Podcast Directories
One of the biggest challenges with podcasts is increasing your audience. It’s not always easy to get your podcast in the earbuds and playlists of the people you want. While you may have a podcast, you might not know how to get more people to hear it, and connect and engage with your company. To get more people to notice your podcast, you have to get onto podcast directories. In other words, distribute your podcast to as many services as possible.
You want to get your podcast places where people are looking for something to listen to. Whether on their commute, while going for a run, doing their household chores, or in search of some specific answers, people want content. The best and most common place that people go to look for new podcasts is Apple Podcasts (iTunes).
The majority of podcasts are released on Apple. Even specific programs and companies that have their podcast on another platform that involves membership and payment for premium content can have the occasional free episode on Apple to help increase interest from that audience. Linking your podcast to Apple helps it to show up on other platforms, as well, and puts your podcast in a position to get discovered by the highest number of people.
To get your podcast on Apple, as with any other distribution directories, you first must have a platform to host your podcast. Your company won’t upload the podcast itself to Apple or any of the other big distribution lists. A podcast gets uploaded onto a host platform, like Buzzsprout, Simplecast, or Libsyn (which is what we use for our podcast and clients), and then linked to a podcast directory using the unique RSS link provided by your platform. Once you have your podcast uploaded, and your link available, you’re ready to start spreading the word!
Apple is not the only podcast directory to place your podcast on, however. For those who don’t use Apple products, both Google and Spotify are popular destinations to find new media to listen to and with which to engage.
Spotify has focused on music for years but has opened its doors to broadcast more podcasts. Some hosting platforms have quick methods to connect your podcast to Spotify.
Google Podcasts another bigger directory. If you register with Google, your podcast can play from Google search results. Your podcast may already be visible through this directory as Google searches out podcasts on their own, but you have to claim it as your own or register.
The two other major podcast directories to register with are Stitcher and TuneIn Radio, both of which focus on their mobile app. TuneIn is an internet radio service that also has a podcast channel.
Stitcher used to be more popular but still has a large following of over 8 million users. To get on with both companies, you have to submit a form and become partner organizations.
Another great option is iHeartRadio who say they are American’s #1 audio company reaching 9/10 American’s every month. They have a monthly audience of 22,570,000 and 200,789,000 downloads per month. One that can’t go ignored!
There are many other podcast directories available to increase your exposure and grow your audience. Let me share a list of the other podcast directories, including my faves.
We’ve already mentioned..
1-Apple (iTunes)
2-Google Podcasts
3-Stitcher
4-TuneIn
5-iHeart Radio
6-Spotify
Some of my other favorites are…..
7-Amazon Music (who wouldn’t want their podcast on this giant!) – Click HERE to claim your podcast.
8-Audible – by submitting to Amazon Music it also gets on Audible.
9-Listen Notes – this is increasing in popularity and even shows rankings. You have to ‘claim’ your podcast, and then you can have a page that is dedicated to your show. You can edit the description, add social links and other urls
10-Podchaser – I really love this one listeners can leave reviews (no matter what country they are in), so it’s an easy one to share to request feedback (ie reviews). It’s another one where you have to ‘claim’ your podcast. Super easy though!
11-Goodpods – it’s typically an app on Apple or Android but they are now expanding into a website as well. My show ranking has gone up since going on this app (along with downloads) – woot woot! You create an account then claim your podcast.
12-Vurbl – this one is a little more involved BUT worth the extra effort as it’s almost like a mashup between YouTube and Spotify – the way you can comment on episodes and search for episodes (vs just searching for podcasts). It self populates new episodes, but you’ll need to clean up the descriptions, update an episode image. Check it out https://vurbl.com/
13-Audea – this one is similar to Vurbl, but you have to upload your audio files, show notes and image. It takes maybe 7 minutes but it totally looks like YouTube and you can search for content. I even interviewed the founder Amit Kukreja to learn more about it. You can set up an account https://audea.io/
14-Castbox – you can create an account, head to the ‘creator studio’ and then claim ownership of a podcasts (and submit your rss feed).
15-Podcast Gang – you can sign up for an account and then add your podcast with your iTunes url.
16-Player FM – No claiming needed on this one. Just search for your show and grab the link! Here’s mine! https://player.fm/series/leverage-your-podcast-show
17-Soundcloud – You can submit by setting up an account and then enabling that ‘social distribution’ through your podcast host like Libsyn. That’s how I connected mine.
Some Podcast Directories are available only on Android or only on Apple Devices. If you search for your podcast some of them will automatically populate your show and you do not have to ‘claim’ or do anything to grab a link. Some of them include.
17- Castro – Only available on the Apple Store https://castro.fm/
18- Podcast Addict – Only available on Android https://podcastaddict.com/app
19- Pocketcasts – So easy to get your podcast listed. Simply add your RSS feed to this page and voila!
20- Podcast Republic – https://www.podcastrepublic.net/
21- Radio Public – It’s actually more than just a podcast directory. It has tools to promote, grow and monetize your podcast! Sign up https://podcasters.radiopublic.com/signup
22- Add My Podcast – It seems to ‘add’ your show to more podcast directories (but doesn’t really explain how and anything else) Worth a try! https://addmypodcast.com/
23-Audacy – This takes up to 2 months to hear from them about your submission. You also have to provide more information including download stats. You can submit here https://www.audacy.com/podcast-submission
24-Podhound – You have to sign up for an account but then it’s simple to submit! https://podhound.co/
Okay so that should keep you busy for a while add your show to all those podcast directories! Now watch your download numbers and audience grow!
Lastly, consider getting a little creative to get your podcast out there. Put snippets of it up on Facebook, the best, short bits, to increase intrigue. If you have the capability, and charisma, for video, consider putting your podcast up in video form on YouTube. Many organizations have both audio and video versions of their podcast so people can choose their preferred way of getting great content.
Remember, you may not see the number of listeners climb right away. Growing an audience takes time. These are some of the places you can go to help the growth happen faster.
Distributing on ALL podcast directories is just ONE of the steps in my Podcast Leverage System. Get all 4 by downloading the training and worksheet below!
