It is unbelievable that “Entrepreneurs on Fire” makes over $50,000 just on Podcast Sponsorship deals. Some of its podcast sponsors are Capterra, ZipRecruiter, The Marketing Secrets Podcast by buddy Russell Brunson and a lot more. Incredible, right? Yeah it is.
The amazing thing is that every day, new podcasters are coming on to start their podcast in anticipation to growing big and also making a bang out of the industry.
This was supported by Michael Wolf, who is the chief analyst of NextMarket Insights (and a notable podcaster himself), he suggested that podcasting is a much less ‘crowded’ space in comparison to blogging, and it also comes with a far more ‘engaged’ audience compared to blog post readers.
In fact, according to Musicoomph,
Right now, there are more than 700,000 active podcasts and more than 29 million podcast episodes.
According to Apple at WWDC 2018, these numbers stood at 550,000 and 18.5 million respectively. So, the figures are increasing rapidly!
Going further you will discover that 70% of Americans are Familiar with ‘Podcasting. That is to say, as high as 70% of the US population are ‘familiar’ with the ‘podcasting’ term. That’s roughly 329 million people.
Also, 165 Million People in the US Have Listened to a Podcast. That is, about 51% of the US population (approx. 165 million people) have listened to a podcast.
What’s the big deal here? A developing market that profits can be sipped.
But how can you start a podcast as a total newbie? Just as a web hosting company can ruin your business as it did to mine, before you consider starting a podcast, what you want to do is going for the Best Podcast Hosting Services you can get your hands on.
But before we see some of the best free podcast hosting service for beginners to leverage on, let’s draw a common analysis whether this is what you really want to go into.
Understanding the Art and Science of Podcasting
The term ‘podcasting’ is thought to be an amalgamation of ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcasting’. It was first suggested by Ben Hammersley, a BBC journalist.
Some people prefer using the ‘backronym’ POD for ‘portable on demand’, to remove the brand-dependency of the term when it was originally coined.
Podcasting can therefore be defined as the form of recording and making audio-based ‘episodes’ available over the internet. These days, most podcasts can be both streamed online and downloaded for listening to it later.
Unlike what its name suggests (the ‘pod’ part), podcasts can actually be played across almost any internet-enabled device like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even desktop computers.
Like a YouTuber is to YouTube content, and blogger to blogging, so is a podcaster to audio content using a podcast platform.
One of the popular podcasters you might have heard of is author of The Four-Hour Workweek – Tim Ferris. Well, we have other incredible names such as Neil Patel, Pat Flynn, Darren Rowse, and a lot more.
How To Start A Podcasting Business Without Spending A Dime!
Unless you want to stand out in your podcasting business, else, starting a podcast actually doesn’t cost much. In fact, you can start with zero dollar. How?
You can literally get started with either the default mic of your smartphone, external lapel mics, or a pair of affordable mic-equipped headphones and start uploading your episodes on a free service like SoundCloud. See how you can do it all for free?
But if you want to build a brand with podcasting and make money – the most interesting part of it, then let me show you how to succeed as a podcaster in the 21st century.
How To Succeed As A Beginner Podcaster
Before we launch in, hold on for a second. When you hear the word “success in online marketing”, what comes to your mind?
I may not know what you think, however here is it. Having seen both sides of affiliate marketing: Success and struggles, here is my 2 cents on it.
Succeeding as an online entrepreneur, blogger, freelancer, podcaster and more, you need just one thing. TRAFFIC – readers or Listeners.
I have seen bloggers who never wrote the best affiliate product reviews yet they are banging thousands of dollars monthly due to massive traffic, yet again, there are those that use all the SEO techniques, best heading tags and more, still, they are dancing break dance on Google Page 3+.
In essence, if you want to succeed as a podcaster you need to go to where the audiences are, because, you might not know, if you take on the podcasting business serious, you might start getting collaborations earlier than expected. I did that with my first blog, so, expect to succeed sooner than expected.
How to create a highly successful podcast – leverage on social media Traffic. Here is why this is important.
Just as musicoomph.com confirmed, Podcast Listeners are More Active on Social Media.
Compared to the general U.S. population, podcast listeners are more active on social media, with 94% being active on at least one social media platform, vs. 81% for the entire population. They are also much more likely to follow their favorite brands on social media.
Why I Am Optimistic you’ll succeed as a Podcaster
First, the good news is that the 5 of the Best Podcast Hosting Services we are considering are all free to get started with, so, you do not have nothing to lose.
Secondly, if you can leverage on social media traffic then you will drive all the mobile users to your podcast. Why is this?
- Smartphones are driving podcast consumption by demonstrating a 157% increase in usage for podcast consumption since 2014, compared to marginal increases in case of PCs, tablets, and laptops.
- 35% podcast consumers listen to an entire episode, 45% listen to most of an episode, and only 12% listen to less than half of a podcast episode.
- Podcast listeners spend an average of 6 hours and 37 minutes listening to podcasts every week. 16% listen to less than one hour of podcasts, and 25% listen between 1 to 3 hours of podcast content every week.
With the above kind statistics, it means you have to set your podcast on fire by giving it all you’ve got (make it super interesting ans retaining as YouTube videos) because about 77% of podcast consumers prefer to click on a podcast and listen immediately.
And 41% of them prefer to download podcast episodes manually and listen later. While 27% of them prefer to subscribe to a podcast to download automatically to listen later.
The bottom line is, leverage on social media traffic, create a non-resistible podcast, and retain all the listeners’ that flock in from those sources.
Additionally, if you are an already established influencer on any platforms you can make sense of that as well – Quora, Pinterest and etc.
The Fight and Confusion About The Best Podcast Platforms
In spite of the social network buzz, free Podcast Hosting Service still remains the core of business communication on the Internet. As such, it is just important to evaluate the best podcast services available and make a choice that suits your needs.
With over 90 million+ podcast listeners in the US, many people are just complacent with the podcast service provider they currently use.
In spite of occasional hiccups and challenges, the ignorance of other free powerful podcast service providers keeps them glued to just one or two. You should consider the offerings of other free podcast service providers online to decide whether to switch or retain your current free podcast service provider.
