30: What Link Should You Use When Sharing Your Podcast?
You're ready to start promoting your podcast, but what do you actually promote?
Do you share a link to your podcast on Apple Podcasts because that's what 60-70% of people are using?
Do you share a link to the individual episodes themselves?
In this episode, I explain exactly what link to share and how this will change depending on whether you're pre/post-launch, the objective of the podcast, and where you're sharing it.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Android Devices | Spotify | iHeartRADIO | RSS
Transcript
welcome to podcasting for coaches i'm Britany Felix and i'm a podcast launch consultant who specializes in helping coaches and consultants utilize the power of podcasting as a way to build brand awareness and generate new leads for their business i realize not every new coach or consultant can afford to hire someone to help launch their show so i created this podcast as a way to guide you through the process of launching and utilizing your very own podcast to help you grow your business and reach a new audience of adoring followers and potential clients if you're ready to get your voice and podcast out into the world head over to podcasting for coaches.com to learn more welcome to episode 30 of podcasting for coaches in this episode we are going to talk about what link you should use when you're sharing your episode in various places and at various times this is something that a lot of people often don't really think about until it comes time to start promoting their show and they have no idea what the best practices there's actually a few things to consider when deciding what link to use the very short straightforward to the point answer is your website as much as possible getting into it a little bit further however there are a few different things that we can do during your launch phase so while you're promoting it after you've submitted your episode zero your podcast is available on all the platforms for people to go ahead and start subscribing but you have not yet actually released your official launch episodes during this period of time i recommend having a landing page on your website that has all of the different subscribe options i actually have an example of this on my own website and i will link to that in the show notes so that you can see what that looks like on that landing page i have apple podcasts which also covers itunes by the way if somebody is on their desktop google podcast spotify i heart radio and android devices in general now you're going to get all of these different links for your show whenever you are approved to be on their platform they should send you something and they'll say that your store url is this and that's the link that you want to use that's the link that when they click on it it will take them to your podcast inside that particular platform for android devices in general you're going to want to go to subscribe on android.com and enter in your rss feed that will give you a link that you can use so that when somebody clicks on that it should automatically open up whatever app they use on their android device now on this landing page i do recommend also including your episode zero and again you'll see this on mine i have my subscribe links at the top and then at the bottom i say you know haven't checked out the show yet we'll take a listen to the introductory episode here and then i have a button for more episodes because my shows already launched and i have more episodes for them to check out you during the launch phase are not going to have that yet so you'll just need to remember to go back and add that once you have some episodes this is a good thing to share because as you're promoting your podcasts you can say hey i'm launching this podcast it's coming soon you can check out the introductory episode but go ahead and subscribe right now to make sure you don't miss the launch and then you can give that one url and then anyone can subscribe to your show no matter what platform they use so at that point you're not really eliminating anyone because most people choose to share their listing in apple podcasts and on itunes but that eliminates so many people who don't have an iphone now another good reason to have this landing page is that when you're a guest on other podcasts and you want to provide something quick and easy for people to remember and instead of saying find my podcast on whatever app you use or go to this particular page on my website and then click an episode that you want to listen to and then find the subscribe link we want to really make it as easy as possible so when you're a guest on other podcasts you can just say yeah go to this url right here and you can subscribe using whatever app you want that way people can very very easily check out your show without having a lot of hoops to jump through or steps to take now when you're creating this landing page if you use wordpress i want you to use if you don't already for your business a plugin called pretty link there is a free version and it works just fine this allows you to create a custom url so essentially you'll have your full url for this page that you create and this works for every show notes every thing on your website that you want to have a custom url for so you can have your url be your website name.com forward slash subscribe to podcast whatever you want that to be but you can use the pretty link to create it so that just says your website comm forward slash subscribe and for social media by the way you can create these so that it's your website.com forward slash facebook and then it automatically redirects them to your facebook group or your facebook page same for instagram twitter really anything you want to create a custom, easy short URL for? Now, if you are someone who cares very deeply about becoming a top ranked show in iTunes slash Apple