Having a website to refer people to is a phenomenal way to keep the listener engaged, market yourself, make them aware of your offers and services, and enhance your online visibility, aka organic SEO.

We’ve round-up the benefits of using a website to grow your podcast before, but in this article, we’re delving into the must-haves. It’s time to audit your website and see if you’re missing any of these! Or know exactly what you need to create if you’re starting from scratch.

Starting small: The ‘one-page website’, aka Podcast Landing page

This is the perfect podcast web page if you’re just starting out and want to keep things small to reduce overwhelm.

In order to make your efforts worthwhile, these are the only elements you need on your page:

• Podcast name

• Podcast description or mission

• Podcast logo or photo of the host

• Buttons (hyperlinked) to subscribe on main platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc)

• Podcast player (make sure it’s sorted by ‘new to old’ episodes)

• Call to action (subscribe to the newsletter, follow us on social media, share it with a friend, or donate to the podcast)

• Contact form or host’s email (for listener inquiries, or guest bookings)

• Links to social media channels

• Individual list of episodes with optimized titles and images

• Most popular websites (Wix, Squarespace and Wordpress) offer their own podcast players that you can use without knowing to code. All you need is your RSS feed.

If you’re a visual learner, check out our podcast page.

Adding your podcast to your existing website:

Before we dive into the list, consider the user’s experience:

• Your visitor should be able to find the following in less than 30 seconds:

• The name of your podcast or see a ‘podcast’ tab.

  • Shed what doesn’t serve you - if your website has more than 7 tabs at the top, it’s likely that you’re confusing the audience by offering them too much information - less is more:

    • Review your analytics and hide the pages that don’t get any visitors, that you don’t need, or that don’t make sense anymore.

• The latest episode, or a button to ‘listen’ or link to the episodes

  • You can also consider embedding the player or linking directly to wherever you host your podcast (Captivate (affiliate link), Anchor.FM, or Sounder FM).

  • Make sure your show notes are showing on your website as a way to improve your organic search through Google!

  • Don’t work hard, work smart! By embedding a player on your website, you’re avoiding spending hours adding individual pages to your website!

• Have a way to contact you via email or a phone call. Many podcasters, thought leaders, or celebrities use podcast virtual assistants to book their clients on podcasts consistently. You want to ensure that the process is as smooth as possible!
  
  

Watch the video below to see how our podcast client Lori Williams chose to include her podcast on her business’ website:

Below' you can see our client Lori’ Williams’ podcast page. The landing page is created automatically using Wix’s Podcast Player widget, which creates the podcast and episodes page by pulling directly from your RSS feed.

For WordPress users, Captivate (affiliate link) has another seamless integration that allows you to upload podcast content directly to the Captivate platform and have it automatically update it on your WordPress website, including customizing your SEO page information and more.

Below’s our former client LeeAnn Mallory, host of Rise Leaders Radio:

Watch the video below to see how our podcast client Jillian Ryan chose to include in her podcast website, with more advanced features such as a press kit:

If you’re on a more advanced level, and decided to create a website for your podcast, here’s what to consider:

• Can your audience LISTEN + EASILY access your show notes as soon as they land your website?

• Make sure people can access your ‘episodes’ and ‘about page’ from the homepage.

  • Your ‘About’ page is the place for listeners to find out more about the host and the podcast’s mission. Make it short and catchy - include links to your business if it related to the podcast’s topic.

  • Make it fun and engaging: include engaging and fun photos, as well as highlights about yourself!

  • Add a Podcast Press kit: a one-page document with basic information about your podcast, your audience and most popular episodes. If you have achievements such as being featured on the news, major podcast charts or high podcast downloads, make sure to feature those there! A Podcast Press kit is also helpful to pitch yourself to other shows and is also a quick way to provide information about the podcast to a potential guest.

• Consider loading speed - time is money:

  • If a page takes too long to load then your listeners are likely to close it without ever looking at it.

  • Re-upload your images as lower resolution PNGs and make sure they’re under 2Mbs per image, and resized for 72px, instead of 300px.

• Most users use their mobile phones for everything

  • How does your website look on mobile? Is everything is readable?

  • Consider how buttons look and don’t give your audience reasons to leave the website!

• Make sure to include ways for your listeners to subscribe or follow your podcast (most players nowadays offers links to major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

• Include multimedia content on your episode blog posts as those rank higher on Google:

  • Include outbound links (links to other sites) and inbound links (links within your website, such as links to previous episodes)

  • Give your listeners reasons to get on the website, by providing extra content that you tease on the podcast.

• Capture their email address to promote your podcast directly to their inbox!

  • Convertkit is free to use for accounts up to 1,000 subscribers.

  • Constant Contact, Squarespace Marketing, Wix and Flodesk are other paid email marketing services that start at $9 a month.

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