When it comes to running a successful podcast, a well-crafted website is an important part of that success! Since discoverability for podcasts is so limited, a great podcast website can make it simple for new and current listeners to sample, subscribe, and dig deeper into your podcast episodes.
Although a website for your podcast may not be technically necessary, there are a ton of advantages when it comes to increasing the reach and effectiveness of your podcast. Not only can it help you find new listeners, but it can also give you a way to add value to your current audience. Ultimately, if your goal is to reach as many interested listeners and impact as many lives as possible, then a website will be the central tool you need to achieve exactly that!
1. Increased Discoverability
As we mentioned earlier, discoverability is one of the things that podcasters struggle with the most. So, the easier it is for potential listeners to find your content, the more likely they are to turn into new subscribers. Your website allows you to gain new traffic and new eyes on your podcast episodes. Your podcast archive can help showcase the whole collection of your content, showing new listeners the topics you discuss and giving them a better, more in-depth glance at what you have to offer. With hundreds of thousands of podcasts already out there on the podosphere, it can be hard for a brand new, up-and-coming podcaster to break through the noise. So make sure you stand out with a great, user-friendly website that can guide listeners to the valuable content you have to offer.
2. Content Ownership
As you start podcasting, there is a lot to learn along the way. Having a website for your podcast is a great way to give it a home on the web where listeners can discover new episodes, share your podcast, and learn more about you. This ownership gives you full control of your podcast, giving you the ability to better make changes and keep everything on-brand through any transitions. With your own podcast website, you no longer have to rely on anyone else to stay on top of things. This way, if anything were to change with a podcast hosting site or directory, your listeners will know that your podcast website will still be there for them to depend on. In today’s online world, ownership can be such a great asset to us all.
3. Added Value
Although your podcast episodes are already jam-packed with great content, there is also more value to be added. Your podcast’s website can be a great tool and way for you to give your audience even more great content. So every time you publish an episode, you can repurpose that content on your website in the form of a blog post or accompanying resource, like a content upgrade that you mentioned in the podcast episode. Your blog posts will then be picked up by Google and can be a great way to attract even more new listeners to your show. It also allows you to provide additional e-books or courses that listeners can buy or subscribe to. This can be a great start to building a membership site that gives members access to all the amazing content that you’ve created along the way, including exclusive content like never-before-heard interviews. The value-add world is truly your oyster!
4. An Accessible Archive
When it comes to gaining new listeners, often times they have never heard your very first episodes and simply need a place where they can dig into all the content and episodes themselves. Your website can be a great place to create an accessible, and even more important, a searchable archive for listers to find old and new episodes alike! As we’ve seen time and again, the easier you make it for potential listeners to find your content, the more likely they are to turn into new subscribers. An archive is a great way to showcase all your episodes, all in one place.
5. Building a Community
As podcasters, our goal is most often to impact the lives of others and help them in some way, shape, or form. Therefore, podcasting at its core is truly a social experience. Listeners value the medium because it can make them feel like they are being included in personal conversations, and often your listeners form a bond with you, the host, without even knowing it. So why not take that connection even further? Using your website to build a community for your podcast can be the best thing for your show! Listeners can come together to connect with you even more and find others who share their same visions within the community that you create. This extra level of true interactivity can help your content survive and thrive in today’s digital environment. A website offers your listeners a chance to interact with you, and you can even introduce things like feedback forms or questionnaires to truly tap into what your audience thinks. You can use these questions as an addition to your podcast by answering them on-air for your listeners to hear. The more your audience feels included, the more likely they are to become loyal listeners who are part of a strong community that you’ve built.
Related Post: 7 Strategies for Building a Strong Podcast Community
6. Additional Promotion
Finally, one of the main benefits of a website is that it can act as the central hub for promoting your podcast. Since most podcasters are likely publishing on more than one platform, linking from Facebook or Twitter to your podcast website can be much more successful than simply sending listeners to a single platform. From your website, you can then also promote products or recommend resources for your listeners. This can include a special offer from an affiliate for an exclusive deal only available to your listeners. Your website also allows you to provide listers with easy “share” options, so they can send their favorite episodes to friends and family with the click of a button. This is bound to increase your organic reach, and help get your podcast into the ears of many more listeners.
Related post: 18 Social Media Tips to Grow Your Podcast
7. Creating a Successful Funnel
Last, but certainly not least, your website can be a crucial part of your sales funnel. Your podcast acts as the top of your funnel, gathering a large audience base who are all interested in listening to your episodes. From there, your website acts as the next step in the funnel, guiding listeners who are interested in learning even more towards the additional content related to each episode. Once these listeners are on your website, it can present the perfect opportunity to collect their email addresses. A simple contact form can help you gather that information, which you can then use for further promotions, special edition newsletters, or even notifications of new podcast episodes. From there, if you ever bring out a product, your newsletter suscribers will be the first to know about it and can be a great way to offer listeners even more value in the end.
Related post: How to Use Your Email Newsletter to Grow Your Podcast
