Audio »Podcasting
Podcasting is a method to distribute episodic audio or video messages through a feed to which listeners can subscribe. You can publish podcasts on your WordPress.com site and make them available for listeners in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and through direct feed links for other podcasting apps.
Please note: podcasting works by uploading audio files in .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, or .wav formats. You can also upload videos to your podcasts through VideoPress. Uploading audio is included with a paid plan, and video is included with the Premium plan and above. If your plan does not include audio and/or video uploads, you can upload your files elsewhere and embed them into your podcast episodes.
Apple Podcasts will not accept .ogg or .wav files
Spotify will only accept .mp3 files
Configure your Site
Start by going to My Site(s) → Manage → Settings → Writing
- Under the Podcasting section, click the Set Up button to access the Podcasting Settings page.
- Choose an existing category, or click “Add new category” to enable your podcast channel. In our example case, we’ll create a new “Podcast” category.
- After selecting a category, a link to your podcast channel feed will be shown. Under RSS Feed note and save the URL by clicking “copy” – you will need this when submitting the feed to Apple Podcasts.
Under the new Manage Details button, you can access your Podcast Settings.
Use the Podcast Settings page to set up or modify your channel’s settings:
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Cover image: add, change, or remove an image to be used as the cover art to appear in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and other podcast apps. Select an existing image or upload a new image, and click “continue” to crop it to a square format.
- Note: Your image should be between 1400 x 1400 and 3000 x 3000 pixels in JPG or PNG formats to work on Apple Podcasts.
- Title: this title appears in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and any other podcast apps.
- Subtitle: the subtitle also appears in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and any other podcast apps.
- Podcast topics: these allow your podcast to show up for those browsing Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or other podcast apps by category.
- Explicit content: mark yes if the podcast contains adult language or adult themes.
- Host/Artist/Producer: the artist or producer of the work.
- Summary: Apple Podcasts displays this summary when browsing through podcasts.
- Email Address: this email address will be displayed in the feed and is required for some services such as Google Play.
- Copyright: copyright information viewable in Apple Podcasts or other podcast apps.
- Keywords: add terms to help your podcast show up in search results on Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps.
Once configured, click the “Save Settings” button at the top of the page.
For your podcast to be approved by major podcast networks, make sure that the language of your site (Settings → General) matches the language of your podcast.
Create a Podcast Episode
These instructions refer to the Block Editor. If you are using the Classic Editor, click here.
- Go to My Site(s) → Site → Posts and click on Add New Post.
- The post’s title will be used for the episode title in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and other podcast apps.
- Under the Document settings menu, assign the Post to the Podcast category you created in Settings → Writing.
- You can also add an Excerpt to describe the episode. When there is no excerpt, one will be auto-generated from the post’s content.
Add an Audio Block and upload or link to your Podcast audio.
Audio embeds from Soundcloud and Audiomack should not be used, as Apple Podcasts is unable to download the audio file from those services.
You can embed a video through the same steps, using the Video Block instead of the Audio Block.
Videos uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo may not work properly in your podcast. Ideally, the video should be uploaded to your WordPress.com account.
Once you’re ready for your Podcast episode to go live, Publish your new post.
Display Podcast Episodes on Your Site
You can use the Podcast Player Block to display a listing of recent episodes from a podcast and play them on your website.
Submit to Apple Podcasts
Submitting the feed to Apple Podcasts only needs to be performed one time. Once it’s done, any post published with your designated podcast category will distribute automatically to your subscribers.
- Have your podcast feed URL nearby. It will be available on the Settings > Writing page and/or the Podcasting Settings page depending on whether or not your podcast is configured.
- Follow the instructions provided by Apple to Test a Podcast.
- After you have confirmed that your podcast feed passed the test, open Podcasts Connect and sign in with your Apple ID. Click the + symbol in the upper-left corner. Add your feed URL, then press validate. Make any necessary changes until the feed validates.
- Once the validator passes, submit your podcast. Podcasts submitted to Apple Podcasts do not become immediately available for subscription by others. They are submitted for review by Apple staff. You may read more about their review process on this Podcasts Connect support page.
- After your podcast feed is accepted, you can create a link to share your podcast.
Submit to Google Play
Submitting the feed to Google Play only needs to be performed one time. Once it’s done, any post published with your designated podcast category will distribute automatically to your subscribers.
- Have your podcast feed URL nearby. It will be available on the Settings → Writing page and/or the Podcasting Settings page depending on whether or not your podcast is configured.
- Follow the instructions provided by Google to Add a podcast using a RSS feed.
- Sign in to the Google Play Music Podcast Portal.
- Near the top right, click Add podcast.
- Add your podcast’s RSS feed URL.
- Click Submit RSS feed.
- Verify your email address:
- After you’ve submitted your RSS feed, review the email address used to verify ownership of your podcast. Note: this should match the “email” field in you Podcast Settings page.
- Click Send verification code.
- Check the email account listed for your verification email.
- Visit the link included in the email to complete the verification process.
Submit to Spotify
Submitting the feed to Spotify only needs to be performed one time. Once it’s done, any post published with your designated podcast category will distribute automatically to your subscribers.
- Have your podcast feed URL nearby. It will be available on the Settings → Writing page and/or the Podcasting Settings page depending on whether or not your podcast is configured.
- Use the feed URL to provide the information in this site.
Create an Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing Skill
Episodes older than 7 days will be ignored by Amazon.
- Have your podcast feed URL nearby. It will be available on the Settings → Writing page and/or the Podcasting Settings page depending on whether or not your podcast is configured.
- Follow the instructions on this page to create and submit an Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing Skill. Note: this will require an account on the Amazon Developer Console
Adjust the Number of Episodes in Your Feed
By default, your podcast feed will show the latest 10 episodes from your chosen podcast category. Older episodes can be accessed on your site via the category archive, i.e. https://example.wordpress.com/category/podcast/.
- Go to My Site(s) → Manage → Settings → Writing
- Scroll down to Feed Settings and adjust your number of most recent blog posts to show in your RSS Feeds. This includes your Podcast RSS feed.
- Click Save Settings.
Podcast Widget
You can use the Podcast Widget to display information about your Podcast and allow visitors to subscribe via iTunes. To add this widget:
- Go to My Site(s) → Design → Customize → Widgets.
- Select the widget area where you want to add this widget.
- Click Add a Widget.
- Search for “Podcast” and click on it to add it to your widget area.
- Give your widget a title and add the iTunes Feed ID.