How to Create a Podcast Website
Affordable video and audio recording technology allows people to create their own media content. Some choose to share their interests, information and news with others all over the Internet with downloadable audio or video episodes called podcasts. Podcast users can subscribe to podcast RSS feeds to download new episodes as soon as they are published, or they can download episode files directly from the podcast's website.
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Instructions
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Create a blog. Popular blogging services include Blogger and Wordpress (see links in Resources section); both are free to use. Blogger allows users to choose to create and host a blog either on Blogger's servers or on a user's own Web server. Wordpress users can either create a blog at Wordpress.com or install the Wordpress application their own Web server.
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Create an syndication feed for your blog. Syndication feeds such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS) allow users to subscribe automatically to your podcast updates. Blogger and Wordpress both have their own native RSS feeds that are automatically enabled when you create a blog using those services.
You can also use a service like Google's Feedburner---a free service that allows you to manage your feed and examine feed statistics, and offers different subscription options to your listeners. Alternatives to Feedburner include Feedcat and Feedity.
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Upload your podcast file. If you chose to host your blog at a free service such as Blogger or Wordpress, you will have to use a separate service such as OurMedia (free) or Libsyn (paid) to host your podcast files. If you chose to host your blog at your own Web hosting server, you can upload your files directly to your server.
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Create a blog entry with a link to your podcast file. A unique title and interesting, detailed description help to inform listeners on the subject of your podcast episode.
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Publish your podcast in popular podcasting directories. Apple iTunes, Podcast Directory and Podcast Alley are some of the biggest podcast directories.
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Tips & Warnings
Estimate the amount of space you will need for your podcast before signing up with a Web host. Depending on quality, the average five-minute audio podcast takes up about 5 megabytes (MB); 1 gigabyte (GB) of Web space will host approximately 200 podcast episodes of that length. If you choose to host your own blog and podcast files, use a Web hosting plan that includes enough space for the amount of content you plan on archiving on site.
If you choose to host your own Wordpress, you can download and install a plugin called PodPress, which will optimize your self-hosted Wordpress installation for podcasting.
If you choose to host your own blog and podcast files, research your webhost to ensure that it can handle the amount of traffic you will generate. Web hosting companies may charge extra if your traffic exceeds your allotment.
References
Resources
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