https://podcastfasttrack.com/

I thought it was about time I did something REALLY helpful and did the research required to tell you exactly - step by step - how to submit your show to every conceivable place you can to increase your podcast’s reach.

I’m talking about Podcast Directories, people!

But the problem is this: every conceivable place is not always the BEST place (in my humble opinion).

Why would I EVEN SAY such a thing?

Two reasons:

#1 - There are many options that require you to use their hosting/advertising/app/whatever-thingie-ma-bobber-they’re-hawking. So unless you are specifically looking for those kinds of opportunities, they’re not much use to you.

#2 - Some of the directories out there don’t appear to be professionally done, which in my mind means it’s likely not truly advantageous for your show to be in them.

So…

THIS episode is a walk through of the many podcast directory-ish places you can list your show that I deemed were worth the time of doing so.

And I should probably ALSO say…

The list and instructions I’m about to share DO NOT contain sites that pull directly from Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes).

Why? - Because if you submit to Apple Podcasts, you’ll automatically be included in those directories or apps.

Which includes MOST IOS or Android podcast apps.

Be it known…

I have done EXACTLY what I’m telling you to do with all 3 of my podcasts. And will be referring BACK to this episode myself to submit all future podcasts I publish.

And before we get too far into this… you can find EVERY directory I mention and the links and processes needed to submit to them, on the show notes page for this episode - www.PodcastFastTrack.com/79 - which is ALSO included in the description of your podcast app or player, in its entirety (as much as I have control over).

And ANOTHER THING… These are in ALPHABETICAL ORDER for your sorting convenience...

That’s enough of that kind of stuff - let’s get to the directories!

LISTED ALPHABETICALLY

Acast:

Acast is a new app that claims to help podcasters with “discovery” issues (which is debated hotly in podcasting circles), but regardless, it’s a pretty cool and functional app.

It includes 3 targets: Listeners - Podcasters - Advertisers. And it does include a hosting option for podcasters who are looking for something different. You can discover more about Acast at www.acast.com

There are two ways to add your podcast to the Acast directory.

Non-hosted

You provide the Acast folks with your RSS feed and they’ll make your show searchable and listenable on their app platform. This means no monetization and no hosting.

Hosted

In this scenario, Acast hosts your show. Yes, you’d have to leave your current host.

When you do, Acast will provide opportunities to monetize your show (ads or sponsorships) and you’ll have access to the Acast publishing tool and stats.

So… if Acast sounds like a place you’d like to list your podcast - or a partner you might connect with for hosting/monetization.

Submit to the Acast Directory

• Scroll down to the “Add Your Show” option near the bottom of the page.
• Choose your adventure (non-hosted, hosted, hosted with a brand new show)
• Give them the info requested
• Hit the “send” button
• Scroll UP on the resulting page to see the confirmation message

That wasn’t too painful, was it?

Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)

As you know, iTunes - I mean, Apple Podcasts - is the big dog, 500 pound gorilla, place-to-be when it comes to podcast search. It’s one you definitely want to put high on your priority list.

Many people, including Rob Walch of Libsyn fame (previous guest on my show here, here, and here), say that if your show is not in the Apple Podcast directory you’re really not podcasting.

I don’t know about that - but I do know that if Apple Podcasts is not on your radar - you’ve got the wrong radar.

So get into the directory. Here’s how.

Submitting to Apple Podcasts

Some things you need to know about submitting…

• Your show needs to have at least one episode published and “live” on your feed
• Your cover art needs to meet the minimum 1400px X 1400px requirement
• And if your cover art is over 500kb in size, you’ll likely have problems (you can reduce the size by using a tool like this - https://www.reduceimages.com/ )

To submit

• Go to Podcasts Connect
• Click the plus sign at the top of the dashboard
• Enter your RSS feed URL into the field provided and click the “Validate” button
• If your feed is OK (no errors) a feed preview will appear
• Then click the “submit” button

It typically takes the folks at Apple 6 hours to 48 hours to respond via email to let you know that your show has been approved.

The process for submitting a podcast to Apple Podcast changed in the last year or so (it’s now 10/2017) so it’s good that I didn’t teach you how to do this prior to the change.

Audio-Podcast.fm

No super cutesy logo to represent this podcast directory, just a generic title at the top of the page. BUT the claims made on the homepage are pretty impressive…

“Download from over 6.5 million audio podcast episoded. Choose from over 88 thousand podcasts in one of the largest audio podcast directories worldwide.”

