list
It should be very clear and easy to see the episodes of your show. Sometimes only a title and a play button are enough. You can also add the episode description, an image, meta data about the episode and the improved audio player.
4. Social & Subscribe
Add ways to follow you on podcast directories or social networks. Listeners might want to subscribe to know when the next episode is coming out, or to see what other content you are posting on Twitter or any other social media platform. Make it easy for them to just click and subscribe.
5. Share
Riding on the previous point, make it easy to share your episodes. It can really help get new listeners once your existing listeners can easily share the podcast with their own network!
6. Show notes
We wrote a detailed article on how to create great show notes. Most importantly, it is a way to help your listeners as well as your ranking on search engines. Other than just adding a summary of the episode, you can/should include images, links or attachments within the show notes. Timestamps are also a great addition as they help navigate through the episode. The rule here is to add anything that could add context to the episode.
Conclusion – Wix podcast websites
Creating a podcast website is more than just optional – it can really help you grow and sustain the podcast. In this article, we’ve written about the pros and cons when choosing Wix as your podcast website builder. While Wix is very popular for creating generic websites, we recommend that you pick a solution tailored for podcasting like Podcastpage.io.
We also went through a list of best practices for creating your podcast website, regardless on which platform you eventually decide to use. Those include:
- Audio player – display a custom audio player with additional controls and timestamps.
- Podcast description – Add a brief description for your podcast show.
- Episode list – Showcase all your episodes in a list or grid of episodes.
- Subscribe buttons – Help your users subscribe to your podcast on their favorite platform.
- Social share options – Include smart social sharing buttons across your site and audio player.
- Show notes – Create meaningful show notes for each episode.
There are of course additional important aspects of your site you could include, but the above list reviews the core ones you should definitely add to your site.
Lastly, make sure to get your podcast website to be under your brand and not the podcast host or podcast website brand.