podcast, this is the one time you want to share this link. Instead, I do not recommend this, your goal should not be to become a top ranked Apple podcasts or iTunes podcast, unless your main objective is to get sponsors. If you only only only want to have sponsors, and you only care what your show looks like to the outside world in terms of ranking and validation, then sure, surely iTunes link and that should hopefully boost you up in the rankings a little bit. However, if you are trying to get new leads for your business, if you are trying to build a your audience if you're trying to get people on your email list or into your Facebook group, if you're trying to do any of those things that don't involve sponsorship from an outside source, always direct people to your website. So after you have already launched and you're promoting your individual episodes, always share the link to the show notes for that specific episode. Don't make people go to your website in general. And by the way, don't listen to me on this because I don't use WordPress, I can't create a very simple custom URL. So I have to tell you when you want to find the show notes like for this episode to go to podcasting for coaches.com, click on the podcast tab and then go to Episode 30, which has multiple steps. And it's kind of ridiculous. But unfortunately, because of the website platform that I host with and have chosen for other reasons, I have to do that. However, if you are on a WordPress website or a Squarespace website, or any website, really where they let you create a custom URL, always, always share the link directly to the show notes. Use Pretty Link to make it so that it is an easy URL, like your website, comm forward slash 23. And it would redirect automatically to that specific show notes page for Episode 23. The reason we want to do this is because that's what you're promoting. That's what people are clicking on. When you share that podcast episode and they click that link. It's because they're interested in either that guest or that topic, they want to learn more, they want to get the resources, any of those number of things. So don't make them hunt and dig for it once they get on your site. Now, I do recommend having a main podcast directory page. So if you already have a blog, it's going to be the same thing as if you have a blog page, where it lists all of your posts in the order that they have been published. It's going to be the exact same for a podcast, you're going to have a podcast tab in your main menu. When they click on it, it should display all of your podcast episodes, preferably in terms of the most recent at the top. Now some people choose to permanently embed episode zero at the top of the page for any new listeners who are just coming to check out the show for the first time. And that's not necessarily a bad strategy. That's just your call, whether you want to have that at the top or whether you want to have your very most recent one. And you can also use this page whenever you're a guest and other podcasts. If you don't want to use this subscribe landing page we talked about earlier. You can use this one instead. But it can create a little bit more work for the listener if they want to check out your show immediately because then they have to pick an episode go into it, and then click a subscribe link to find you and whatever their preferred platform is. So to sum up really quickly pre launch, I recommend that you create a subscribe landing page that includes Apple podcast, Google podcasts, Spotify, I Heart Radio. Once you can get on there, there are a couple of requirements that will allow you to not be on there until after you've already been releasing episodes regularly for a few months. And then Android devices in general using subscribe on android.com, which will be linked in the show notes for this episode. And I will also link to my subscribe page that you can check that out. And I also recommend having an episode zero on this page somewhere as well. If you are solely concerned with getting the highest ranking possible in Apple podcasts or iTunes for the purposes of sponsorship. Then when you're promoting your individual episodes or your show share the iTunes Apple podcast link. Use Pretty Link for WordPress to create custom short URLs that are easy to say and remember and use the main podcast directory page on your website so it's easy for listeners to check out other episodes, and you have another option to share besides a subscribe landing page. Now before we officially wrap up this episode, I want to invite you to follow podcasting for coaches on Facebook. I do have a Facebook page and I am posting the episodes there every week. I'm also sharing relevant and sometimes extremely important information about the podcast industry. In fact, if you're listening to this the day that this comes out, which is Thursday, October 11. Just yesterday I shared an article about why you should absolutely not care about your ranking on Apple podcasts and iTunes. So in order to follow that page, all you have to do is go to facebook.com forward slash podcasting for coaches. There will be updates posted there anytime there's news regarding the show. And there's going to be some personal updates occasionally as well. So facebook.com forward slash podcasting for coaches. Thank you so much for joining me today and I will see you back here next week, we are going to talk about the importance of educating your audience about podcasts and how they can listen. Have a fantastic week. And that wraps up another episode of podcasting for coaches. If you're wondering if now is the right time to start a podcast for your coaching or consulting business, head on over to podcasting for coaches.com where you can either take a free quiz or schedule a one on one consultation with yours truly, thank you so much for joining me today and I will see you back here for the next episode.