The Qualities of a Good Podcast Hosting Service
In good podcast services, you should watch out for account price, reliability, technical support, monthly upload volume, compliance, storage, monetization capacity, ease of use for beginners, marketing features, integrations with apps, and more you will soon find out.
If you haven’t attempted to explore other free podcast hosting websites, this may be a starting point for you.
In this article, we have tried to highlight a few of the important features that may concern you and help you select the best podcast service for you.
What is the Best Podcast Hosting Services?
The best podcast hosting companies for beginners are Buzzsprout, Podbean, Transistor, Blubrry, and Simplecast.
While there are tens of them you can test, test, and test out, we have done a great work to choose the top 5 you don’t need to scratch your head over.
With this guide doubling as top podcasts review we will provide you with the best options to save you time, so you have to focus on recording great podcasts for your audiences.
How To Hack Your Bookworm Audience To Podcast Listeners
Humans are all different in nature. Meaning, no matter how good your podcast sounds, not everyone will like it. Some might back off based on your cracky, dry or froggy voice, 😀
On a serious note. Many people prefer reading articles like never before, and some visuals. In this case, what you want to do is to create a simple blog for your podcasting business.
With this website you can easily transcribe the podcast from audio to blogposts. This is even super easy as you don’t need additional content. Just publish the article version of your podcast.
If you make research you will discover that top podcasters are using this singular method to leverage on the audiences that love reading just articles.
5 of the Top Podcast Hosting Services for Beginners of 2022
Here, we shall look at 5 solid podcast services that you should consider if you are planning to switch podcast service providers.
1. BUZZSPROUT
(The Best Podcast Hosting Tool For Beginners + Free $20 Bonuses)
Make no mistake. Buzzsprout is unarguably the best podcast service provider at the moment for beginners. Buzzsprout is simple, secure, user-friendly and very reliable.
You can throw in the towel today and get your podcast ready in the next 2 hours if you take action at the end of this article. Why this confidence?
Because you can kick start your podcasting business today. With Buzzsprout, you get to upload up to two hours of content and hosts your files for 90 days – a pretty awesome opportunity for total newbies.
However, you can get more if you subscribe to any of its paid plan ranging from $12-24 per month.
With the upgraded plan you get up to 250GB of bandwidth which covers approximately 25,000 to 37,000 episode plays per month. That is not all.
Why 100,000+ Trust Buzzsprout To Start Their Own Podcasts
Having been in the business of providing an incredible podcast hosting platform for beginners since 2009, Buzzsprout remains the easiest tool to start podcasting. Here is why they are a choice place for new podcasters.
1. 90 Days To Enjoy Unlimited Access To Podcasting Tools & Guides
There are many ways to fail and succeed, and that is through experience. Would you rather fail than learn successes from those who have succeeded? I guess the latter makes sense. That is the story with Buzzsprout.
Getting up to 90 days to act, play, and professionalize your podcasting business, Buzzsprout will in all ways help you figure things out to avoid unnecessary time wasting hiccups.
When you join up you will get more than enough in-depth podcasting guides and tutorials to make sure you come out as the next big thing in the podcasting world.
2. Listeners Retention via Chapter Markers
Many of the Buzzsprout podcasters are happy that they are able to retain her listeners. How is this possible? Every person who signs up as a Buzzsprout podcaster has a provisioned infrastructure known as Chapter Markers.
What “Chapter Markers” does is to make it easy for your listeners to navigate to their favorite segments, see what’s coming up, or skip spoilers they don’t want to hear.
Who doesn’t want to retain listeners and make more money? No one, right? That is what you get on Buzzsprout.
3. Make Money on the Go
Here is what Buzzsprout has enabled to help 100,000+ podcasters on monetization.
Buzzsprout believes affiliate marketing is hands down, the best way to generate income from your podcast. In view of this they have already have partnered with some amazing brands to help get you started to stardom.
Want to have a feel of what Buzzsprout? Check out Buzzsprout for free.
4. Ability to Multi Manage your Podcasts
I don’t know if it will take you 1, 2 or 4 months before you skyrocket your podcasting business, the silver line is, with Buzzsprout, you can have as many people on your team as you want manage your podcast.
That is to say, you can create as many podcasts as you like under one account.
5. Easy Podcast Transcription to Blog Posts
Remember I did talk about the usefulness of creating a blog for your podcasting business? Now, upon recording your podcast you can easily use the “Output File” tool to transcribe your podcast to blog posts.
All you need to do is click on “export” button and you have your transcription ready. Now you see why hundreds of thousands of podcasters use Buzzsprout.
There are so many reasons all beginners need to start their podcast journey with Buzzsprout.
The point is, there is no doubt you will have an edge above competitors due to the facilities available for your growth on Buzzsprout.
But before I draw the curtain on Buzzsprout here is what you will find the most intriguing.
6. Get Your Podcast Listed In Top Podcast Directories
Buzzsprout has taken off the frustrations of spending time to produce content and spending additional hours to find your initial listeners.
Well, if you tell your spouse, friend or mom about your new podcast they might be the first listeners.
However, your podcast will reach millions of potential listeners as Buzzsprout will automatically list your podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Alexa, Overcast, PocketCasts, and other top podcast directories/brands, hence the need to check out their affordable paid plans to get all the privileges.
The bottom line is, Buzzsprout is not just my #1 recommended podcast hosting service because they have helped over 100k podcasters, or when you sign up for Buzzsprout, you get a free $20 Amazon gift card, nor it is because with their $24/month plan, you get up to upload 12 hours of content each month. No, no, and no.
The reasons is, if you are a beginner who likes to use premium tools that are simple enough for non-techies, then Buzzsprout is the ideal podcast hosting platform for you.
To get all the aforementioned benefits, I recommend their $24/month plan, as you do not just get up to upload 12 hours of content each month, but you will save money on any additional hours you upload.
Try Buzzsprout & get free $20 Amazon gift card.
