While many podcasters have started their podcasts as an outlet to discuss exciting topics or their favorite hobbies, many of these podcasts have grown in popularity as their passion and audience grew.
Audiences listen to podcasts with their ears, so do you need a website for a podcast? We provide seven reasons why you need a podcast website because it’s not just about audio anymore.
If you find yourself looking for new ways to expand your podcast, creating a website is a great step. It provides your podcast and listeners with many benefits such as extra content and personal touches.
You also get more detailed analytics and monetization opportunities.
Keep reading to learn about seven strong reasons why your podcast needs a website.
1. You Have Control Over Your Brand and Content
Your podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout and you have your podcast listed on directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. That means your podcast and brand are out there for all to see. That’s enough, right?
A podcast platform typically provides listeners with a few things: the name of your podcast, a brief podcast description, and episode titles and descriptions. Oh and one podcast cover art that you upload.
But what if you wanted to share more with your audience? On your own podcast website, you can control what’s posted and how it’s viewed, including:
- Top previous episodes
- Episode transcripts
- Host biographies
- Media kit – e.g., photos for press to use
- Contact forms
- Contests and giveaways
- Forums for community engagement
- Email list, newsletter signups
- Social media links (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, etc.)
- Podcast platforms (where to listen)
- Recommendations for other shows
Having these additional features will keep your audience engaged and on the website longer. It can also help if a journalist is writing an origin story on your podcast and you, and would like some extra background information or photos for their article. The website helps to present a professional image for your podcast and yourself.
A podcast website is your main platform to show your current and potential listeners what your podcast brand is all about. Podcasts and its hosts are usually on multiple podcasting platforms and various social media accounts. That leads to fragmented and disconnected marketing efforts.
Each social media account and podcast app can feel like separate brands and podcasts if not well-maintained. But if each of those separate accounts were connected by a central platform that you can control and customize, you now have a Podcast Brand.
You have full control over the website design, web hosting, podcast content, podcast promotion, affiliate links, and more. Many of the established podcasters now use their websites as a home base for all their marketing and monetization efforts.
2. Easy Platform for Your Current Audience to Listen on
Most of your listeners probably listen through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or any number of the multiple podcast directories out there. Creating a podcast website creates an additional location where your audience can listen to episodes.
Think about how much easier it’ll be for your listeners to share your podcast by sharing and linking to your website. Compare that to them sharing the podcast name and having their friends search for it on a streaming app like Apple Podcasts. Those friends will also see other podcasts in the search results that are grabbing the searcher’s attention.
Other listeners may not like downloading lots of different computer programs and would enjoy listening straight from their web browser instead. Remembering your domain name is much easier than clicking many times to get to the subscription of your podcast in a podcast app.
Your latest episode can be embedded for your new and existing listeners to listen to when they open your podcast website. Or if they want to search for specific topics in previous episodes, they can search and go to a podcast post containing the embedded episode and show notes.
3. Easier to Attract New Listeners Through SEO and Google
How many times have you scrolled Podcast directories to try and find your podcast? Don’t get lost in the sea of endless cover art. You’ll be able to have your own website that features your podcast and only your podcast. You show what you want to show.
If listeners want to hear your podcast, they won’t see other podcasts, because your podcast is the only one they’ll see when they go to your website.
For those who haven’t found your podcast yet, when they search Google for keywords related to your podcast topics, you want your podcast to show up in the search results. That’s why you’ll want to have show notes for each podcast episode on a website that’s SEO optimized for your podcast’s keywords.
Your website grows as you add more content to it: podcast episodes, articles, blog posts, tutorials, etc. Search engines will begin to index and rank your website in their search results with all of this content.
If you have well-written show notes and other written content, you can be using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to reach your target audience. You want users to be able to Google your podcast name with the word ‘podcast’ and have your podcast website be the first thing that pops up.
Beyond that, if your podcast is about a popular topic such as gardening, true crime, or even a popular TV show, you can utilize specific keywords and phrases so that your website ranks high when people are searching for those terms.
This brings new listeners to your show with customization options that wouldn’t be available on most streaming platforms or a generic podcast webpage provided by a podcast host or podcasting directories.