I’m not exactly sure HOW to go about verifying that kind of claim. I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it! ;)

I’m not absolutely sure but I suspect this directory does NOT pull from Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes). The reason I think that is because I did a little experiment with my 3 podcasts.

All 3 of my podcasts are listed in Apple podcasts - so I searched for each of them in turn, by name, on Audio-Podcast.fm.

NONE of them came back in the search results.

So I decided to submit them.

Here’s how you can submit your show(s) to podcast.fm/submit-your-podcast.html">Audio-Podcast.fm

If you go to the home page you have to scroll WAYYYY to the bottom of the page and find the TINY LITTLE TEXT LINK at the bottom (see the image).

But if you use the link I provided in the title above, you’ll go right to the submission page.

Here’s what you do…

• Paste in your RSS feed URL
• Choose 3 categories for your show
• Tick the box saying you’re the producer and have read and agree with the terms and conditions (I DARE you to actually read it)
• Provide your contact email address
• Enter the infamously-troublesome CAPTCHA code
• Click the green “Submit your podcast” button

You’ll be taken to a greenish page that promises your show will be reviewed within 24 hours.

The site will also give you the opportunity to embed an icon on your website that links to your podcast on their directory. A clever way to get backlinks from a reputable website like yours, don’t you think?

Blubrry Podcast Directory

The good folks at Blubrry are most widely known for their podcast hosting services and the PowerPress plugin used on many Wordpress sites.

However, they have a pretty impressive podcast directory too.

Here’s what they say about it…

The creators of Blubrry are podcasters as well, and recognize the importance of other podcast directories including iTunes. Blubrry podcast directory does not try to compete with other directories, our main goal is to offer additional distribution points that otherwise are not available to podcasters. With this philosophy, we believe the Blubrry Podcast Directory fills the void where iTunes and podcasting is otherwise unavailable.

Did you notice that bolded section?

THAT is why the Blubrry directory is significant in my mind. Some of the places the Blubrry directory can list your show are…

• ROKU TV
• GOOGLE TV
• Android
• Samsung SmartTV

For just a few examples…

So, how do you get your show into the Blubrry podcast directory? I’m glad you asked ;)

Submit your show to the Blubrry directory

• Create an account on the Blubrry Platform
• Once that’s done, add your podcast at this link
• You’ll be asked for you RSS feed URL
• You’ll be asked to create a “web friendly” name for your show
• You’ll be asked to choose one category for your show
• And you’ll have to agree to the terms and conditions
• Then you can hit the blue “Submit” button

Not too difficult that can get your podcast onto TV boxes and the like. Well worth the effort.

doubleTwist

This one is not exactly a podcasting app or directory. It’s a media player.

BUT, it’s also got a directory you can submit to so that people who use it can easily find your podcast.

I’ve long been recommending to people that they submit to doubleTwist. And it’s an easy process.

How to submit your show to doubleTwist

• Go to the contact page on the doubleTwist.com website
• Enter your name
• Enter your email address
• In the drop-down for “subject” choose “Request New Podcast”
• Enter the title of your podcast
• Enter the CAPTCHA stuff and hit the blue “Submit” button

You’ll get a message that says the following…

They seriously have JEDIS working for them? That’s way cool… ;)

Google Play Music

After a very long time of NOT supporting or listing podcasts, Google Play Music is finally onboard with podcasting.

Sort of.

The app still has MUCH to be desired when it comes to being good for podcast search and use (as of 10/2017) but I’m hopeful Google will get the importance of podcasting and create something native to Android that works for podcasts. Maybe a rework of Google Play Music. Maybe something new.

I don’t care what. Just do something Google.

So… if you’re ready to submit your show to Google Play Music, I think it’s a good idea.

Submit your podcast to the Google Play Music directory

• You’ll have to create a Google account, first
• Go to the Google Play Music podcast page
• Click the orange “Publish Button”
• Click on the blue “ADD A PODCAST” button.
• Supply your information - including your RSS Feed URL and all requested info

A brief word of caution on this one:

Rob Walch, Podcaster Relations guy at Libsyn says that he wouldn’t be surprised if some day Google and Apple go toe to toe and make it hard for the other’s stuff to be used on their platforms.

