Why your podcast needs a hosting platform
One thing COVID-19 has taught us is you don't need a physical shopfront to sell your products. According to Australia Post's Key eCommerce trends, Easter weekend was the biggest period in online shopping history. From mid-Feb to mid-May this year, online shopping spend had increased 80% YOY.
A lesson from the lockdown is you've gotta be where your potential market is. And online has never been so important. Depending on your product and your customer, you might need several social media channels, like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.
If you have a podcast, you also need to be on as many platforms as possible – and make it easy for your listeners to consume your podcast. How's that for a segue?
A decade or more ago, there was only really one important platform: iTunes*. If it wasn't on iTunes, it was said not to be a podcast at all.
Today, Spotify is quickly catching up to Apple Podcasts as the dominant podcast channel; and, in some countries, Spotify is the number one platform on which people listen to podcasts.
Apple Podcasts still dominates on iPhones; but, for Android phone users, the Google Podcast app is becoming increasingly popular.
Then there are other apps, including Castro (my favourite), Pocket Casts (based in Adelaide), Stitcher, Overcast (which I don't use, because of the founder's foul mouth), and hundreds of other podcast apps.
5 REASONS YOU NEED A PODCAST HOSTING PLATFORM
With so many podcast apps and channels available, how do you get on them all? The answer is a podcast hosting platform – it really is a must-have these days.
Here are five reasons why you need a podcast hosting platform:
1. It hosts your audio.
Mp3 audio files can take up a lot of storage on your computer. The podcast hosting platform allows you to upload all your audio and host it on their servers. Simply put, your podcast "lives" at with the podcast host
2. It allows you to Submit to the most popular podcast apps
A podcast hosting platform or podcast hosting service allows you to submit your podcast to all the platforms in one place.
3. It generates an RSS feed
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Simply put, podcast apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, grab that RSS feed to allow listeners to subscribe to your show and be notified when a new episode is available.
4. It provides you a nice audio player
You should always have a webpage or a website dedicated to your podcast. Around 20% of all podcasts are consumed in a web browser. Most podcast hosts allow you to embed an audio player, by simply pasting an iFrame HTML code, just like this episode below of my interview with Ken Segall, the man who "invented" the "i" in Apple's iMac, iPod, iPhone, etc.
5. It provides you with analytics
Most importantly, a podcast hosting platform allows you to know how many people are listening, where they are listening, from which devices they are listening (i.e., a computer, a smart phone), and even how long they are listening.
WHAT PODCAST HOSTING PLATFORMS ARE THERE?
Podcast hosting platforms cost around $5 - $50 a month, depending on how many shows you have, how many administrators you assign to it, and how many downloads or subscribers it generates.
I recommend Omny Studio to all of my clients. It's based in Melbourne, and I know the CEO and other members of the team very well, so I can easily contact them if I have any questions. It's Australian. But, most importantly, I reckon it’s the best podcast hosting platform on the market, with a very slick audio player.
Whooshkaa (the only other Australian podcast hosting platform, based in Sydney), is a free podcast hosting service for new podcasts with fewer than 1000 listeners. Maybe a good starting point if you’re not sure.
Other popular platforms include: Libsyn (the world's biggest), PodBean, Anchor (owned by Spotify, it's free, simple to use, but be wary), Blubrry and Simplecast.
There are many dozens, if not hundreds, more and they are very much of a muchness.
*In 2019, Apple made a distinction between spoken word audio and music, by renaming the podcasts available to Apple Podcasts.