4. There Are More Opportunities for Monetization
There are many ways you can be making money from your podcast other than inserting ads into your episodes. While the content on websites is free content in that anyone can read it for free, that doesn’t mean you can’t also monetize it.
Set up an eCommerce store and start selling your merchandise. This can include custom clothing, magnets, car decals, and more featuring your podcast’s name or even a catchline you use during your podcast. You can take further control of your brand and offer products such as books, additional media (audio, video, images), and anything else you believe your audience would be interested in.
Many listeners are also willing to visit your website to simply find out how they can help. Including a donation button will allow you to collect support from your listeners.
If you have a good number of visitors to your website, you may have sponsored sections of your site for things like sponsored posts.
Email marketing is a great way to also reach potential customers. The podcasting directories don’t give you a way to collect email addresses, so having your own site allows you to create your own newsletter subscription links and lead capture tools.
Additionally, you can create an exclusive ‘fan club’ or premium section of your website. The more quality content you can put out, the more potential you have to earn. Your audience can pay a monthly or yearly subscription for exclusive access to bonus blog posts, videos, online courses, and extra podcast episodes.
5. You Can Store All of Your Material in One Place
Some podcast platforms may restrict the number of episodes that you can upload and store. You can have better control of your podcast and its content with your website. Here, alongside being able to store every episode, you can control your listeners’ organization and access.
If your podcast is part of a larger network amongst different podcast categories or you have a series of episodes that are supposed to be grouped in a specific order, it may be hard for your listeners to draw the connection on a standard streaming app. You’re able to curate playlists of individual episodes on specific topics. It’s also beneficial to implement a search bar for your listeners’ ease of access.
For someone with two or more multiple podcasts on multiple platforms, there are enough compelling reasons to create your own online space to link all your content together.
6. Access to Detailed Analytics
Want to learn more about your audience and what drives them to consume your content?
By adding Google Analytics to your website, you can learn important details about where your audience is coming from, popular age groups, and more. This feature also allows you to set alerts when your website reaches milestones of visitor numbers.
You also have access to statistics such as how many of your visitors view your site on a mobile phone (do I need to create a more mobile-friendly website?) and what pages on your site are the most popular. As more and more people are searching on their phones, designing a mobile-friendly website is a good idea.
Knowing what your audience wants to hear, read, and learn more about is a call to action for you to create more content for them in those topics they want. Many of the large companies want this data because it helps them plan out their content marketing strategy to grow their audiences. You can employ the same strategies.
7. Building a Community
Besides all the technological and statistical benefits that creating a website brings to your podcast, one of the greatest perks is community growth. At the end of the day, you want to feel like you’re part of something big and not just talking into a microphone.
You want your listeners to be able to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or concerns. A simple contact page with your contact information or a form can achieve that.
Additionally, providing them with a chat room or forum thread allows them to talk amongst themselves and create bonds with your podcast as the base. You can communicate, educate, share additional content, and maintain an environment where your brand can thrive.
How to Create Your Own Website for a podcast
There are a couple good D.I.Y. ways to create your own website for a podcast.
One way to create your own website is to use the popular WordPress, a content management system, along with a web hosting service or on wordpress.com. The advantages of WordPress include its open source, has many positive reviews, and its scalable as you grow. Many Fortune 500 companies use WordPress for their own sites, e.g. Disney, Microsoft, Sony, Target, and many more.
The issue with the WordPress direction is some skill level will be needed because it’s more DIY. Yu can do almost anything you want to do with the wide variety of plugins available. But you’ll need to account for some extra time to learn. Or you can find a WordPress web designer or service provider on Fiverr.
Another way is to use a website builder like Podcastpage.io that’s specifically designed to build podcast websites. I did an in-depth review of Podcastpage and think it’s a great option for people who aren’t as tech savvy.
Final Thoughts on Why Your Podcast Needs a Website
Even if your podcast is new and hasn’t built up lots of traction yet, you should be considering building a website for a podcast. Utilizing SEO methods to bring in your target audience, access to detailed analytics, and monetization opportunities are only the beginning of the technological and statistical benefits.
If you already have an existing website, you’ll want to make sure it’s an optimized website for a podcast.
Podcasts go beyond the audio files you post, and creating a website is beneficial for your brand and your viewers.
Here’s a Buzzsprout video too with 3 great tips for your podcast website.
