If you want to create a podcast website and looking for the perfect platform, you’re at the right place at the right time! There are a lot of different options you can use to build a website and you don’t even have to code it by yourself. Typically when thinking about creating a new website for your podcast, there are a few options. You can either do it with an easy-to-use website builder platform, hire a developer or designer to build a custom-made site, or code it all by yourself, if that’s your thing.
Over the years we’ve seen countless of CMS (content management systems) and website building platforms created for developers and non-developers alike. Internet giants like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Webflow, Weebly and others have emerged and control the site building segment almost entirely.
With that being said, these great website builders are not always the best solution for every user or every use-case. This is especially true for podcast websites. When you build a new website for your podcast, you’ll need to find a way to import your podcast automatically, add an audio player, podcast subscribe & follow buttons, create separate pages for each episode and so much more.
While this sounds like it can be done easy with WordPress or Squarespace, it evolves into a lot of manual work really fast, and that’s exactly why a niche website builder like Podcastpage.io can be the perfect alternative to those platforms like WordPress and Squarespace. It’s a podcast website builder created specifically for podcasters. It will save you hundreds of hours, headaches, and unnecessary spending like on other platforms.
The best solutions for podcasters
In this article, we’ll review the best website builders for podcasts and podcasters. We’ll go over the pros and cons of each solution, and provide insights on the necessary features that podcasters should look for when choosing a podcast website builder to create their new site.
Whether you are just starting out with your podcast and looking for your first podcast website builder, or already using an existing solution and considering to try another one, this guide will help you understand all the available options and help you make the best decision for your podcast.
What to look for when choosing a podcast website builder?
As mentioned above, creating a website that includes a podcast requires a unique set of features that is not trivial and not always provided by the traditional website builders.
A podcast website is very different than just a simple blog/business website, so relying on platforms that were created for other purposes is not always the best or easiest choice.
Starting from a website template that looks amazing, but was created originally for restaurants or a web agency would still look great but could be hard to convert into a podcast website.
Important features to have on a podcast website:
You’ll want the site to automatically import your podcast RSS feed. Every time you release a new episode it should be on your website within minutes and without you having to do anything manually.
The website builder should provide sufficient flexibility, especially around the audio player and page layouts. It also needs to include simple podcast subscribe buttons for your visitors, and more. A podcast website should ideally include a description of the podcast and the hosts, the ability to listen to all episodes, display the show notes and additional meta info on each episode.
Beyond the podcast-specific features, it’s also important to have a clean and modern design, to be able to create custom pages and a blog, add link redirects and more general functionality that you would expect in any other website.
The website should be optimized for podcast SEO (to rank better on search engines and increase your podcast discoverability). Another feature that may be needed is a way to integrate with popular web analytics and marketing tools. Both of these features will help you understand your listeners and target them better. You’ll get insights on what’s working with your podcast and website (popular pages or episodes, keywords that perform well, etc.).
Lastly, it’s important to maintain a relationship with your listeners beyond the actual podcast, so having a way to collect details from your listeners and have the direct contact with them is ideal. Including a voicemail widget for your visitors to record an audio-based message and send it to you is also really nice to have.
A big bonus for your podcast website builder is that it would be easy to use, intuitive, and start at a decent price point. Getting off the ground fast is also key, so if you can, avoid long setup processes, installations or complex integrations.
tl:dr – The most important features for a podcast website
- Automatic import of episodes
- Flexibility in design and input
- Great audio player
- Subscribe and share buttons
- SEO optimized
- Clean and modern design
- Easy to use
- Display reviews and let users write reviews
- Contact forms, voicemail widget
- A blog or custom pages
The most popular podcast site builders:
Generally speaking, there are 4 different categories of website builders you can use for your podcast website:
- Mini-Sites (or any form of an over simplified “link-site” or landing page, usually provided by podcast hosts like Anchor.fm, etc.)
- Dedicated podcast website builders (like Podcastpage.io)
- Generic CMS solutions (Wix, WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace)
- DIY – Hiring a developer (or code it yourself) to create a custom podcast website.
We’ll now explore each of those categories, dive into the pros and cons of these website builders, and give an examples of podcasts using those solutions for their websites.