Ultimately, with their month-to-month pricing and an easy-to-use dashboard, Buzzsprout is my #1 choice for beginners and first time podcasters.
I recommend their $24/month plan, as you get up to upload 12 hours of content each month and save money on any additional hours you upload.
Plus, when you sign up for Buzzsprout, you get a free $20 Amazon gift card.
Buzzsprout Hosting Plans
While you can get started for free on Buzzsprout, nevertheless, all paid plans include stats icon podcast statistics, website icon podcast website, play audio icon custom embed players, podcasting icon get into podcast directories, and icon 250 GB bandwidth per month.
Talking about Custom Embed Players,
Buzzsprout’s embeddable podcast player looks great and works well on all screen sizes. It shows the cover art, social sharing buttons, forward and backward skip controls, and more.
Why going with $24 makes perfect sense is that, apart from 12/hour upload time, you save more overhead costs (dollar) than any other plans on their pricing table.
2. PODBEAN
(The Super publishing and monetization Podcast Hosting service)
Currently serving over 340,000 Podcasters worldwide, Podbean is a known podcast publishing and monetization service, providing free and premium hosting packages for individuals and businesses.
Podbean offers a user-friendly interface that integrates publishing, management, syndication and analysis tools into an easy-to-use podcasting package.
Coming in as my #2 recommended podcast hosting platform for new podcasters, but #1 for those already familiar with podcasting, Podbean allows users to publish, manage and promote podcasts in a point-and-click, blog-like environment, requiring minimal technical knowledge.
One of its strategic capacities to podcasters is the share and embed tools which makes it easy for publishers to integrate podcasts into their own websites, blogs and social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and WordPress.
Let’s see some of the reasons over 300k podcasters prefer Podbean.
Why 300,000+ Trust PodBean To Start Their Podcasts
1. Podcast Publishing on the Go
While the former is best suited for total newbies, Podbean on the other hand has done a great job to make sure you can sign up today and start your podcast easy-peasy.
Managing your podcast has been made simpler all thanks to an intuitive interface that makes publishing podcasts simple with a few clicks.
Apart from an intuitive podcasting platform, you get on hands on Unlimited Hosting. With Podbean, there are No limits on downloads, episodes or recording time. All you get is a Flat-rate, affordable plans for worry-free podcasting.
Before we go further, it is worthy to note that hosting your podcast with Podbean comes with a Professional Podcast Website.
The Podbean platform includes a free podcast website with your account. All you need to make it work is choose from a variety of professional themes that you can customize to fit your needs.
In the same vein, if you feel like taking total control of your website, you can as well integrate your own branded domain for your podcast. Isn’t this cool? It is, right?
2. Live Streaming Enhancement
Podcasting with Podbean blots out the need to search for additional tools/platforms to go on a livestream.
With its provision of innovative podcasting services as an industry leader for more than ten years, you can easily expand your podcast with audio live shows and engage your audience in new ways. Here is how many pro podcasters have taken advantage of this.
With the Live Streaming Enhancement, some of them invite other top remote co-hosts or guests to call in from anywhere in the world using live stream in the free Podbean app.
And of course, this does not go without making good money off it. How?
The podcast powerhouse has made a gracious move for revenue opportunities as podcasters can sell virtual tickets for their live stream and receive virtual gifts from listeners/audiences.
The awesome discovery is that your Virtual gifts can be converted to US dollars for cash out. Cool right?
Want to test the enterprise podcasting Podbean provides for businesses with custom communications solutions? Click here to start for free.
3. Monetization Made Possible
I once observed that EOS makes up to $50,000+ alone in sponsorship. For you that just launched in, you do not need to worry on how to profit from your hard work because that has already been addressed for over 10 years by Podbean.
For you, all you need to do is choose the monetization methods that best fit your podcast while Podbean provides everything you need to make your pocket big. Smiles.
Want to know how this works?
All you need to do is list your podcast in the Podbean advertising marketplace for free to get matched with potential advertisers.
Already prepared for you is the PodAds SaaS for sophisticated ads management with dynamic insertion capability. So, all that is to it is to run ads like a pro and maximize revenue for your hard work.
Another way to make an insane amount of money is going premium. Here is it.
You can as well get paid for podcast content using subscriptions or single-episode sales. This integration is already prepared directly into your Podbean dashboard.
The bottom line is, you can focus on your content while Podbean handles payment, technical, and support needs.
To enjoy all these daunting benefits, I recommend podcasters that want a highly successful podcasting business test out PodBean’s $29/month Unlimited Plus Plan.
4. Making Sense of Super Podbean’s Podcast App
Although you can easily convert your podcast to app using a simple tool like Buildfire, but with the popular Podbean app, commanding over a million active users, the tool already provides tools and opportunities to take your podcast further.
What are some of the things you can do with the Podbean app?
With the tool you can record, edit and publish podcast episodes right from your phone. This is made possible due to the powerful app recording features including background music, sound effects and post-production tools.
5. Distribution & Promotion
Podcasting is useless if you cannot get your voice heard. Therefore, Podbean had already made provision with tools to get your podcast in front of potential listeners and help you grow your audience.
Some of the possibilities include,
- All Destination Podcast Distribution: Easily get your podcast on all the places people listen, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and podcast apps.
- Embeddable Players: Professional-looking, customizable players to embed your podcast on your websites and blogs. Single-episode and multitrack players in different sizes, shapes, and colors.
- Social Media Auto Sharing: Podbean can automatically post your new podcast episodes to social networks once you connect them with your Podbean account.
Podbean also creates audiograms (videos) for use on Facebook, Youtube and more.
- Email Integration: Collect email addresses and automatically share your new episodes to your subscribers via Podbean’s Mailchimp integration.
In conclusion,
There are just so many benefits to hosting with Podbean. The Podbean service is kind of a big deal place for pros to make money off their podcasting business.
With the podcasting service, you get a comprehensive statistics that gives you all the insights you need to track the performance of your podcast.
In addition, you can make sense of Private Podcasting.
Private Podcasting comes with an SSO login option which can be used for internal messaging.
And lastly, your podcast business can get a white label custom app and many other benefits.