It’s not an inconceivable idea since Apple is already pretty proprietary in the things it does. (Just try to charge an iPhone with a non-iPhone charging cord to see what I mean).

For that reason, the good folks at Libsyn have devised a way that users of their interface can create a “Google Play Music” only feed - so you can submit to Google Play Music in a way that won’t be influenced in any way by the big Apple gorilla should it decide to throw its weight around as regards your podcast feed.

If you’re a Libsyn user, just go to the “Destinations” tab in your dashboard and create a new one. You’ll see the button for “Google Play Music.” Click it and do the dance.

The result is a new RSS feed URL you can submit directly to Google Play as I’ve just instructed.

iHeart Radio

iHeart Radio is a podcasting app and SO MUCH MORE. It’s actually (as the name implies) a way to stream internet radio of all kinds, including events of various sorts.

Here’s the scoop on iHeart Radio. You can’t submit your show to it directly and it does NOT pull from the Apple Podcast ecosystem.

So how do you get into iHeart Radio?

You have to have a relationship with someone (a company) who CAN get you into iHeart Radio.

At this point, I only know of two options.

#1 - Libsyn

If you are a Libsyn user, you’re in - almost. Your show has to be regularly publishing for at least 2 months before you are eligible to be submitted to iHeart Radio.

You also have to be using the Libsyn destination feed functionality to make it work.

Once you’ve been publishing long enough, you’ll see iHeart Radio as an option in the destinations tab.

Click the “Add” button and jump through the hoops.

#2 - Spreaker

I have to say right up front that I’m not a Spreaker customer or user so the following instructions could be a bit wonky.

But after researching things this is what I understand you need to do to submit to iHeart Radio through Spreaker...

• From your show’s settings, go to Spreaker’s Content Management System.
• Choose your show, and click the yellow EDIT button.
• Select iHeart in the menu that appears on the left and click the SUBMIT button.

After clicking it, you'll be asked to accept the Terms and Conditions, and then submit your show to iHeartRadio.

And if you’re a visual type person, here’s a great screencapture-style tutorial of how to do it from the good folks at Spreaker.

So that’s how to use your connections to get into iHeart Radio.

Lisn

This is a pretty interesting directory. It’s been described as Podcast Directory meets Pinterest.

Interesting indeed.

And from first glance it has a TON of well-known and popular shows in the directory.

And I didn’t even know about this one until I began researching.

And the submission process couldn’t be simpler.

Submitting your podcast to Lisn

• Go to the Lisn homepage
• Click on the top right-hand “hamburger” menu
• Choose the “Upload” option
• In the big, black field that says “Paste URL here” - paste your RSS feed URL there ;)
• Click on the upload cloud icon below the field
• You should see a green text success thingie that tells you to wait 12 to 24 hours for your show to appear

Lisn up - that was EASY!

Listen Notes

I checked out the ListenNotes.com page during October, thus the site had a pumpkin in its logo. Funny. Reminds me of stuff Libsyn does around holidays.

Anyway…

Listen Notes is a fairly new podcast search engine that claims to be “...like Google, but for podcasts.” A self-funded software engineer from San Francisco, Wenbin Fang created the directory and it appears to be working fairly well (the site touts over 380,000 podcasts listed as of October, 2017).

So, it seems beneficial to me to get listed on the directory. Who knows, it could become my #1 means of being discovered!

How to get your podcast listed in the Listen Notes directory

• Go to www.Listennotes.com
• Choose the “submit” option way at the bottom (see image
• Once the page that opens, add your ITUNES URL for the podcast you want to submit (and be sure to copy over the http:// that’s already in the field so you don’t have problems)
• Enter your email address if you want to be notified when your podcast is added to the directory
• Click the blue/green-ish “submit” button

That. Is. it.

Player.FM

Player FM is a multi-platform app for podcasting that even works offline. You can connect it to your TV. You can access its curated catalogue (not sure exactly HOW its curated) to find niche topics and interesting stuff.

And the app costs nothing. Zilch. Nada. With no ads. There is an upgrade but with a free app this good, there are already tons of subscribers.

But you’re a podcaster… so it would be great for you to get your show in front of all those people.

Here’s the submission process for the Player.FM directory.

• Go to this link: https://player.fm/importer/new
• Enter your RSS feed URL in the big box (see image below)
• Hit the “Import” button.

That was the easiest thing I’ve done all day.

Podbean

If you don’t know about