Delivering a podcast can seem dauntingly technical. But a podcast is really just a collection of audio (or video) files hosted on your blog – either a blog set up specifically for the purpose, or a discrete category called, say, ‘podcast’. The thing that transforms it from a collection of static audio files to a subscribable, downloadable podcast is the RSS feed for the blog or blog category used to host the files.
You don’t need to do anything to create this RSS feed – it is a standard feature that automatically comes with your blog – but you should create a new feed using Feedburner so that you can track how many people have subscribed to your podcast. This is easy to do – just tick the ‘I am a podcaster’ box when you set up the feed. You can also enter a description, choose a category, and submit your ‘podcover’ (the graphic for your podcast) here.
To make it easy for people to subscribe, and to make people aware of your podcast, you now need to list it in a podcast directory. iTunes is the Google of podcast directories – you absolutely must get it listed here. Others include PodBean.com, Podcast Alley, PodcastDirectory.com, Podcast Pickle, blubrry and Odeo – but the vast majority of people will go straight to iTunes.
- Open the iTunes program. You can download this for free from www.apple.com/itunes if you don’t have it.
- Sign-in to the iTunes Store. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t already have one
- Click on the “Podcasts” section in the top navigation
- Click “Submit a Podcast” in the right-hand menu
- Enter in your podcast feed URL. Make sure this the one created using Feedburner rather than your original feed address from the blog you use to host your podcast, so that Feedburner can track your stats.
- Confirm the on-screen details, and click submit. You’ll receive an email once your podcast has been accepted by iTunes. This typically takes about a week.
