Why It's Important To Offer A Website With Your Podcast

On today's episode, we dig into how creating a podcast website provides a reliable home on the internet where your show can live and grow. 

We'll break down what makes a great podcast website and how offering a  dedicated home on the internet helps build brand identity, improves podcast SEO and discoverability, and can set you up for success as your podcast grows! 

If you have questions about your podcasting website, reach out to us on the Podcaster Success team by email support@buzzsprout.com. 

Keep podcasting!

Transcript

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A

Cara Pacetti 0:00

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you by the people at Buzzsprout. I'm your host, Cara Pacetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you podcasting with confidence. Today's question is: do I really need a website for my podcast? First, I want to remove any and all pressure that comes with the thought of adding a website. This might feel like just one more thing to pack onto your already full podcasting plate. But I have some good news. A little over half of popular podcast hosting platforms actually provide a website with their hosting plan. So implementing a website may be much easier than you initially thought. I'd like to share three reasons how a podcasting website levels up your show, and then we can determine if it's truly a need. I want you to think of your website as your podcast's home on the internet. Instead of sending listeners to multiple locations where they can hear your episodes like Spotify and Apple Podcasts or maybe even social media platforms, you can send them one link to your website, and that actually has everything available in one convenient spot, and then let your listeners choose what listening platform works best for them. Since your website is the home base for your podcast, it's important to know what to include in that home base. So I want to break down some of the components of a really great podcast website. Typically, a podcasting website will include all of your episodes, your episode details like show notes, chapters, artwork, and more, your episode transcripts, if supported, and links to follow or subscribe through your favorite listening directories. Your website becomes the central hub where your audience can explore your content. And if you choose to build your own website or work with a host that gives you customization controls, then the best part is you get control over that experience. When you have control over those customization options, you want to focus on making your podcasting website really specific to you. Show off your personality and make sure that it fits your overall vibe of your podcast. Of course, you'll want to include the ability to not only display your episodes, but also play them on your website. BuzzProut websites include our built-in player, which can actually be customized to match the look and feel of your podcast. You'll want to provide a way of connecting with you as the podcaster. A website can give listeners an easy way to engage with you either by using email, comments, or message board, or even a direct message communication option like fan mail. Your podcasting website can highlight your hosts, your guest, and all of the contributors assigned to your podcast. You'll even have the option of assigning each guest to the episodes that they're on. And then you'll see that list of episodes when you visit their page on your website. Your website should also include a follow page, of course, where listeners can subscribe easily to your podcast using their favorite listening directory. And last but certainly not least, we recommend including your social media links so that your listeners can easily join your community and the discussion around your podcast. A fun feature that we offer here at Buzzsprout for your podcasting website is actually Pod Roll. So PodRoll allows you to link to some of your favorite podcasts right on your podcasting website. And since podcasting is so easily spread through word of mouth, this is kind of like a virtual word of mouth recommendation for your favorite podcast. Since the goal here is to make this website personal to your podcast and avoid anything generic, you'll also want to make sure you are customizing things like the color scheme, the background image, the fonts you are using, and even the URL you are using for your website. If you have purchased your own domain name, we recommend go ahead and change the URL for your site to match that domain. This is building identity and branding around your podcast. I feel like this question about having a podcasting website naturally leads to the follow-up question: is the podcast host provided website enough? Or should I be building my own? Shoot us some fan mail if you'd like for me to dive a little deeper into this question and explore some of the pros and cons for building your own custom website. Whether you're using a website provided by your podcast host or creating something custom, a website helps to build your brand. A website isn't just about listening, it's about growing something bigger than your podcast. When you have a dedicated space on the internet, it gives you the opportunity to build brand identity, it becomes searchable. And as you grow, this will help with discoverability and even lead to some sponsorship opportunities. You can promote products or services that you offer through your website, and you can even turn listeners into subscribers and super fans. Your podcast website is essentially working as a marketing engine for everything else you're building. Even if you're not monetizing yet, having the foundation of a website early on makes a huge difference later down the road, depending on your goals and how they evolve. If you have questions about your podcasting website, you can reach out to us on the podcaster success team by emailing support@buzzsprout.com. If there's a question you'd like to answer on a future podcasting Q&A episode, send it to me by clicking the send us a text link in the show notes. Remember, your question could help hundreds of other podcasters just like you. So don't keep it to yourself. Just send it in. Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your week. Thank you so much for listening. And as always, keep podcasting.