Ready to launch, use the already provided integrations to scale your podcasting business to success? Join Podbean for free and make that dream come to pass.
Podbean Hosting Plans & Pricing
What Podbean Hosting Plan is Best for you?
Podbean has done a great job by giving everyone a chance to both get started with and scale their podcasting business.
Getting the best out of Podbean means you’re in one of these categories: Beginner podcaster or you’re in for real Business – scaling your profits.
Beginner: the Beginner Plan is the perfect plan for those getting started with Podbean with monetization options in mind. The Beginner plan has 2 parts.
#1. Unlimited Audio
#2. Unlimited Plus
#1. Unlimited Audio: this is recommended for new podcasters who want to focus only on audio podcasting.
With it, you get unlimited storage space and unmetered bandwidth to record your episodes.
While it is perfect for newbies, it is, however, devoid of some advanced monetization options like patron program integration, pod ads – the SaaS for podcast advertising, business podcasting, multiple podcast channels, and multiple admins.
Satisfied with the options of Unlimited Audio? If yes, sign up for Unlimited Audio.
#2. Unlimited Plus: this is for podcasters who want to kill 3 birds with one stone. This plan is best for #a. Audio podcasting, #b. Video podcasts and #c. flexible podcast monetization.
While the unlimited Audio lacked the monetization option for PodAds and SaaS for Podcast Advertising, the Unlimited Plus, on the other hand, has them in stock for you.
Do you want this 3-in-1 podcast plan? If yes, Sign up for Unlimited Plus.
We’re done with the beginner Podbean plans. Let’s see the ultimate plan which is the “Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan”.
Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan: the Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan is particularly targeted to businesses and organizations that wish to make private, internal podcasts.
This includes companies using podcasts as part of their training and employee development or company messaging
Also, if you wish to provide exclusive members-only content or organizations using podcasts for educational purposes, then this is the best plan for you.
Going further,
With Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan you get detailed individual listener data, including consumption rates and completion behavior.
Also, you have the freedom to segment content for different groups of listeners. That is not all.
Your monetization is optimized for more profits in that you have multiple podcast channels, multiple admins, and private podcasts with SSO authentication and of course, engagement Intel.
More so, you can manage several groups of listeners, remove pod bean branding, integrate white-label apps, and the ultimate? You get live chat support from the Podbean team.
I recommend Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan if you want to scale your podcast business and make money off it.
The Plans start at $99/month (annual plan), including 100 private members and 2 additional public podcast channels.
Sign up for Podbean’s Unlimited Business Plan here.
3. BLUBRRY
The most simplistic with advanced Blubrry hosting service comes in as my #3 recommended place to start your podcasting. However, if you are considering a wordpress integrated podcast platform then it’s #1.
In essence, those that have already been in the podcasting game will be happy to migrate and make sense of the advanced podcasting tools and integrations as offered by Blubrry.
Blubrry is a podcast hosting platform that gives creators the power to make money with detailed audience measurements to host their audio and video.
Whether you are a media creator, advertiser or media consumer, Blubrry provides one of the best digital media interfaces for podcasters.
The concept of Blubrry is simple. Host your Podcast, integrate using a tool like PowerPress, view your Podcast Statistics and make money.
With over 750,000 podcasts in its directory, here is what Blubrry offers.
Insfrastrutures of Blubrry podcast hosting platform
1. Devoid of No-Fault Overage
Just like a web hosting service would send you a notification that you’ve used up your resources, with Blubrry, the case is the same but quite different. How?
Whether your podcasting files are too big, and might push you over your limit for the month you need not worry as Blubrry’s exclusive No-Fault Overage for podcast hosting covers you.
Let’s say you just recorded an amazing episode and you upload your files. Even if they’re too big for your monthly quota (and you haven’t gone over yet this month), you can still publish. Blubrry will just let you know you’ve exceeded your limit and give you the option of upgrading for the future. It’s that easy.
2. Video Podcast or Audio Podcast is made possible
While storage space is storage space, and bandwidth is bandwidth, regardless of the file format, with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, you don’t need to decide ahead of time if you want to do audio podcasting, video podcasting, or a little of each.
You can just focus on sharing your views with your audience in whichever format, at whatever time you feel is right. Video this week, audio next? Cool.
And, the coolest part? If you have any questions, the Blubrry’s Podcast support team is only an email, phone call, or video chat away.
3. Advanced IAB Tech Lab certified podcast stats platform
Blubrry is the first and only podcast hosting company to have an IAB Tech Lab certified podcast stats platform. It’s really kind of a big deal, because it means that your stats are on a platform that is certified to the highest standards in the industry.
Blubrry now also offers partial download reporting to help you better understand how much of your content your audience is consuming, and if or when they tune out in an episode.
Want to know the separation game with Blubrry stats? Here is it.
Blubrry Podcast Statistics is designed specifically for measuring podcast downloads. Unlike regular website statistics, they take into consideration the destination, resuming downloads, duplicate requests and network errors to filter out data that would otherwise inflate your statistics.
Also, they do all this work to provide you with realistic and reliable podcast statistics.
Want to test out the amazing benefits offered by Blubrry? Click here to get started.
4. A Super Flexible customer Support
I wouldn’t hold the resistance to say that Blurry podcasting service has the best customer base Support. Think about it. What’s the use of a platform without accurate support for the customers?
In view of this, the Blubrry’s Podcast support team is only an email, phone call, or video chat away.
Its contact form is monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! You can even schedule a call with one of her staff.
And if there is need for video call, a Video Conference is what the team will use and communicate with you. This is super cool if you ask me.
5. Free WordPress Site
Believed to be the most flexible tools for podcasting, on Blurry, every hosting plan comes with a PowerPress Site powered by WordPress and designed to provide the essential tools needed to podcast.
With this feature, you don’t need to create a standalone WordPress site for your podcasting business.
The PowerPress sites are designed for modern Web browsing which also looks nice on mobile. The reason for this is because they utilize a responsive design of Twitter Bootstrap.
