5 Benefits to Creating a Website for Your Podcast
Wondering if your podcast needs a website? Here are 5 benefits to creating a dedicated podcast website.
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Starting a podcast can be exciting, nerve-racking, confusing, and empowering, all at once.
Once you decide to start a podcast, the to-do list quickly starts filling up. And one question will inevitably pop up: should you make a podcast website?
It seems crazy, right? Why would you, a brand new podcaster (who already has plenty to learn), want to spend the time, money, and energy to create and update a website?
There are so many reasons. I’ll break down the top 5 benefits of creating a podcast website in this article (plus tips on how to get started and how to get your listeners to go there).
1. Listeners expect you to have a dedicated podcast website
I’m not making this up. It makes sense, right? It’s 2020, and making a website has never been easier. People just start to expect that you have one.
Think about your ideal listener; the type of person you hope will subscribe to your podcast. You want them to think of you as more than just a podcast, right?
You want them to think of you as a resource, or funny friend, that they can find online, on days when you aren’t publishing a new podcast episode.
By creating a website for your podcast, you’ll make it easy for listeners to find you, contact you, and learn more about your products or services (assuming you want to make money from your podcast).
Social media profiles—even ones that are updated regularly and get a lot of comments—are not enough to get your listeners’ attention. Only the super loyal will follow your every tweet.
Having a dedicated URL and an up-to-date website is something listeners expect and want.
2. You can monetize your podcast almost immediately
Most early-stage podcasters are focused on getting enough episode downloads to score a sponsor that will run paid ads.
Having a dedicated podcast website gives you the opportunity to make money regardless of downloads.
You can put Google ads on your website (this is free to do), thus earning small amounts of money every time someone scrolls by an ad. If they click on the ad, you earn a little more.
This is a long game, as the payout isn’t huge, but it’s a way to earn money passively (you don’t have to promote the ads, you insert the code once and you’re done).
You can also link to affiliate products, which is often a much better payout than Google banner advertisements. The most popular affiliate program is Amazon’s, and its cardinal rule is that you can only publish their affiliate links online/on a website.
To learn more about affiliate marketing and how to do it, check out this online course that helped me with affiliate marketing. It’s geared towards bloggers, but the information and lessons can absolutely be used by podcasters on their show websites.
Newer podcasters, in particular, struggle to figure out how to turn listeners into paying customers. Having a website as en extension to your podcast makes it easier to overcome this challenge.
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Podcast Episode Planning Guide
Fill your podcasting calendar with this list of fun & relevant episode ideas!
3. Bloggers and journalists can easily link to your website
If I had a dollar for every podcast I wanted to link to—but couldn’t—I’d be listening to podcasts on a boat in the Caribbean (a small boat, but it’s true!).
Quite often, I find a show in PocketCasts, like it, and decide to recommend it to my readers. Then realize that there’s no website to link to.
Sure, I’ll link to Stitcher or iHeartRadio if the show is really worth it. But ideally, I want to link to a podcast website. I believe that doing so gives my readers a better experience when they’re trying to determine if my recommendation is for them.
In addition to making it easy to recommend your show, links from other websites to your podcast website lets Google know that your site is legit.
4. You can include all the stuff that didn’t make it into your episode
When making a podcast episode, you’re sure to end up with stuff on the cutting room floor. If you have a podcast website, none of that content has to go to waste.
Maybe you plan to include a really interesting piece of research in your audio, but it ends up being too complicated, so you scrap it. You can post it on your website, then record a quick mention for the end of the episode that tells readers to go to your website to check it out.
If you interview a guest for your podcast, but have to edit it down, include the left-over content (and outtakes) on your website, and tell listeners that you have “bonus” interview audio at your URL.
Having a place to include extra information will help you create better podcast episodes because you won’t be needlessly trying to cram things into the audio.
5. You can get your audience to sign up for email updates
I know, I know: I’ve just created another task for you to do to stay engaged with your audience.
Not only do I want you to create and maintain a website, but I’m telling you to learn how to send emails and get people to sign up for them.
