When it comes to launching your podcast, you may think that all you need to do is press “publish” and you’re good to go! But in order to create the most successful podcast launch, there are a few things that you should double-check. By checking them before you launch, you can cut down on any snags or mishaps your podcast may face in the future!
Here’s ten things to check on your podcast before you launch:
1. Your podcast logo
Your podcast logo should be 1400×1400 pixels square, with a maximum of 3000×3000 pixels, in a JPEG or PNG format, and smaller than 1MB. If your podcast cover doesn’t meet these parameters, it could cause issues for your podcast RSS feed down the line.*
Need help resizing your podcast logo? Check out this link here.
2. Your owner/author line in your RSS feed
Your RSS feed will have a spot where you can list your name (or your company name) as the owner/author of the feed. It’s always beneficial to have your name listed here in case of any ownership disputes. This is one of many fields that is required by some directories.
3. Your email address
Your feed also has a spot for you to input your email address in case someone needs to contact you. Some directories will deny your feed if your email address isn’t included in your feed.
4. Your podcast description
Statistics show that your podcast description is the main make-or-break thing that either entices listeners to check out your podcast, or make them move on to another podcast. Before you launch, or even as you progress with your podcast, make sure that your description is written well and matches the tone of your podcast. This is yet another field that is required by some directories.
5. Your social media handles
While you don’t have to have a presence on every social media channel, make sure that before you launch, you have your social media platforms chosen, and your social media handles signed up for. You should be promoting your podcast before your launch, and your social media channels are one of the best places to do this. If you’re just launching your podcast’s website (which all Podbean hosted podcasts have as part of their plan), it’s also best to ensure that your social media handles are there, too. You can also put your social media handles in the description of your episodes (although we don’t recommend putting the full link…just something akin to “Twitter: @mysocialmediahandle”).
6. Teaser/trailer episode
Your teaser episode/trailer serves two purposes. Not only does it give listeners a preview of what your content is going to be like, it gives you an episode that you can use to submit to directories in advance of your first official episode. This way, you can ensure the launch of your podcast isn’t delayed by waiting for your podcast to be accepted into directories. Speaking of…
7. Submitting to directories
As you get ready to launch your podcast, make sure that you’ve got your podcast submitted to as many directories as possible so that they’re all ready to go. This ensures that there are as few steps as possible for your new listeners to get to your podcast. It’s okay to push your release date back so that your directories are absolutely ready, instead of trying to launch too soon and have directories cause a snag!
If you’re hosted with Podbean, you can navigate to Distribution – Podcast Apps from your podcast’s dashboard and easily submit to a wide range of directories such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more.
*Check out our Submit Your Podcast to Podcast Directories master post for even more directories to submit your podcast to!
8. Backlog of episodes for launching/fall back on
We highly suggest launching with anywhere from 3-5 episodes, as this gives your new listeners something to binge when you launch, instead of just giving them one episode that they may quickly listen to and forget about. Having episodes as a backlog helps you by giving you breathing room in case of an emergency where you can’t record, or space to take a break as needed.
9. Mark content as explicit/clean
This may seem trivial, but if your podcast isn’t correctly marked as explicit if your show is going to contain explicit content/language, there’s a chance that your podcast will be taken down. If you don’t know for sure, you can always mark your podcast as non-explicit and mark individual episodes as explicit as needed. However, if episodes are mislabeled as non-explicit when they are explicit, your podcast may be removed from various podcast directories.
10. Episode number limit
This is also something that can seem trivial, but definitely important for long running podcasts. Found in your feed settings, this number is automatically set to 100 (meaning 100 episodes can appear in your feed). However, if you don’t change that and you have over 100, there are episodes that won’t be listed. Raising the episode limit is one of the first things we recommend doing to ensure that your podcast doesn’t get cut off in your directories as you publish more content.
Want to learn more about launching your podcast? Check out our podcast launch plan post here!
Thanks Roni,well informed with vital
information .
One step further, create a post on your website about the episode and embed in the post the podcast. I would also add and towards end of the episode include a recap of instructions for the listener to encourage a reply. See Xanis.me to see how.
Thanks Roni, but my daily podcast is about to bust through 999 episodes, what do I do?
My podcast is Dr. James Beckett: Sports Card Insights
Hi Jim! I’m not too sure what the issue is that you’re encountering? If you require assistance, please email our team at support@podbean.com!
Is your 999 episode limit (the max) that you mentioned in your blog artificial? Does it not matter? I am anticipating what will happen when I get to my episode #1000 soon.
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This article is a true game-changer for aspiring podcasters like myself. The step-by-step approach, accompanied by insightful tips and explanations, sets this guide apart from others I’ve come across. It’s evident that the authors have a deep understanding of the podcasting world, and their attention to detail ensures nothing is overlooked when preparing for a successful podcast launch. Thanks to this comprehensive and well-structured checklist, I feel empowered and excited to embark on my podcasting journey with confidence! Kudos to the team behind this outstanding piece of content!
I started, did, my first time ever, podbean podcast saturday evening. It’s now monday noon, and my podcast still isn’t showing up anywhere, on the internet or even on podbean itself when I type it in to look for it. I went to my “homepage” and I can see that it has been downloaded to podbean so that isn’t the problem. I also looked on podbean for … “help” or “troubleshooting tips” or anything like that … and couldn’t find that on the podbean site either. Do you have any helpful suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Kenneth! You may have to email our team at support@podbean.com for assistance, but here a few things that may help: in order for your podcast to be found on the different directories, you do need to submit to them first so that they know that your podcast is available! I’m going to share a blog post with you that will walk you through how to submit your RSS feed, but remember that you will need to have all of your podcast’s information (description, podcast cover, categories) filled out, and you will have to publish at least 1 episode for the feed to be valid. If you’re still experiencing issues from there, hit up our team at the email we listed and we’ll take a look at your account! The blog post for the directories is: https://blog.podbean.com/submit-your-podcast/
I’ll check those things out that you mentioned. Thank you.