Do you own a WordPress website? Also, are you thinking of creating your own podcast with WordPress, but don’t have a concrete idea of how to do so? If your answer to both the questions is yes, then you have come to the right place.
One of the best things you can do to promote your podcast is by creating a dedicated podcast website. And, it’s now possible with WordPress as well. It aids in attracting more listeners, better engagement with your audience, and offers several types of content like written posts, videos, images, downloads, an eCommerce shop, and more. With WordPress and the right podcast theme, you can get started in no time.
In this post, you will get to know how you can create your own podcast with WordPress step by step. Also, you will get to know how podcasts work, the best podcast equipment, and the podcast WordPress plugin.
Let’s get started!
What is a Podcast? How does it work?
Talking about Podcast, it is an episodic series of audio files that people can subscribe to download and listen to them. Well, it is more like a talk show but users can listen to podcasts on demand. There are several reasons to start podcasts. Some people start podcasting as a way to share in-depth knowledge they have on a particular subject, some start it to use it as an inbound marketing channel for their business, and some start as a way to build their personal brand while some start it just to entertain people.
If you wish to make your podcast work properly then it is required to execute an audio file and RSS Feed that users can subscribe to stay updated and download new episodes. Several podcasters prefer to use WordPress as their podcast website platform as WordPress comes with a built-in RSS feed system. Apart from that, you need to connect a podcast website with podcasting apps like iTunes to give easy access to millions of users to listen and subscribe.
Now that you have an idea of what a podcast is and how it works, let us get on with how to create successful podcasts with your WordPress website.
The name plays a key role while starting a Podcast for your website. Along with the name, it is required to choose the best topic for your site. You need to determine your audience and their interesting categories while choosing the topics. The most important thing to bear in mind is you should select your Podcast according to your site’s content.
For instance, your podcast is about music then you can cramp it down to a specific genre, region, or artist. In order to be liked by audiences you just have to be yourself and get unique insights, perspectives, and styles.
Now, let us move on to the steps with which you can effortlessly initiate your own podcast with WordPress.
Step 1: Setting up a Website
The first thing you need to consider while setting up a website is the right platform. It is recommended to use WordPress.org which is also known as self-hosted WordPress for your podcasting website. Well, WordPress is a popular choice because of the RSS feed plugins. Besides that, you are also given complete control over your site through the use of WordPress plugins to broaden its capability and WordPress themes to design your site with ease. Since you have to do the setup and host it yourself, it is free. However, domain names and web hosting are required to start your website.
In simple terms, a domain name is your website’s address on the web. And this is where people can visit you by typing it into their address bar. For instance, our domain name is amplethemes.com. On the other hand, web hosting is your website’s house on the web where all your files, images, and databases are stowed.
As every website needs web hosting, you also need hosting for your website to start a podcast with WordPress. There is multiple hosting available in the WordPress directory. The cost of hosting can vary, but the typical price is around $7.99 per month whereas, for your domain name, it can cost as little as $14.99 per year. But this amount is huge for someone just starting out.
That is why; it is suggested to use Bluehost to get started with your WordPress website. Not just that, it is also one of the official WordPress recommended hosting providers, and one of the largest web hosting services in the world.
Step 2: Setting up a Media Hosting Service
After you are done with setting up WordPress, the next thing to do is find good media hosting services. Your podcasts are large audio files. If you serve your podcasts from your web host, it will slow down your website and make it unresponsive. In order to prevent this and for the best user experience, it is recommended to use a podcast-specific media hosting platform like Blubrry to create your own podcast with WordPress.
Reasons, why to choose Blubrry to create your own podcast with WordPress, are as follows:
- Blubrry is optimized for podcasting using WordPress. They offer a powerful plugin called Blubrry PowerPress which makes it easy to manage your podcast from a WordPress site.
- Blubrry comes with great tools like ID3 tagging, iTunes optimization, automatic media artwork management, etc.
- Makes your content delivery faster and more reliable
- Help you to manage your podcast from a WordPress site easily
- Comes with a large user community consisting of many successful podcasters
Step 3: Choosing Proper Podcasting Equipment
It is very much necessary to select the best equipment if you want to make your podcast powerful and more reliable. However, as a beginner, the most important tool that you need is a good microphone. The computer’s built-in microphone will produce terrible sound quality for your user. So, make sure to avoid this.
Some of the popular mics among podcasters are Samson C01U (USB) – an entry-level microphone, Rode Podcaster (USB) – best USB mic for podcasters, and Heil PR-40 (XLR connection, not USB) – for pro users. To go alongside your microphone, you’ll probably need a microphone arm, shock mount, pop filter, and headphones to make your setup more efficient.
After gathering all your podcasting equipment, just go on with planning and recording the podcast episodes.
Step 4: Planning your first few podcast episodes
Before you start to record your podcast episodes, you need to make a proper plan. There are several things which you consider while you plan. Some of them are as follows:
Content Episode: What will be the topics for your first few episodes? Outline the key points on a fresh piece of paper. This will help you write your script well.