But starting this does not have to be a huge, time-consuming task. And you don’t have to do it right away.
Having listeners sign up for occasional updates from your site (this can be monthly) is a great way to:
- remind them about your most recent episodes (maybe they haven’t downloaded in a while)
- update them about any contest, recent events, or upcoming live shows
- link to sponsors or affiliate products (just not Amazon affiliate links; that’s not allowed)
- survey them about what they like/don’t like about the podcast
Sure, you can post that stuff on social media, but not all listeners use social/will seek you out/follow you. They might also miss important info in their news feed.
And yes, you can mention special events in your episodes, but it’s important to remember that many listeners do not listen to a show the same day (or even week) that it comes out.
Connecting with your listeners regularly via email will ensure that they remain loyal subscribers to the podcast.
Important Things to Remember When Creating a Website for Your Podcast
1. Promotion is key
The key to getting your listeners to your website is that you have to tell them to go there.
And you have to be clear and explicit. It’s not enough to say, “Hop on over to my website for the show notes and photos that accompany this episode.”
A better way to say that is, “You can read the full show notes, and see the cool photos that accompany this episode, by visiting NAMEOFPODCAST.COM and clicking on Episode 123.”
Remember: your job as a podcaster is to serve your audience (not ask them to do you favors), so keep your end-of-episode requests to a minimum. They know that you want them to go to iTunes and leave them a 5-star review (how could they not?), so don’t harp on that. Ask them to check out your website, instead.
2. Patreon doesn’t count
Patreon is not a dedicated podcast website. Making a Patreon page for your podcast is not the same as having a dedicated podcast website where all listeners can go to access podcast information for free.
Patreon is great for people listeners who a) understand what it is b) are already loyal fans and can’t get enough of your content c) are inclined to pay money for extra content or just to help you out.
The reality of the situation is that most podcast listeners are not fluent in the language of Patreon, and you’ll need plenty of time and great content to get them to consider going there and donating to your podcast.
3. If you have an existing blog or website, you can add your podcast to it
If your podcast is associated with a blog, or business that already has a dedicated website, it’s okay to create a new section on the site for the podcast.
For blogs, I recommend creating a separate section (in the top navigation) and keep your podcast posts/announcements separate from your standard blog posts.
Don’t just assume that your blog readers are interested in your podcast, or that your podcast listeners are willing to slog through all your other blog posts to find episodes.
For businesses, I also recommend creating a new top-level navigation to your podcast and keeping all podcast content in this new section of the website.
If you have an existing website, then you probably know enough about SEO to know that including your podcast on your site gives you a HUGE opportunity to create new content that Google will like, and to rank for important keywords.
If you have a website or blog but your podcast is about something completely different than the main content of that site, I highly recommend creating a new website specifically for your podcast. This will avoid confusing both visitors and Google
How to Get Started Making a Podcast Website
If you’re using an all-in-one podcast service (one that helps you host and distribute your podcast), you may get a free webpage dedicated to your show as part of your membership.
Before you pour tons of time and energy into creating content on that free website, double-check that any of the content will be yours if you decide to move hosting platforms (or get kicked off for some reason).
If you don’t get access to a free website, it’s worth buying a URL that matches (or comes close) to your podcast’s name and learning the basics of creating a website.
Website & Email Resources I Recommend
For buying domains: I use good ol’ GoDaddy. If the domain you are looking for is available, you can buy it quickly and easily, and their 1-year registration fee is super affordable.
Cheap web hosting: I use Host Gator to host both this website and a couple others, and I’ve never been disappointed. The monthly rate (for hosting 3 sites) is less than $10. Most of the other hosting platforms are way more expensive.
Website design/content management: Stick to WordPress. It’s free, easy to use, there are a million design templates, plus plug-ins to help you set up a site quickly and easily
Email provider: When you’re ready to set up an newsletter sign-up on your website, I recommend going with AWeber. AWeber has been around forever, and they have kept up in terms of email technology/advancements. I switched all of my business’ emails to AWeber after a very good free trial. (I have used free MailChimp in the past and I do not regret switching over to AWeber one bit)
