There are several different ways of publishing a podcast and each method has its own pros and cons.

Essential a podcast is a growing series of audio files (typically mp3) that are listed in an XML file (or RSS feed). The podcast feed is really just a plain text file that tells the "podcast player, device or publisher (think Apple Podcasts) where the audio file is, who the author is, what the subject and description is, and a bunch of other podcast specific tags and metatags. A podcast program and, for example, "Apple podcasts" knows what to do with the information in the text file (or podcast RSS feed), retrieves it every so often, and then displays the content, image and audio file accordingly.

Using a third party podcast service

Some podcasters use third party services to host their podcast. They also use that service to upload the audio file, description and image. Then the podcaster will copy and paste a widget (bunch of code) from the third party site into a new article on their own website. This widget code will then display the download audio link, podcast link, a play button, an image and description. Additional content (links mentioned in the podcast etc) are then added using the website CMS i.e. WordPress, Drupal or whatever. Example third party podcast service: www.podbean.com

Self hosting and managing your own podcast

The other option is to host a podcast totally on your own website. Most CMS system will have a plugin or two to help you do this. After installing the podcast plugins or modules you can then upload an audio file to your own site and your plugin will generate the xml file. Both the audio file (mp3) and the podcast file (rss) will remain on your website hosting account (or server) all under your own domain name! Then you submit your rss feed to Apple podcasts, Google podcasts and everywhere else good podcasts are found.

With a self managed podcast you could also choose to host the audio files elsewhere i.e. one can have a self managed podcast on your own website but use SoundCloud just to host the audio files. You could move the audio files to another cloud platform a year or two later and simply update your rss feed. Self managed means more options and more control but a little more initial set up work.

Pros of third party podcast

• Ease of use and setup.
• No need to host the audio files on your own server.
• They will sometimes promote a podcast.
• Some will offer very advanced analytics. (statistics)

Negatives of third party podcast

• Monthly subscription fee.
• They control your feed (XML file)
• They have all of your audio on their server.
• Migrating away from the service will be a pain in the you know where. (You never really want to break your podcast feed)

Pros of self managed podcast

• You totally control your feed and the location of your audio files (which you can easily move anywhere)
• No subscription service payments ever.
• You can still totally publish your podcast with Apple Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher etc.

Negatives of self managed podcast​

• Initial setup cost.
• Analytics won't be able to compete.
• Audio files can use a large amount of space and bandwidth. (but you can easily move them if this becomes a burden)

Contact us if you need help with publishing a new podcast or rescuing an existing podcast!