Choosing the website builder that is right for you
The best podcast website builder for you is not necessarily the right choice for another podcaster. It really depends on many things, so you have to consider several key factors:
- Do you need podcast-specific features for your website? If so, a dedicated podcast website builder may be more relevant than a generic option. Importing your podcast automatically, displaying a flexible and customizable audio player, subscribe buttons, auto-tweet that links to your site when a new episode is published, etc., are not just trivial features.
- Do you have coding experience or you know how to configure servers? Some of the solutions could require setting up or managing separately your own server from your site. Most of the platforms allow custom code, but coding is typically not a requirement unless you opt to do it.
- How much time and money are you planning to spend on your podcast website?
- What do you want to achieve with your podcast website? Growing your podcast, creating and sustaining a brand, writing a blog – there are many objectives you can set in advance before starting to create your site.
The best podcast website builder platforms in 2023
Choosing the right platform for your podcast site is important. Let’s dive right into the best podcast website builder options –
1. Podcastpage.io – The Best Podcast Website Builder
Podcastpage.io is a podcast website builder that is super easy to use, yet powerful and full of features. Built from the ground up specifically for podcasting, it helps podcasters create websites in minutes. The platform includes tons of podcast-features, professionally designed themes, built-in SEO, and is optimized for today’s web.
Podcastpage.io does not require any coding skills at all. It’s very intuitive for non-developers and developers alike. Your Podcastpage website comes with unlimited podcast episodes, blog posts and custom pages. You can customize the audio player or embed the audio player from your podcast host, if you prefer.
Start from one of the podcast templates that are included in all plans, or customize the layout to fit your desired design easily. Additionally, you can use the 3rd party integrations Podcastpage offers (i.e. – Google analytics, Mailchimp, Headliner or Twitter – to automatically tweet your new episodes).
When you Sign up for a free trial, you just need to connect your podcast, and that’s it! A fully featured website is already there for you in the matter of seconds. Next, you can customize the colors, change the logo and layouts, or add more content, if needed.
Lastly, it’s easy to use a custom domain to make it under your own podcast/brand/company name, and really have full control of your podcast and brand.
How about multiple podcasts on one site? (for Podcast Networks)
If you have more than one podcast, you can easily create a website that contains all of your podcast under one main URL. You can display all of the shows on your main page, and then have a separate page for each podcast and podcast episodes.
Why is it better than any other solution?
Podcastpage.io is the best podcast website builder. It was planned, designed and built just for podcasters, thus many key features were added right from the get go. It was built by veterans in the podcasting and CMS industries, so rest assured we got what it takes to create the right platform.
As opposed to the generic CMS solutions, there is no need to add (and let alone – pay) plugins or go through advanced customization or additional custom coding just to import your podcast or add podcast subscribe buttons to popular platforms. We’ve included dozens of podcast-specific features that are nearly impossible to find elsewhere. You get everything a podcaster needs right out of the box. The platform was built with the latest and modern web-tools (a built-in CDN for great loading speeds. SEO & accessibility optimizations and more) so that you can scale your website as you grow.
If you compare it to the free solutions, like the “mini-sites”, Podcastpage offers so much more; you can add blog posts, custom pages, change the entire branding, layout and design, add a custom domain, and more. You get a real website, your own website, and not just a page on someone else’s platform.
Check a couple of podcast website examples of websites built with Podcastpage.io in the below screenshots:
In these examples you see how unique your podcast website can look like. You can create a completely custom design, have your header contain a full-size image and information about your show, and much more. You can change all your site colors, and display a “Sticky” audio player on all your pages.
Podcastpage is the most advanced podcast website builder – it includes a full drag & drop page editor, 9+ beautiful podcast website templates, a fully customizable audio player, unlimited blog posts and custom pages. You can create guest profile pages, import up to 500 podcasts/shows (unlimited episodes!) and even YouTube channels.
It’s a platform that makes the creators’ life easier, while helping automate tasks and growing your audience.