Just to note, PowerPress sites makes it ridiculously easy to customize your website to make sure it’s on-brand for your podcast, plus it has all the robust functionality for publishing and syndicating that has made it the go-to for podcasters for more than a decade.
6. New Monetization Partner
Apart from the fact that Blubrry constantly updates her tools, they are also on the lookout for profitable new partners to make sure all podcasters get handsomely paid for their content.
7. Free Media Migration and Importing
Blubrry has made podcasting an easy-peasy deal for her users. How?
As a podcaster you might be tempted to worry about how to convert and migrate your content to different platforms. With Blubrry, all have been done for you, amazingly for free.
With your content on the podcast hosting site all you need to do is provide your podcast feed or list of media URLs while Blubrry does the rest at no cost. Totally free.
A great observation is that you can freely migrate from other power houses hosting companies to Blubrry without hassles.
There are absolutely many other reasons to go with Blubrry, for instance, with a modern player facility offered by the hosting service you can easily listen to and share your favorite podcast all from one player.
Granted, there are about a bazillion other reasons to use Blubrry, but I guess you’ve got a podcast to produce.
Get started with Blubrry for FREE
Blubrry’s Hosting Prices and Plans
Blubrry has up to 5 hosting plans to launch your podcast business. For starters I recommend the “Medium” plan as you get the test out the flexibilities of using both “Audio and Video” podcasting enhancement.
In the same vein, if you are migrating from another podcasting service, I recommend you get started with at least their “Large” plan. With the 500MB that comes with it you can measure your growth adequately.
4. SIMPLECAST
(The Pro free podcast hosting platform)
Powering the podcasts of top world’s prominent brands, Simplecast has stood out as a top player in the podcasting business.
Just recently, they were IAB certified. Joining a few podcasting platform like Blubrry, Simplecast was certified by the IAB.
The Certification program creates a defined set of rules, while ensuring an independent third party audits every key line of code and its outcome.
Here is a summary of what you get when you sign up to use Simplecast podcast hosting service.
1. Unlimited Audio Storage with all her plans
Simplecast has done a great job to take off all limitations against your Audio Storage. With Simplecast, you have full control of your storage capacity as there are no limits in all its hosting plans.
2. No Enforced Monetization Policy
Simplecast gives her podcasters the freehand to choose how they want to monetize their podcast. That is to say, the last thing that will happen is for Simplecast to enforce adverts on your content, like placing ads and etc.
Nonetheless, if you want ads monetization then you will be the one to decide and inform them that you want to make money off ads.
3. Multiple Podcast Distribution Enhancement
If you’re just getting started on Simplecast Basic or you’ve grown your show into a chart topper, all plans offer direct publishing to all platforms, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Overcast – just to name a few.
There are so many reasons to use Simplecast, one, for nearly 7 years, Simplecast has provided podcasters with industry-leading publishing, distribution, analytics, and sharing tools, so, they know the science and art of hosting top brand podcasts.
Want to get all these benefits? Start Your Free 14-day Trial today
4. Provision of a Beautiful Website & Add-ons
Devoid of the things you will get above, Simplecast also provides you with advanced tools like Recast and web player, a beautiful website for your show, and the industry’s most robust analytics platform, allowing you to best understand who and where your listeners are.
In case you might be asking, what if I reach my podcast’s download limit? Here is it.
Simplecast hosting site will never bill you a higher rate than the plan you have agreed to, nor will you ever be auto-upgraded to a different plan if you exceed the download limit for your plan.
These are merely “soft limits”. If you’re outgrowing your plan, month after month, the team will reach out to help you find a solution that is better suited for your show’s growth. Sounds great? Good.
Let’s look at Simplecast’s pricing.
Simplecast Hosting Pricing
Below is customized Simplecast’s plan to meet your needs.
Getting started with Simplecast
One thing Simplecast is popular for is its industry-leading features starting at just $15/month.
As a veteran in hosting professional podcasts, Simplecast provides you powerful tools to manage, distribute, share, and grow your podcast — from your first listener to your first million.
To get started with Simplecast I recommend you take advantage of the 14-day trial offered by the company and a straightforward pricing starting at $15/month. Plus, you can get 50% off your first two months.
5. TRANSISTOR
Starting your podcast with Transistor is quite simple. You record your audio and upload it to Transistor while they spread the content; distributing your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts and other directories.
With a popular podcast like “Honeybadger and Cards against Humanity” running on Transistor, the podcast hosting service offers a seemingly powerful, yet, an easy-to-use podcast hosting service for professionals and beginners.
With provision to support all her podcasters, Transistor provides all the needed tools for podcasters who are out to grow their podcast business.
Infrastructures of Transistor Podcast Service
1. Unlimited podcast hosting plans
Transistor offers unlimited podcast hosting plans which means they don’t have to charge you for hours of upload as some other hosts do.
2. Content Embed Flexibility
While Transistor makes it incredibly easy to upload your podcast media and publish it, they also offer the flexible enhancement to Embed the podcast player on your website.
And without hesitation, you can get a website from the platform in case you do not have one.
3. Dynamic Podcast Analytics
The highly rated Transistor’s analytics has helped Creatives, businesses, and professional podcasters trust the podcasting service with their audio hosting.
With this tool, you can quantify a detailed podcast analytics Average downloads per episode, the number of people who subscribe to your podcast, Listener trends and a lot more.
There are many more benefits you will discover as a Podcaster on Transistor. However, let’s go on to see the cost to enjoy all these benefits.
Transistor Podcast Hosting Pricing
Transistor comes with a 3 tier Podcast Hosting Pricing plans. With it you have the “Starter” plan at $19 /mo, “Professional” at $49 /mo, and “Business” at $99/mo.
To take advantage of the irresistible hosting packages Transistor offers to grow your audience without limits, I recommend going with the Transistor Professional Plan.
With the “PRO” plan you can test-run the monetization strength as you can add up to 500 private subscribers on your podcast + private podcasts.
Additionally, you also get 2 months free when you pay annually.
What is the Best Software to Record My Podcast Episodes?
