How to Build a Podcast Website
You need only three things to start your own podcast website. First, you need a publicly available website where you can upload files for your podcast. Secondly, you need text, audio, or video files comprising the content of your website. Third, you need an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) file that will inform subscribers where to access your website and when your podcast was last updated. With these done you can start to let people know about your podcast, and have it listed on services like iTunes.
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Instructions
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Starting a Website
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Decide on a domain name for a website and check to see if the name is available using a free service like whois.org.
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Register the domain with a Web hosting company. Read their instructions on how to upload files and pages for your website.
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Download and install an FTP client software to your computer such as Filezilla, available free from filezilla-project.org. Your Web hosting company will provide you with an FTP username, password, and port number for uploading files to your website.
Your First Podcast
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Decide on the format for your first podcast. Podcasts can be audio, video or text and each podcast can be a different format. If you plan to make your podcast available on services like iTunes, use a file format they will support, such as “.mp3” for audio podcasts, “.mp4,” “.m4v,” “.m4a” or “.mov,” for video and “.pdf” or “.epub” for text podcasts.
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Create a new folder on your website. In Filezilla you can do this by right-clicking on your website folder in the right menu. Select “Create Directory,” and then replace “New directory” with the name of your folder, such as “podcast” and click “OK.”
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Upload your podcast file to the “podcast” directory. In Filezilla, locate the file on your hard drive in the left menu, and then drag it onto the “podcast” folder in the right menu.
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Create an RSS feed for your podcasts. You can create one yourself using a basic text editor like Notepad, or use a free online service such as rapidfeeds.com. To make your own RSS file you can use a template provided by iTunes or PodCast411.com
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Save the file in plain text format with the file name “podcast.rss.” Upload it to your “podcast” folder on your web server using FTP.
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Add your podcast to services like iTunes by providing them with the location of your "podcast.rss" file and following the directions provided by the service. For example, iTunes will require information be added to the RSS file, such as a summary and whether or not the podcast contains explicit language, and other details.
Updating Your Podcast
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Add additional podcast files to the “podcast” folder on your Web server whenever you wish.
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Open your “podcast.rss” file on the Web server using a text editor like Notepad.
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Look for the “<item>” tag in the file. This tag identifies and provides details about your first podcast. Drag the cursor over the “<item>” tag to the “</item>” tag including all the information between. Press “Ctrl-V” to copy it.
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Insert a new line after the “</item>” tag and press “Ctrl-V” to paste a new item. Replace all of the information as it applies to your second podcast, such as the title, description, length, publication date, etc. Save the file to your Web server. Services like iTunes will check this file daily to see if your podcast has been updated.
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