2. WordPress (WordPress.org or WordPress.com)
If you have the time to learn the basics, WordPress gives you a lot of flexibility. It’s a popular open source platform, meaning that the community can create extensions, plugins, themes and more to enhance the platform. According to WordPress, currently 41% of the web is built on WordPress, and that sure is impressive!
To Build a website for your podcast using WordPress, you’ll have to either get it through a website hosting service or install WordPress on your server. This article should help you get started with doing it on your own.
Side note: these instructions are relevant for the self-hosted WordPress.org option, but you can also go with a fully managed solution via WordPress.com. It would be more expensive but they will take care of the server configurations for you.
Working with WordPress
Working with WordPress means you will have to make sure your themes and plugins are updated to the last version. If you host the site on your own servers you will also have to do maintenance. This can sound quite intimidating for first time users. However these days most of the website hosting providers can automatically do it for you when you create an account on their hosting platform.
Next, you will have to choose a theme. There are free themes and premium themes, but you can also create one yourself. (or hire a designer to create a theme for you.) After installing a theme you will need to add some plugins to make the site work for a podcast website.
Below are some examples for podcasting plugins:
WordPress usually allows you to have unlimited posts and pages, install as many plugins as you need (although this could potentially slow down your site) and upload as many images or attachments to your website.
Below are 2 examples of podcast websites using WordPress – The Island of Discarded Women Podcast and The Mental Illness Happy Hour Podcast.
3. Squarespace
Squarespace is a great tool for website owners (and you can’t miss their ads on many podcasts). They offer a website platform which is (arguably) less flexible but easier to start than WordPress. They have some themes for blogs, restaurants, small businesses, and podcasts. Additionally, Squarespace offer little plugins or extensions, but they do offer a way to add your podcast RSS feed in the settings.
There are some issues with having your podcast website on Squarespace that some podcasters have mentioned online on places like Reddit or Twitter. It can basically limit what you can do with a Squarespace site –
- Video podcasts are not supported.
- The maximum number of podcast episodes allowed is 300.
- There is a limit of 160 MB for uploading files.
Here are 2 examples of Squarespace podcast website: Powerline Podcast and The Story Collider:
4. Dynamic Sites – “Mini-Sites” or “Link”-sites
“Mini-sites” are a very basic one page solution for your podcast. You usually don’t have the possibility to use even the simplest of features. Essential features may be lacking like connecting your custom domain, adding custom pages or a blog, and customizing the entire layout. Some of these mini-sites are even keeping their own logo on top of your mini-site, which is a big no-no in branding or marketing 101.
One more thing you should take into consideration is that these “mini-sites aren’t offering many integrations with 3rd party tools for marketing, analytics or automation.
If you are just starting out with your podcast, it could be a good temporary solution for you, but it can never replace a full website. There are so many reasons why you should have a full website for your podcast, so starting out with those mini-sites may only be worthwhile at the beginning.
5. Wix
Wix is yet another popular website builder. They offer a couple of templates for podcasting. It is arguably less intuitive when comparing to WordPress or Squarespace in the CMS category. To start a podcast page on Wix you need to choose a podcast website template. Then go to their app marketplace and add the “Wix Podcast Player”. (oddly enough for an in-house developed plugin, got a 2.3 average rating out of 5 stars from the Wix users).
The Toffee Blues is an example for a podcast website on Wix –
Conclusion – creating a podcast website
You can build a podcast website in many ways with different site builders. Most of them will allow you to create a beautiful website. The important questions to keep in mind when you are in the hunt for the best podcast website builder are:
- How easy is it to create the website (how much time/efforts do I need to invest in this)?
- How much money does it cost me to create this website?
- Is it flexible enough to answer all my podcasting & website needs?
- Will it help me grow my audience? (Monetize the podcast, collect emails, and include built-in SEO tools)
We believe Podcastpage.io answers all of those questions and checks all the relevant boxes for creating a podcast website. It makes it easy to build a beautiful website instantly. You get all the needed features right off the bat. It’s the most flexible podcast website builder.
Podcastpage helps you with all your podcast-specific features. It also allows customizing your website and connect to 3rd party tools without dropping a sweat.
Check out Podcastpage for your podcast website or our blog for additional helpful articles!