There are many Podcast recording Software, but staring out, I do not think you should spend more money on this. You can start with the free ones to get you ready. For me, I have made use of the free Audacity.
Audacity
Audacity is a free podcasting app that does pretty much anything a podcaster would need. While this is a bare-bones option, it’s one of the best podcasting tools for beginners looking to test out the medium.
Luckily, the software runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux and you can easily hook up a USB microphone and start recording.
So, if you do not want to spend more on this, I recommend audacity, otherwise, other best apps and software for recording podcasts are as follows.
GarageBand
Made for Mac users, GarageBand is a free digital workstation (DAW) that is a solid option for amateurs and podcasting veterans alike. Getting started is as simple as opening the app and starting a new project.
GarageBand’s primary features include the suite of digital instruments such as keyboards, drums, and guitars. While the software is not solely for podcasters, still there are some built-in podcasting templates, plus sound profiles for both male and female voices, jingles, stingers, and sound effects.
Zencastr
Zencastr is the most frequently used best software for recording podcast.
Zencastr is no doubt the perfect software for podcasters working with remote guests. The Software for Recording Podcasts comes with an easy-to-use invite system that records each guest on a separate audio track.
The unique thing about Zencastr is the fact that it can easily record each voice locally with pristine quality.
Sometimes, recording remotely can present a few snags—like lag or audio issues. Which makes sense, given that the software is a lot like Skype or Zoom, just with a podcast-centric interface.
The good news is that you can try out all for free.
2 Popular Podcast Editing Software
1. Audacity (Windows & Mac)
Just as it serves as a recording software, Audacity’s digital audio workstation has a user-friendly interface, where anyone (beginner) can create separate tracks for vocals and music—whether it be for podcast intros, outros, or even your ad spots.
2. Adobe Audition (Windows & Mac)
Adobe Audition is a comprehensive toolset that includes multitrack, waveform, and spectral display for creating, mixing, editing, and restoring audio content.
The powerful audio workstation is designed to accelerate video production workflows and audio finishing — and deliver a polished mix with pristine sound.
5 Core Things to Consider When Looking for A Podcast Hosting Platform
Having already made your decision on the podcast hosting site to use, just to add to your considerations, here are a few things you’ll want to map out.
1. Will the Podcast Hosting Platform Restrict your Episodes or Bandwidth?
One thing you need to ascertain is whether you plan on having a podcast with a lot of episodes, multiple seasons or not. If yes, then you’ll need to put your podcast’s episode length into consideration when picking a hosting site.
While some Podcast hosting is generally structured as a subscription service, offering free podcast hosting for a limited upload amount and so on, as a soon to-be pro podcaster you might want to find an option with unlimited storage to ensure you don’t hit any barriers with bandwidth when managing your podcast.
2. What Podcast Promotion or Marketing Strategies Is Used
At a stage of podcast maturity or producing quality content, it will only be natural you consider how the monetization strategy offered by your preferred hosting site will favor you.
3. Do The Podcasting Analytics On The Hosting Platform IAB Compliant?
Due to the growth and profitability of Podcasting these days, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, or IAB rolled out guidelines for how podcasts’ analytics—like downloading and listening data—are tracked. These standards improve the accuracy of podcasting analytics and help podcasters who work with advertisers and sponsors provide information that is more transparent.
4. Do the Features Match Your Type of Podcasting?
When considering a podcasting platform you might want to ascertain if the basics and useful features are available. Some of those features include: FTP uploading, media validation, and ID3 tagging.
5. Are the Hosting Plans & Prices Favorable & Accommodating?
Before going with a podcasting platform you might want to check it out if there is a room for both monthly and annual subscriptions. In essence, ascertain the signup prices vs. renewal prices.
The 8 Ultimate Steps to Starting A Successful Podcast
- Pick a Name for your Podcast
- Select Episode Structure
- Cover Art Creation
- Intro & Outro music
- Equipment selection
- Audio Recording & Editing
- Upload Your Content to Your Host
- Submit To Apple & Podcast Directories
Do you know that according to a report by Nielsen, 70% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting” – up from 64% in 2018, and 51% (144 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast – up from 44% in 2018? Those are daunting market numbers for podcasters to take advantage of, right?
Step 1. Pick a Name for your Podcast
The very first thing you want to do is picking a name for your Podcast. What name would you want? Here are some examples.
#1. Knowledge for “keyword”. Like, “Knowledge for Women”.
#2. “The Newyorkers’s Podvoice”
#3. The Bill Faithful Show
#4. AskBillFaithful
#5. Bill Faithful’s Podcast.
You can as well check for more podcasting name insights here.
Step 2. Select Episode Structure
Upon selecting a name for your podcast, the next thing you want to do is choosing the structure for your podcast. Here’s one example:
- Intro Music
- Welcome
- Ad Spot
- Interview
- Call To Action (“Review us on iTunes!, please tweet our content”)
- Outro Music
Step 3. Cover Art Creation
From the type of Ad spot you want to use you will know the best art to create for podcast. A good cover photo helps create an image of your brand in the mind of the audiences.
And of course, remember, your cover art is the first impression most people will see as they browse through Apple Podcasts or their favorite podcast app.
To create your podcast art you can use a free tool like Canva, or check out this guide on tips to creating a good art cover.
Step 4. Intro & Outro music
To create a good rhythm with your podcast you want to use a cool or soft intro music to usher in your listeners. A 5-8 seconds music is okay.
To get started you can use a site like incompetech.com to get free royalty music. You can also check here for 100+ royalty music.
Step 5. Equipment selection
No need to fret about this. The basic stuff is making sure you have #1. A good microphone #2. A recording software #3. A good podcasting host.
Step 6. Audio Recording & Editing
Having gotten all the tools on step 5, go ahead and record your first podcast. For sure, your first podcast will be the hardest. This is the same thing with Youtubers.
However, the good thing is, no one was a pro in his first or 10th podcasts, so, relax and record good contents. From there, if need be, use a free editing tool like Audacity, which is a free cross-platform audio editor and make it smooth and presentable.
Step 7. Upload Your Content to Your Host
Having done all the above, it’s time to submit your podcast to your host.
