Growing Your Podcast: Essentials For Your Website

If you’ve ventured into the world of podcasting, you’ll likely have found that while it’s rewarding to publish each new episode, it takes a lot of work to build an audience. 

Likewise, it’s very much the same for websites. For a website to thrive, it needs dedication and regular attention to keep it growing. 

What happens when you blend the two together though? 

The two formats bounce so well off of each other. The combination of both written and spoken content can do wonders for your online reach. This can have a tremendous impact on your growth trajectory. 

In this article, we’ll explore how you can begin to complement your podcast with your website and start growing both as a result.

 

 

Integrating Your Podcast Platform

The first step to using your website to promote your podcast is understanding how to embed your show or individual episodes on your pages. This helps your listeners jump straight into the latest episode without even having to leave your site. It is also a great way to add fresh new content to your website - which Google loves. 

Whatever platform you use to host your podcast, they should have an easy way for you to copy an embed code for your episodes that you can paste into an HTML Fragment.

However, the four major platforms we’ll focus on are Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, Soundcloud and YouTube Music.

Each has their own layout and user experience. It’s important to consider what platform is right for you and offers the functionality you need. You can find out more about embedding shows and episodes from each below. 

Find out how to integrate Spotify Podcasts with your website >>

Find out how to integrate Apple Podcasts with your website >>

Find out how to integrate Soundcloud with your website >> 

Find out how to integrate YouTube Podcasts with your website >> 

Creating A Podcast Landing Page

 

If there’s a page on your website you should build for your podcast (at least before all others), it would be a landing page. This will act as a hub for everything related to your podcast online.

If you’re talking about your podcast (generally) on any of your social profiles, or better still, people are actively searching for your podcast online, this should be the page they find. 

Here are some things you should make sure to include:

• An introduction - Share a bit about what your podcast is about. Many who have listened to you already will know who you are, but if your podcast is being found in search engines for more general terms, you’ll want to introduce yourself properly to those who don’t know you. 

• Your Show Playlist - Spotify, Apple and YouTube all offer the options to embed a show or playlist onto your page. This neatly presents your podcast information, latest episode list and more. This is a beautiful way to lay out your podcast in a way that lets people jump straight in and get a taste for what your show is about.

• Featured Episodes - There will naturally be those podcasts you do that stand out against the rest. You can highlight them on your landing page so both new and existing listeners can jump straight into what you consider to be your best content. Leading with your top content is key to making the best first impression.

• Podcast Archive - We’ll go into this a bit later, but you should link to where your audience can find your previous podcast episodes and transcripts on your website. This can be easily and effectively organised as a blog category that your audience can browse through to find past content they will enjoy. 

• An Email Subscription Field - Email is an ideal medium to keep your audience informed of upcoming podcasts and news relating to your brand. It’s one of the best ways to secure members of your audience as loyal followers and keep them engaged time and time again with what’s going on around your business.

• Social Icons - A successful podcast needs an engaged community. There’s no better place to build that community than social media. You can direct people from your website to your active platforms using one of our Icon Blocks. If you have a specific community group on one of the platforms, be sure to link it here too. 
  
  

There will be more that you can add to your page, but including the above points will create a solid content structure to form a successful Landing Page.

This format will help your existing listeners navigate to where they can engage more with you or listen back to their favourite podcasts. It also puts your best foot forward when introducing any new listeners who have organically found you. 

When you have a page you are happy with, you can improve its organic reach to new listeners by conducting keyword research and carrying out search engine optimisation. After all, we mentioned before that we want this to be the hub for your podcast, and it ought to be bustling!

 

 

Creating A Podcast Archive

 

The platforms you use will already be storing all your past episodes, so why have a podcast archive on your website? 

The answer lies in transcripts, and the benefit they can have for your audience and your SEO. 

For each of your episodes, you can create a transcript and upload it to your website along with an embed of the audio itself. This gives you a huge amount of written content that will comprehensively cover topics that you would like to rank in search engines for. 

The accessibility that transcripts offer to your audience is also hugely important. For anyone who isn’t able to enjoy your audio content, they can still access your written content and not miss out on your episodes. 

There are lots of paid for and free transcription services available online for you to try out. Each will have a varying degree of accuracy. It’s worthwhile doing some research and looking at transcription options to find which will suit your workflow best. 

Your blog is the perfect place to host this written content. You can organise your episodes within their own blog category for people to browse through. 

Each post can be laid out exactly how you’d like. You can include the audio embed using an html fragment and lay out your transcript within Content Blocks; complemented with relevant and exciting imagery. 

Having your episodes featured in a blog also enables you to be able to link between other closely related episodes you think your audience would find useful. 

Be sure to create a related episodes section at the bottom along with an appropriate call-to-action. This could be to sign up to your emails or visit another section of your website. Think about where you’d like your users to go and encourage them to do so!

 

 

Home Page Updates

 

We’ve spoken previously of the importance of centering your home page around a key objective. It should be the first step on a journey leading your visitor to take action. 

Acquiring more podcast listeners may or may not be your primary business objective, but referencing your podcast here can be a really powerful way to keep people coming back to your content time and again.

If people are engaged with your content, you’ll have more opportunities to sell them on the value of your products or services later on. 

With this being the case, it’s well worth adding an HTML Fragment featuring your latest episode. In this Block, be sure to link through to your Landing Page as well. For those who are interested in listening, this will be helpful in directing them to subscribe and engage. 

 

 

Wrapping Up

Your website should be the hub of all your online activities. By incorporating your Podcast into your website, you’re creating another strong promotional arm to your website that compliments both sides; both your website and your podcast can grow when they work together. 

Your listeners may come from your podcast and visit your website where they discover more of what you offer, and communities they can engage with. 

On the other side, potential listeners may find out about your podcast by searching for content like yours and visiting your landing page. 

When you combine the value your website offers, your podcast and your social media communities, you’ll find your objectives far easier to hit; leveraging the cross-promotional power of each. 

Want more tips and ideas on how to start and grow your website? You can make sure you never miss a trick by getting our email updates. We share the latest news from our blog along with tips and ideas you can utilise to grow your business online. 

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