To make a podcast with WordPress the first thing you will need is an audio recording and the open source, free software provided by Audacity is recommended highly.
So step one is:
1. Record your audio with Audacity
2. Store your audio file on Amazon S3
Once you have your audio file in mp3 format you will need to store it somewhere and we recommend the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) which offers great value storage for storing data from anywhere on the web with a straightforward web interface.
Storing audio or video files on your website hosting account is not a good idea as you can run into restrictions with your hosting company quite quickly as video and audio files can be pretty large, particularly if you intending providing a lot of video or audio on your website.
3. Set up a category on your WordPress site and name it Podcast or something similar.
Then each and every episode of your podcast should be categorised with this category. What you will be doing then is getting the feed for this category only and submitting it to Feedburner which will ultimately allow you to submit your podcast to the Apple iTunes store.
4. Download the free Audio Player plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.
Once you download and install this plugin create your first podcast episode in a post on your WordPress site and use the following code to make your audio accessible to your visitors:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
. Make sure to categorise it in your Podcast category as mentioned at 3 above.
5. Now you need to get the RSS feed of your category which we have called Podcast. Depending on which browser you are using there may be slightly different ways to access this feed; however the critical thing here is to get the feed for this category only.
I use Firefox so I go up to the browser bar and click on the orange RSS icon which gives me the feed address for the category. If you don’t have the orange RSS icon in your browser you can get a simple free add on to identify RSS feeds and install it.
The other browsers also offer you this functionality so you will have to explore this yourself but you simply need to get the feed for your podcast category.
6. Go to Feedburner at Feedburner.Google.com and open a free account.
Go to the box which says “burn a feed right this instant” and insert the address of your category feed which you will have obtained at 5 above and make sure to tick the box marked “I am a podcaster”.
Once you do this and hit the “next” button Feedburner will create a new feed for you which can then be submitted to iTunes.
First though you need to choose the Optimize tab at the top of the page and then choose the Smartcast option down the left hand side. This will bring up a page allowing you to submit all the necessary details for your feed prior to submission to iTunes such as the categories you want your feed to be in at iTunes, copyright information and contact details and so on.
7. Submit to iTunes
This is the fun part-go to iTunes store and choose “podcasts” and fill out the submission form.
You will receive a confirmation from iTunes some days later that your podcast has been accepted provided it is acceptable.
8. Promote your podcast
Make sure to promote your podcast by providing a link or badge on your site to your iTunes podcast and also submit it to the many podcast directories on the internet.
This will allow you to obtain some great backlinks from around the web which will improve your seo efforts and help you reach a wider audience that a few years ago you could only dream about.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Filed under How to Create a Podcast 
Creating a podcast with WordPress is pretty straightforward and this post will explain
- why you should consider creating a podcast with WordPress and
- submitting it to Apple’s iTunes store
- and what you will need to do this for free.
Why create a podcast?
At Web design Dublin we are committed believers in the benefits of content marketing but content can take many forms or representations.
While the written word and text is what powers the search engines (for now at least) and should be a foundational stone of your website in demonstrating your authority and building trust with your visitors and converting them into fans of your business, it is pretty clear that video and audio are preferred by a substantial number of people.
While video is great and incredibly popular it is not recommended that you try to watch videos while driving to work or exercising-however podcasts can be enjoyed by drivers, commuters, walkers and in many situations where your potential market cannot read text or watch videos.
With audio podcasts people can download your content in the form of a podcast from the Apple iTunes store or directly from your website and listen to what you have to say on their phone or ipod.
This form of content marketing is an alternative form of representation of your useful, helpful information to help visitors to solve their problems and ultimately attract lifelong clients or customers for your business.
Why submit to iTunes
Submit your podcast to iTunes because that’s where people hang out in huge numbers and because you can get a nice backlink from a top site on the internet.
What you need to create a podcast
To create your podcast you will need these freebies:
- the free software download from Audacity.org
- a free WordPress plugin called “Audio Player” and
- a Feedburner account. Feedburner is owned by Google so if you have a Google account, for example Gmail, opening a Feedburner account is simplicity itself.
This is all you need to create your own podcast with WordPress and once you have done so you can also get some great search engine optimisation benefits by submitting your podcast to various podcast directories.
Getting good quality backlinks from a diverse range of sources with different c class ip addresses from around the globe will provide a lot of impetus to your off page seo so there are pretty compelling reasons for making a podcast.
Elsewhere on Web Design Dublin you can discover how to create a podcast with a Blogger blog.
However creating one with WordPress is probably easier so in our next post or two we will show you in step by step fashion how to create your first podcast with WordPress.
This will allow you to reach a new audience, extend the reach of your message and take your content marketing to a new level.
Filed under How to Create a Podcast