The uploading process
The uploading process is always similar on all the hosting platforms.
For instance, if on Buzzsprout, without having to mess with things like embedding ID3 tags into your MP3, you can easily upload your content and upload.
Sign up on Buzzsprout & sign in to your account. Navigate your dashboard and click on “Upload New Episodes”
Step 8. Submit To Apple & Podcast Directories
Upon uploading your content, go ahead and submit to top podcast directories. To do that, all you need to do is grab your podcast RSS feed and submit to the directories. What happens after that?
As you upload new episodes, your host will automatically update your RSS feed and any podcast directory you’re listed on will also update with your new episode.
The next step of action is promoting your podcast. You want to share with friends, family, and maximally make use of Social Media.
Again, other podcast services have their sharing tool integrations.
But if it’s on Buzzsprout host, you want to make use of Buzzsprout’s social sharing feature to generate teaser videos and start sharing!
Additionally, you can set an automatic podcast tweets using a tool like TweetDeck.
Podcast Directories, What Are They?
Podcast directories are podcast listings that help people find your podcast. In most cases they don’t host or distribute your podcast—that’s up to your podcast host—they just provide a centralized place for podcast listeners to learn about podcasts.
What a directory basically does is to display your latest podcast’s episode to its users. Here is how.
You upload your audio, and when the directory detects something new in your feed, it downloads the file and displays the latest episode to its users.
The whole process looks like this:
So, getting listed in the top podcast directories is a critical part of your podcast marketing strategy because a majority of your new listeners will find your podcast through these directories.
Top 10 Podcast Directories to Use
Below are some of the essential podcast directories you can get started with.
1. Apple Podcasts (also known as iTunes)
Apple Podcast is the oldest, largest, and most important of the podcast directories. Once you’re ready to launch your podcast, your first job is to get listed in Apple Podcasts. A majority of podcast listeners find podcasts through Apple Podcasts and use the Podcasts app on their phones.
Others…
-
Spotify
-
Google Podcasts
-
Stitcher
-
TuneIn Radio
-
Google Play Music
-
Pandora
-
Listen Notes
-
iHeartRadio
-
Alexa via AnyPod
How to Submit your Podcast to Top Podcast Directories
Let’s see the exact steps you want to use and submit your podcast to the above directories.
How to Submit your Podcast to iTunes
iTunes is a popular place for listeners to discover and subscribe to podcasts.
- First, make sure you have an active Apple ID to submit your podcast.
- Sign in to iTunes Connect.
- Get your podcast RSS feed by going to Settings->Feed/iTunes in your dashboard.
- Click on the top-left area of the podcast dashboard and enter your RSS feed into the text box.
- All of your podcast’s information will load from your podcast host and show you a feed preview. Make sure that all of your text and artwork looks ready to go.
- Click submit and wait for the approval.
- Periodically check your submission report. You can check the status of your iTunes submission in Podcasts Connect.
How to Submit your Podcast to Spotify
Aside from Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Google Play Music, and Google Podcasts, Spotify is likely one of the next directories that you want to submit your podcast to.
Submitting to Spotify is quick and easy now that they have opened their directory up to submissions through their portal.
- First Go to Spotify for Podcasters and log in to your Spotify account, or create one if you don’t already have one. You can select “Log In” or “Get Started” to proceed.
- Click on “Get Started” on the “Add your podcast” page.
- Read through the terms and conditions, check the box, enter your legal name or LLC, and select “Continue.”
- Enter your RSS feed into the provided box and select “Next.” Also, enter your podcast title, artwork, and description will all appear on the right side of the page.
- Check the “Add podcast info” page, select your country, language, category, and hosting provider and press “Next.”
- Review your podcasts details and select “Submit.”
Your submission may take as long as 2-4 days to appear on Spotify, but usually podcasts appear within just a few hours.
How to Submit your Podcast to Google Play Music (Play Store)
- Visit g.co/podcastportal.
- Click “Get Started.”
- Login with your Google account.
- Click “Add a Podcast.”
- Review and accept the terms of service.
- Enter your podcast-only RSS feed.
- Check your email (the address in your RSS feed) and verify your ownership of this podcast feed.
- Click “Publish Podcast.”
- Wait for approval.
Adding your podcast to all other directories follow the same format. Just submit your RSS, Click Publish Podcast and Wait for approval. Alternatively, a quick search on Google will help you.
Top 4 Laws Every Podcast Creator Must Know
Should you want to move your hobby podcasting to the next level (various monetization routes and as a pro), then here are some podcasting laws every podcast creator must know.
1. Music Laws and Usage
To avoid being sued you want to be sure the music used as an intro or whatever follows the Fair Use Policy.
2. Ownership Rights
Here you want to check with your podcast host to ensure that they have limited rights when it comes to your material–that is, make sure they cannot change or use your content without compensating you.
3. Vendor and Co-Host Agreements
Vendor agreements are useful when working without outside vendors–musicians, editors, and other people who are making specific services for you.
4. Images and Other Art Laws
Often at times, Art is typically covered by copyright, which extends to books and scripts as well. What you want to do is always checking to ensure that the material you want to use is fair game
How to Engage Your Audience as a Pro Podcaster in 3 ways
Before we close with the exact podcast hosting site to use, let’s make sense of how to engage your new podcast audiences.
At this point, you need to build confident from the fact that Podcasts are growing in popularity, with some studies showing that around two-thirds of Americans tune in from time to time.
For you, all that matters is winning the new listeners that may find your podcast via words of mouth from friends, fans, social media and etc. Here is how to engage your audience without panic.
1. Become a Donald Trump’s Tower
Wait. Politics aside and all grievances. I like the Trump’s standards – his stuff are quality or nothing else. How does that relate to you?
The very first way to winning over and engage your audience is coming up with the BEST podcasting content you’ve got.
Truth is, there are some YouTube channels you land and the first video makes you click the subscribe button even without the Youtuber asking you to. That is the same effect you want to create with your podcast.
