Podcasting is so much more than speaking into a mic. If you’ve started your own podcast, you already know this.
But now you have to consider if building and maintaining a website is worth the time and effort. After all, your podcast is an audible medium, not a written one.
Does a website make sense?
Yes, for many reasons.
Websites Yield More Opportunities for Monetizing Your Podcast
Whether you want to pursue podcasting full-time or are just a hobbyist – wouldn’t it be nice to make a little money from your efforts?
Use your podcast website to help you get it in front of more people. You can send people to your website for special offers from affiliates, promote your own products, and more.
A website for your podcast can unlock more revenue opportunities including:
- Adding a donation button
- Sell products (mech) or services you offer on your website
- Add affiliate links to your sponsorship partners
📙 Related Reading: Here’s how to make money podcasting.
Repurpose Your Podcast Episodes
A podcast episode can be turned into countless other forms of content including:
This will give your listeners more access to the information you share (in new ways) and will also increase your visibility.
Transcribing your episodes and publishing them on your website as a blog post will provide you with another opportunity to get discovered.
Be sure to optimize the post for SEO, embed your episode in the post and include a call to action like signing up for your newsletter.
📙 Related Reading: Learn how to transcribe your episodes for free.
Embed New Episodes
As you release new episodes, you give them extra visibility by embedding them into your website’s pages or blog posts.
This is a tool we leverage for our company podcast “Podcasting 101 with RSS.com.“
Each new episode gets published on it’s own blog post that includes:
- A text transcription
- Embedded podcast player of the episode
- YouTube video of the episode
👉 You can see a live example here of how we repurpose our episodes on our blog.
📙 Related Reading: How to Embed a Podcast Episode
Engage More Fully with Your Audience
If you only publish your show to iTunes and skip the critical step of sharing your show on your website, you’ll miss out on huge opportunities.
Knowing who is listening to you, and how to contact them, can expand your reach and help you knock down goals left and right.
By having a website for your podcast, you’ll be able to collect email addresses, and then send your followers through funnels and keep them updated on your podcast.
Plus, you can use tools like comments, surveys, and more on your website to hear feedback from your listeners.
In this way, you can build a community of people who care about what you have to say and when your audience feels included, they’ll keep coming back for more.
📙 Related Reading: 10 Ways to Use RSS.com to Grow Your Podcast
Thinking of starting a podcast on YouTube? Check out the video below!
Make It Easy for Your Listeners
Some people access podcasts through iTunes. Some don’t. Offering a website ensures you don’t exclude potentially loyal fans from your content.
Plus, a post on a website is another easy thing for listeners to share through their websites and social media channels.
Take Advantage of SEO
By transcribing your podcast as a page or a blog post on your website, it increases the chances people will find it in Google Search when looking for topics that you’ve covered.
SEO best practices for your episodes include:
- Transcribe your episode and proofread before publishing
- Add in headings that accurately describe the topic being discussed
- Add a title tag that includes keywords that describe the topics covered in your episode
- Add a meta description that includes relevant information and a call-to-action.
- Add relevant internal and external links when appropriate
📙 Related Reading: Check out Google’s guide on how to write optimized title tags and meta descriptions here.
Having a Website Means Better Branding
💪 One of the best ways to attract new listeners is to build a strong brand.
When you’re the owner of the website you have complete reign over branding elements like color scheme, logo, etc.
Use your website to make your branding more coherent and strengthen your brand identity.
The bottom line is that if you’re a serious podcaster, you need a website. It’s an invaluable tool to help you promote your show and reach your podcasting goals.
