(This is part 1 in a 6-part series on podcasts – if you’ve ever considered starting your own podcast, or know someone who has, let’s explore together!)
A website for a podcast can be an amazing way to build an audience, serve as a central hub for communication to your listeners, and build credibility in your business. Deciding how to build your website can be a struggle in itself. It seems like there are endless options for how to build a podcast website, so how do I know what’s best for me? Here are a few things to think about when deciding on how to build a podcast website:
What are my website options?
So what are your options for building a website? Determining the best way to build a website for your podcast depends on your resources, talents, time, and business goals. Here are a couple of different ways to build a website for your podcast:
Build a website yourself
Do it yourself website builders like Wix and Squarespace are great for people who want to save money and create a website that fits their unique brand and style. DIY website builders offer inexpensive pricing for a monthly or yearly fee. The pricing model allows you to get up-and-running online with a minimal cost to your bottom line. They are typically much cheaper than a custom website solution.
If you don’t know how to build a website, this template based approach will allow you to get something online that looks good. Many site builders offer a great deal of customization, but if it’s your first time building a site, you should probably stick to elements found inside the template. Using templates will help the overall site look more professional and help you build your brand.
It’s easy to get online quickly using a site builder. If you have your logo and branding already created, you can get a site online in less than a day. If speed is what you are looking for, a website builder may be your best option.
Use your podcast host
Another option for building your podcast website is to use a template site provided by your podcast host. Many podcast hosts (BuzzSprout, OmnyStudio, or PodBean) offer a template site that shows your logo, branding, and a list of your podcast episodes. Using these template sites has a variety of pros and cons.
The main goal of a podcast host website is to show your audience all of your podcast episodes. Most of these types of sites consist of your branding and a list of episodes, that’s it. For this reason, they are very easy to launch. If you need your site up almost immediately, this may be the best route for you.
These types of sites are basically a fill-in-the-blank solution for a podcast website. Podcast Host Websites show you exactly how to get them setup and they work accordingly.
Since there isn’t much to customize, these types of sites are quick to launch and maintain. If you are looking to have a small web presence to push people to, this may be your best option.
Custom Website
A custom website solution offers the most wide-ranging, robust option for those looking to grow a podcast business. Custom website solutions may not be for everyone, but they offer solutions to meet all of the needs of a business owner.
Custom made websites done right should serve as a marketing solution for your business as a whole. If you are utilizing our podcast to grow revenue in your business, a custom made website done by an agency with experience in marketing will help you to grow your business. When selecting a Web Designer, try to find someone with the mindset of leveraging the website to grow the business rather than a designer that wants to simply build a pretty website.
Custom website solutions offer a robust solution that can grow as your business grows. If you are projecting your podcast to grow, your website will need to grow with it. Custom sites generally have more features that can grow with your business so that you don’t have to start from scratch with a new website when you’ve outgrown your old website.
Custom websites are…CUSTOM! Custom sites allow you to build and design a site that fits your needs and the needs of your business. Find a designer with the heart of a teacher that can assist you with best practices to help you design and build a site that helps grow your business.
What are the downsides?
Now that your options for building a website, it is important to note the challenges to each of your options so you can decide what is right for your business. Here are some downsides to the options we discussed above:
Building the website yourself
DIY website builders are great for beginners or new websites, but one of the major drawbacks is that they are limited in what they can do. As your podcast grows, more features may need to be added to accomplish new objectives in your business. This can sometimes be a struggle if what you need is outside of what the particular template that you are using can do. At that point, you might either need to hire a professional to add code to your site, or you may need to upgrade your website completely to something that will increase the functionality of the site.
When using a website builder, you are going at it alone. It’s true that there are many tutorials and online forums out there that can help, but for the most part, you have to figure everything out on your own. Depending on where you are in your business, you may want to hire a web designer or marketing consultant that can help you determine best practices for the site and help you build a site that will help boost your business.
Since you are all alone in building your site, this may be a time consuming process! Many podcasters would rather focus on writing content, booking guests, editing episodes, and all of the many tasks required in building a podcast. Time spent working on a website may be better used elsewhere.
Using your podcast host
The bread and butter for podcast host sites is that they are good at listing your podcast episodes. If you are looking for much more than that, you may find that this type of site is too limited for your needs. If you are preparing for your podcast to grow, this type of site may be too limited for your needs.
There’s only so much that this type of site can do. If you want to implement an SEO strategy to leverage your website to grow your business, you will find limited potential with a podcast host website.
These types of websites are good at one thing, therefore they do not scale very well. If you are wanting to scale your podcast through your website, you’ll probably be better off utilizing a DIY website builder or a custom website solution for your business.
Custom Websites
Fully custom websites tend to be more expensive than the other two options discussed above. If cost is a factor for you or if your podcast is more of a hobby, it might be better to go with a different option.
If you are new to the podcasting world, or just doing your podcast as a fun hobby, a custom made website may not be the best option for you. If this is you, you may not need or want the ability to scale your business to a place where you need a custom solution for your website. In this case, a less expensive DIY site builder or podcast host website solution may be better for you.
DIY website builders, Podcast Host builders, and custom website solutions can all be used by podcasters to help grow their businesses. Depending on where you are or where you hope to be in the future of your business will help determine the right solution for you. At Classic City, we build custom websites that serve as a marketing solution to help you grow your business. If you are in need of a custom website solution, we’d love to help you out!
Chris LaFay