2. Buy Guests Ideas
A better way to engaging with your audience is inviting other guests to your podcast. And this does not have to be experts only. You can invite people with interesting angles on your topic, to appear on your show.
If you can select people who are passionate, informed, and well-spoken, you’ll hook your listeners which is a boost to you.
Still coming from the angle of putting out credible content, what you want to do to engage your audience is including some teasers.
Since People always appreciate highlight reels, this can attract a wider listener base when you offer a range of different show lengths. Something like “Top 10 jokes/interviews/episodes” and so on.
In conclusion, which is The Best Podcast Hosting Service For Beginners?
While the above podcast hosting services offer almost similar plans with daunting features, however, there are core things you need to put into consideration before you choose hosting company.
Two of such are #1. Does the podcast hosting site have restrictions on episodes or bandwidth? And #2. What podcast promotion or marketing features are available?
Going by the above and overall considerations to creating a highly success podcast hosting, for beginners, Buzzsprout is what you want to use.
Buzzsprout is a choice place for new podcasters to jump in and start their podcast thereby taking advantage of all the benefits as offered.
With Buzzsprout, you can easily use its add-on tool to retain your audience. Additionally, you can manage multiple podcasting with ease. Try out Buzzsprout. Plus you get Free $20 Amazon Gift Card.
The second on the list is Podbean.
Podbean is clearly a super professional for newbie or migrating podcasters to kick in and scale their content for total profits.
With it you get live streaming facility, top performance and enhancements, mobile apps, a dedicated website for your podcast business and more. Try out Podbean for free.
The 3rd best which is second to Podbean in terms of going pro is Blubrry.
Observation: if you are a self-hosted WordPress fan/user, then Blurry might be #1 for you.
Having been approved and certified by the IAB, the certification creates a defined set of rules, while ensuring an independent third party audits every key line of code and its outcome with monetization as the end in mind. That is not all.
With Blubrry you get to produce a super simple and friendly podcast as what you need to do is use the inbuilt PowerPress plugin on it and produce straight-to-the point podcasts.
Try out the advanced Blubrry Podcast service
My forth recommendation is Simplecast. I like Simplecast for that fact that they are also IAB certified + the great features they offer her users – no limitation on storage and more. Check out Simplecast here.
And of course, Transistor, which is killing it in the podcasting industry, mostly for its “Dynamic Podcast Analytics”. Check out Transistor for free.
Frequently Asked Questions About Starting a Podcast
😕 Question: Why should you pay for podcast when some platforms provide for free?
😀 Answer: A clear explanation is that most times, when you don’t pay for a product, you are the product which is not a good thing.
But paying to host your own podcast platform gives you the confidence to know you are supporting its growth and innovation, and its staying power.
😕 Question: Will you lose your subscribers if you move your show from your current podcast hosting company to another?
😀 Answer: You will not lose your subscribers if you do this one thing. You will have to create a 301 Redirect at your old hosting company.
With the 301 Redirect created, you will permanently redirect your subscribers from your old RSS Feed to your new Simplecast RSS Feed.
The 301 Redirect will also update the podcast directories and apps with your new Simplecast RSS Feed. (No need to worry as the podcast’s team can help you out).
😕 Question: What Is an RSS Feed and why do you Need One for Your Podcast?
😀 Answer: An RSS feed is a formatted text document that contains all the important information about your show. It’s hosted on a server and (usually) has a public URL/link so anyone can view or access its contents.
RSS contains all the information about your show and episodes including your show’s title, description, episode titles, links to the audio files for the episodes, and more.
😕 Question: How do I get my podcast into iTunes, Apple Podcasts, and the other podcast directories like Spotify and Google Podcasts?
😀 Answer: In order to get your show into Apple Podcasts and the other podcast directories, you’ll need to submit your show’s RSS feed URL to them.
This is almost always done via a website, like Apple’s Podcasts Connect website or Spotify’s Podcasters.Spotify.com website.
Once your RSS Feed has been approved (most directories will approve within 48-72 hours), they will use the info in the feed to display your show (along with your episodes) in their directory and/or apps.
They’ll also check your show’s feed regularly to get changes and any new episodes that are added.
😕 Question: What do I do if my new episodes don’t show up in the directories right away or at all?
😀 Answer: If you can’t see your new episode in any of the podcast apps or directories, then it’s possible the podcast directories or apps haven’t checked your feed yet or updated on their end (it can sometimes take a few hours for a directory to update, especially if it’s a newly approved show).
😕 Question: Can I change podcast hosts or RSS feeds without breaking things or losing my show’s subscribers?
😀 Answer: You can move hosts anytime, although it’s easier with some hosts than with others.
- Most hosts will copy an existing RSS feed and audio files over to their service and set your show up with a new feed.
- After you have the URL for the new feed that was setup for your show, you’ll need to update the various podcast directories so they check your new feed for updates and new episodes instead of the old one.
- This is usually done through the same web portal that you used to submit the show to the directory originally, although some places require you to send an email. Your podcast host should be able to help if you have questions.
Final Notes on the best free podcast hosting services
How do I make a podcast?
- Get a USB microphone (the ATR2100 or the Samson Q2U are both good).
- Connect your microphone to your computer, iPhone, Android, or tablet.
- Record your audio. You can use free software like Garage Band (Mac) or Audacity (PC).
- Export your recorded audio to MP3. For audio quality, choose 44100 Hz and 128 kb/s in your export settings.
- Log in to your podcast hosting (Buzzsprout or Podbean + others) account.
- Upload the MP3 file you recorded, and then publish your episode.
- Now, your hosting provider will generate an RSS feed for your podcast.
- Submit your podcast’s RSS feed to Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other directories (as shown above).
- Now, every time you publish a new episode, listeners will automatically get it in their podcast player!
That is all for now. I hope this made sense to you in yout quest for the best podcast hosting site – because weeks plus painstaking work was spent to put this together.
Next on Isuawealthyplace >> Top 5 Ranked Cheap Best Web Hosting For Small Business & Blog Owners
It’s actually a great and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Goff. Glad you like and it makes sense to you. Welcome to the Wealthy place blog.