Podcasts have become a popular media format in recent times, and creating them is now easier than ever before. However, publishing your podcast on major platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify remains a frustrating experience if you’re new to the process.

The good news is that publishing your podcast on these sites can be broken down into a few simple steps. The path towards being published is more straightforward than you realize, and once you’re set up, may help you expand your audience.

In this article, we’ll first explain why your podcast needs an RSS feed (an important aspect of publishing your podcast) and the steps to create one for a WordPress site. Next, we’ll cover how you can publish your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Let’s get started!

Why a Dedicated RSS Feed Is Essential for Publishing Your Podcast

A Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed is a distribution method that helps people keep up to date with content on the web, without visiting a site. You’d usually subscribe to an RSS feed to be notified when new content is made available.

Feeds can be created for specific forms of media, such as podcasts. In fact, generating one for your podcast is essential, as it’s a technical requirement to being published on the major platforms.

Although WordPress comes with an in-built RSS feed, this can’t be used for syndicating your podcast to other sites. By default, the service updates whenever a new post is published, which will likely include articles and other non-podcast content.

Fortunately, it’s easy to create a dedicated podcast RSS feed using a WordPress plugin. Doing so will let you publish your show to the majority of major podcasting platforms, and potentially achieve the goal of expanding your audience.

One plugin to consider is Seriously Simple Podcasting

The Castos website does a great job of showing you how to set up Seriously Simple Podcasting. Once you’re done, check your feed is configured correctly using the free Cast Feed Validator, and if all is well, you can move onto publishing your podcast.

How to Publish Your Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts

If publishing your podcast to the major platforms seems overwhelming, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Here’s how you can publish to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts in a few easy steps.

1. Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts is a service for podcast delivery and consuming, and supports practically all Apple devices (and iTunes on the PC.) It’s one of the largest podcast directories in the world with over 800,000 shows currently available for download. Additionally, in March 2018, 50 billion episodes were downloaded from Apple Podcasts alone, making it an extremely popular app for people to find new shows and listen to them.

Submitting your show to Apple Podcasts is done through Podcasts Connect. In order to use the tool, you’ll need an active Apple ID that’s been verified through the iTunes Store.

You should also take the time to read through Apple Podcasts’ requirements for RSS feeds, file formats, and optional artwork before continuing. Once you’re ready, you’ll want to validate your feed and submit it through Podcasts Connect. To summarize:

1. Create an Apple ID that’s been verified through the iTunes Store (if you haven’t done so already.)
2. Read through Apple Podcasts’ technical requirements.
3. Validate your RSS feed.
4. Submit your RSS feed through Podcasts Connect.

Once you’re done, Apple will manually review your podcast, which can take up to five business days. However, you’ll then have a fully published podcast, ready for download.

2. Google Podcasts

Google Podcasts is less of a library or database of podcasts, and more of a search engine that indexes all the podcasts it finds. The platform can be accessed either through the browser or a dedicated Android application. The app currently has over 10 million downloads, which means there’s potentially a huge user base for your own podcasts

Because Google Podcasts differs from other directories by automatically crawling for new shows to index, you may not need to manually add your show. It could be already listed, and you can check if your show has been indexed with the Google Direct Link Generator – found in Google’s Podcast Publisher Tools:

To use this tool, simply type your podcast feed’s URL into the form field, then click Generate.

If the tool can retrieve your podcast, no further action needs to be taken as it will already be indexed by Google Podcasts. However, if it hasn’t been indexed, there are some steps you can take to get it listed.

First, check that your website or podcast hosting provider meets the Google Podcasts Guidelines. Once you are satisfied you’re following the guidelines, you can request Google to index your site using the URL Inspection tool within Google Search Console.

To use this tool, simply enter your domain name and hit Enter. However, it can take some time for Google to index your RSS feed, so regular checks may be necessary to ensure your podcast has been indexed.

3. Spotify

Finally, Spotify is better known as a digital streaming service with access to millions of songs. However, there are also thousands of podcasts to choose from.

While it isn’t usually your first choice for podcast hosting, Spotify’s paid user base grows at a rate of 31 percent each year. This arguably makes it an important channel to submit to for expanding your audience.

As with Google Podcasts, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with Spotify’s Podcast Delivery Specifications for audio formats and podcast images before proceeding. Submissions are made through the Spotify for Podcasting service, and you’ll need an active Spotify account. Here’s how to get the job done, in a nutshell:

1. Create a Spotify account if you haven’t done so already.
2. Read through Spotify’s Podcast Delivery Specifications.
3. Log in to Spotify for Podcasters.
4. Paste the link to your podcast’s RSS feed.
5. Confirm your email address by copying the 8-digit code and paste it into the submit form.
6. Add your podcast information such as its category, language, and country.

While there are many more platforms available for hosting your podcast, these three are arguably the most valuable to your growth. However, regardless of the platform you choose, the steps will be straightforward for each.

Conclusion

Creating podcasts has become easier to achieve over time, but publishing them to the major platforms remains a challenge for many. Fortunately, the process’ bark is worse than its bite, and most platforms offer simple steps for publishing your podcast.

In this post, we covered the following:

1. Submitting your show to Apple Podcasts.
2. Checking that your podcast has been indexed on Google Podcasts.
3. Publishing your podcast to Spotify.

Finally, it’s important to note that all of our themes are fully compatible with the most popular podcasting plugins. Our themes, combined with a dedicated plugin, will let you maximize reach and access potentially millions of new listeners!