Length of Episodes: Podcasts can be generally between 20 minutes to over an hour long. Also, the duration of your episodes is determined by the content you want to produce and of course your audiences. There is no limitation about what the ideal length should be for a good podcast episode.
Supporting Media: Well, if you are creating a podcast with WordPress, you may also want to work on intro music, background music, or other sounds that you may want to add to your podcast for a dramatic effect. You can find license-free music and soundtracks to use on your podcasts from FreeMusicArchive, YoutubeAudioLibrary, and FreeStockMusic.
Storyboarding and Scripting: With a prepared script or storyboard, you will be able to give good content to your audiences as the information will flow properly. Plus it will help you sound more professional with each talking point, flowing seamlessly into the next. Not just that, but you can also still go on and speak off the script during the recording, but having an actual script keeps you on track and results in better quality content.
After all these plans, you can kick start to start your very first podcast episode.
Step 5: Recording your First Podcast with WordPress
After you are done with your script, it is time to record podcasts. For good results, it is recommended that you use Audacity for your podcast recording.
Talking about Audacity, it is a very powerful audio recording software that is used by most podcasters. As it is free, cross-platform, and open-source software, you can easily record studio-quality professional podcasts.
In order to use Audacity to record your podcasts with WordPress, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Install Audacity for your site
- Open and go to the File menu
- Create a new project
- Click on the record button
In this way, you can successfully record your first podcast. You can easily deal with awkward pauses, breaks, coughing, or any glitches. Also, you can edit multiple times if anything goes wrong. After this all, now it’s time to export your recorded podcast.
It is better to upload podcasts in audio format like WPB001.mp3 or WPBep001.mp3 for finer results.
Step 6: Uploading Media Files to Blubrry
After all those steps, the next thing you need to do is upload your podcast file to your media hosting service, Blubrry. In order to upload your media files to Blubrry, go through the following steps.
- Login to your Blubrry hosting account
- Go to Podcaster dashboard
- Click on ‘Upload New Media Files’
- On the next page click on the Upload New Media button
This way you can add your files to Blubrry. After that, you can upload it on WordPress.
Step 7: Publishing your Podcast with WordPress
Once you are done with recording a few episodes, you are ready to publish your podcast with WordPress. The following steps can be carried out to publish your podcasts with WordPress.
- Login to the admin area of your WordPress
- Install and activate the Blubrry PowerPress Podcasting Plugin
- Click on PowerPress Menu
- Configure Blubrry statistics and hosting services
- Enter your Blubrry hosting account email and password
- Go to the setting page and fill out the information
- Provide a title for your podcast
- Fill out iTunes fields for description, category, subtitle, artwork
- Click on the ‘Save Changes’ button
After all those steps, you are able to publish your podcast with WordPress.
Step 8: Setting Up Smart Podcast Player
Smart Podcast Player is one of the popular tools to display a podcast player on your WordPress website. The major features of this player are it is mobile-ready, costs $8 per month, and allows you to play, share, and download podcast episodes from the player itself.
The setting processes for Smart Podcast Player are as follows:
- Install and activate the Smart Podcast Player plugin
- Go to setting
- Visit the Smart Podcast Player page
- Enter your license key
- Click on the ‘Player Defaults’ tab
- Provide your podcast feed URL
- Also, provide your iTunes subscription link
- Enter your show name and artist name
- Go to player design settings
- Choose theme and color for your podcast player
- Click on the Save changes button
Step 9: Add your First Podcast to your WordPress Website
In order to add the podcast to your WordPress website, go to posts. After that, choose to add a new page. Create a separate category for your podcast episodes. Then, click on the Podcast Episode folder icon. Select the file uploaded to Blubrry media and paste their media file URL. Don’t forget to click on verify button. Later, scroll back up to the post editor section. Make sure to give a title and description of your podcast. Click on the STP button and choose ‘Play a specific episode of your podcast’. Also, provide the URL of the media file you want to play. Lastly, click on the build shortcode button.
With these steps, you have added your podcast with WordPress. And, now it’s time to go live.
Step 10: Preview the Podcast with iTunes
Once you have added your podcast with WordPress, it is required to view it with iTunes. Before that, do check out how your podcast will appear on iTunes. To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Go to File
- Subscribe to Podcast
- Enter your feed URL (http://www.abc.com/feed/podcast)
With these steps, you can obtain the URL in iTunes and you can successfully preview the podcast with iTunes.
Step 11: Submit your Podcast to iTunes
Eventually, you are ready to submit your podcast to iTunes. For that, you need to initially download and install the latest version of iTunes to your device. Secondly, launch iTunes and click on the iTunes Store button. After that, find the Podcast Quick Links section and open a link to submit a podcast. Later on, submit your podcast to the iTunes directory using an Apple ID. Lastly, feed the URL of your podcast.
You will be informed via email once your URL feed is approved.
Following the steps mentioned, you can start your own Podcast with WordPress.
Go through this blog post without missing any line as it will help you start your own podcast with WordPress easily.