So you’ve made a podcast and you want people to, well, listen. Making an effective website for your podcast can not only attract the right audience but the right sponsors and partners as well.
But even though having a podcast website can be essential in growing your listenership, there are a number of things that you, as a podcaster, need to consider when choosing the right platform to host your website.
Selecting the right platform for your podcast website.
Now that you’ve decided to create your podcast website, the last question is where will you host it. In the same way that every podcast’s audience is unique, every podcast’s website should also be unique. The first step in building out your podcast’s website is to pick a platform that works for you and your needs.
There are many website hosting platforms and services for you to pick from. While most offer the ability to purchase a domain and Google Suite, you’ll want to determine your budget when purchasing these services. Some questions to ask yourself before committing to a website subscription include:
- What is my budget?
- How much experience do I have in building out a website?
- How much time do I want to dedicate to keeping this website updated?
- Do I want a simple landing page, or do I want a multifunction website with different tabs?
- What is the main goal for this website – audience engagement and feedback, linking to my podcast, writing an SEO-optimized blog, encouraging listeners to go to my other social media and Patreon, or a combination of all of these?
The Big Four:
The four main website hosting platforms for podcasts are Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, and Podcastpage. Each of these platforms can integrate with your podcast hosting platform, social media links, newsletter service, Facebook and Instagram, and more. They all offer individual domains, customizable podcast site templates, and analytics that can assist in podcast marketing.
Squarespace (12.00 – 40.00 USD month):
If you’ve listened to a podcast in the past years, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve heard an ad for Squarespace — and for good reason. According to Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic, advertising on podcasts has helped Squarespace in that it has fostered “positive associations for their brand” with podcasters. Hence, it’s often a go-to for podcast websites.
Squarespace is easy to use (especially for seasoned marketers), simple, and has pretty much every feature podcasters need to make a simple website for their podcast. With Squarespace, you can build out a blog page for each episode or for other content, embed an audio player, import your RSS feed, and track your analytics in the Squarespace suite. For example, the Unladylike podcast uses Squarespace for their website, and the platform works perfectly for their website needs. They have a blog, episode updates, host biographies, links to their social media accounts, and more.
If you want to set up a domain, Google suite, and Gmail account for your podcast, Squarespace streamlines the process with Google integrations. They offer integrations for Mailchimp, SEO tools, Facebook, and more. Not only do they offer a number of templates to choose from, but if you know a bit of coding you can customize even further.
| Pros: Easy setup, pre-loaded templates, great analytics | Cons: Limited customization functions, difficult to build out web pages outside of their default templates, limited page numbers, difficult to migrate your site to a new host |
WordPress (4.00 – 45.00 USD per month):
Launched in 2003, WordPress is one of the original blogging platforms, and according to their website, ‘38% of the web is built on WordPress.’ The platform is open-source, which means that the customization possibilities are almost endless — if you learn the content management system. While it can be a bit difficult for website novices to navigate the platform initially, there are a ton of great resources to get you up and running.
The WordPress platform’s customization options are fantastic for podcasters looking to stand out from the crowd, while its selection of podcasting widgets enables podcast marketing teams to make the most of the platform. WordPress offers hundreds of templates, and there are templates specifically designed for podcasts.
It also allows for more customization than Squarespace, as can be seen on the Freakonomics website. Like Squarespace, WordPress offers a suite of integrations with Google Suite, Mailchimp, and many more. It also features countless customized plugins. For example, once you’ve gotten into the groove of producing and publishing your podcast, you might want to start building out a Patreon membership program for your community. The WordPress Patreon plugin embeds information about your podcast’s Patreon directly onto your website.
Unfortunately, being a more complicated infrastructure, WordPress websites are much more difficult to fix than others. If something goes wrong in the backend, you may need to hire someone to fix the issue.
If you are thinking about setting up a WordPress website then we recommend reading this step-by-step newbie guide to setting up your WordPress website.
| Pros: Endless customization, great analytics, you can bring your own domain | Cons: More difficult to master than Squarespace, and less easy to fix |
WIX (14.00 – 45.00 USD per month):
Not all podcasters have the time to build out an entire website with multiple blogs, landing pages, and eCommerce functionalities — especially if they already have other websites to maintain. Sometimes all that’s needed is a beautiful landing page to attract new listeners and tell your audience the key points regarding your podcast.
This is where WIX comes in. WIX enables users to build streamlined, engaging landing pages for their audience. When building out your landing page, there are a few things you should definitely include, such as links to your hosting platform, podcatchers, and social media, as well as a clear, concise copy to tell your listeners what your podcast is all about. On a landing page, you can share photos of the team and podcast album cover, some testimonials from listeners and guests, as well as episode examples. Building out a landing page with WIX can take as little as half an hour, and the platform is user friendly with pre-loaded templates.
WIX, like WordPress, even has a number of templates built specifically for podcasts!
| Pros: Extremely user friendly, drag and drop to add new blocks | Cons: Need to have experience with coding to fully customize |
Podcastpage (8.00 USD per month):
Podcastpage is a website platform made for podcasts. It’s easy to use, affordable and streamlined. It has everything you need to build a beautiful website where your podcast is the centerpiece. Podcastpage allows you to customize your audio player, and easily import your feed from any podcast hosting platform. You can add subscribe buttons, as well as episode timestamps in your show notes. The platform has a host of integrations with Headliner, Mailchimp, Facebook Pixel, and more. You can also have your own domain and blog pages, like the Space Nuts Podcastpage.
| Pros: Easy setup and maintenance, SEO optimization, easy customization | Cons: Some limitations in setup and templates |
In the end, building a website for your podcast can seem like a daunting task, but there are countless resources to help you get up and running in no time. Whether you want a simple landing page to attract listeners or an interactive website to showcase extra content, resources, and transcripts, simply having your own domain and homepage for your podcast will show your listeners that you care about the content you’re creating for them. Remember that your website is just another way to get your work and ideas out into the world and engage with your community. And above all else, make sure that you have fun.
Do you have a preference for a hosting solution? Let us know in the comments below 👇👇👇👇
Happy building!
