TPU74 – Picking the Best Premium Podcast Hosting – 7 Things to Consider!

One of the most important components of podcasting is the Podcast host. Picking the right podcast host is crucial for the success of your podcast, especially from a long-term perspective.

In this episode, we will look at 7 important things to consider in picking the best premium podcast hosting for your show.

Podcast hosting is one of the critical aspects in podcasting. If you pick the wrong host, you could end up with a multitude of problems including losing all of the content you created.

When it comes to Podcast hosting, there are 2 primary aspects that you need to look at –

1. Free Podcast Hosting
2. Premium Podcast hosting

This is depending upon whether you want to pay for hosting or, not.

If you are new and are testing the waters, then it is absolutely fine to go with free podcast hosting.

But if you are in it for the long term, then I would recommend going with a premium host because of 2 reasons –

1. You always get better support when you pay for it
2. and if something is being offered for FREE, then you are the product. (I don’t have anything against free podcast hosting and I know a few good companies that offer free podcast hosting.)

In this episode we are going to talk about premium podcast hosting and what are some of the things that you need to look out for if you are planning on going with premium podcast hosting.

Let’s get started.

Picking the Best Premium Podcast Hosting Company

Premium podcast hosting offers a range of features and benefits and is also available in a variety of plans. You can pick the plan that best suits you from both a budget as well as requirement perspective.

But, with so many different options available out there, how do you know which is the best premium podcast hosting company?

Something that you might want to keep in mind is that not all hosting companies are equal. Their services, support, and offerings will all differ as does their quality.

Here are 7 things that you need to consider when reviewing premium podcast hosting services, in order to find the best one for you.

Flexibility

You want your host to be flexible enough to accommodate your needs.

Most premium podcast hosts offer various plans and these plans are limited on aspects like –

1. how much you can upload
2. how many listens or, downloads
3. how much total data you can use etc.

Now in all of these, a critical factor is that there is a limitation to how much of the hosting space you can use.

In a situation where your podcast grows, you will need additional uploads, more number of listens limits, or, even data usage.

You don’t want to go with a host who doesn’t offer you the flexibility of upgrading your plans based on your needs.

So keep that in mind when you are selecting podcast hosting.

Limit Criteria

We just spoke about different criteria that podcast hosting companies use to limit your usage. And with so many options it is normal for you to get confused about what is a good criterion for you as a podcaster.

Some of the things you need to keep in mind are –

1. Upload limit is always the best option to go with. Most hosts will offer you about 250MB uploads even in the lowest plan which is good enough if you are releasing 4 interview episodes in a month. One thing you might want to check is if the limit resets every month. Because if it doesn’t then it is a limitation. These limits can be both in terms of hours and upload file size. Do check which is desirable for you and then decide which host to go with.
2. Listens and data limits aren’t ideal from a usage perspective. So I wouldn’t recommend going with any of those. Ideally, I would go with a podcast host who has no limits. Want to know which podcast hosts I prefer and recommend. Listen till the end.
3. Some podcast hosts have a limit on the amount of analytics history they store. This is again not recommended and if you see such a host, then I would recommend not going with them.

Features

With the competition going up, podcast hosting companies are offering multiple features to their users. And when you are paying why shouldn’t you get the best features?

Compare different podcast hosts on what features they offer and then decide the best one to go with accordingly.

Here are some of the basic features that you should get –

1. Distribution to various podcast directories and networks
2. Podcast player – embeddable that you can embed on your website (while I don’t recommend using them)
3. Reliable statistics – preferably IAB certified
4. Podcast Website
5. Monetization options which we will discuss in more detail
6. A mobile app preferably
7. Integrations with YouTube, Headliner, Wavve, etc.
8. Transcriptions though this might be available only with higher plans
9. Podcast migration control – This is very important
10. The option to schedule your episodes – Recommended

Monetization

Now, this is an important part of podcasting.

With podcasting taking off and most podcast hosts making money with podcasts, it becomes important for them to support podcasters in monetization as well.

And that is precisely what a lot of podcast hosting companies are doing.

While the payouts might be measely, it is still money that you are earning.

Monetization from a podcast hosting perspective has two different formats –

1. Sponsored ads – These are in the form of general ads or, podcast promotions. General ads would be ads that are related to general products and services. Podcast promotions are promos that other podcasters are running
2. Subscription – With Apple podcasts starting to offer podcast subscriptions and listeners willing to pay for premium content, subscription is going to be a big part of monetization. You don’t want to fiddle with multiple sites and hosts to offer subscription options to your listeners. You podcast hosting company should have that option

While the earnings might not be immediate and huge, going with a podcast hosting company that offers monetization options will help you in the long term.

Podcast Migration

This is another important criterion to keep in mind.

It is not necessary that you always like the first podcast hosting company that you go with. Once you subscribe to one and start using them for some time, you could end up with issues.

You don’t want to be tied up with any particular podcast hosting company.

It is hence that I recommend going with a monthly payment option until you are completely satisfied with the company. Then you can go with the annual payment option if the company has one.

But irrespective of all of that, keep in mind that you shouldn’t go with a podcast host who doesn’t offer you the option of migrating your podcast.

Podcast migration can be a headache and has a lot of issues and limitations. I will tell you about the things you need to keep in mind when migrating your podcast, in another episode.

But for now, ensure that your podcast hosting company doesn’t make migration a problem. It should be simple and preferably you should be able to manage it on your own.

Analytics

This is something we spoke about in my last episode.

Data and analytics are critical parts of your podcast’s growth. What you want is not just some data but reliable data that you can trust.

And that reliability comes from certifications.

IAB-certified data is reliable and hence I would recommend going with a podcast hosting company that is IAB certified.

There are about 19 podcast hosting companies that are IAB certified and you can pick any of them. But whichever you go with, ensure that you are going with somebody who can provide you with reliable statistics.

Distribution

Finally, podcast distribution is a critical piece in the growth of your podcast.

There are a ton of podcast directories out there and manually submitting your podcast to these can be a pain.

It is here that most podcast hosting companies have made it easier for their customers by automatically submitting the podcast to prominent directories.

Look for a podcast host who can help you with maximum distribution, at least to the more prominent directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Prime Music, Google Podcast, etc.

While this automatic submission isn’t the best thing to do, I would still recommend going with it, to begin with, and later claim your podcast on these directories.

So, those were the 7 important aspects to keep in mind when selecting a premium podcast hosting service.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Below are the resources and tools that I recommend for podcasting –

• Acast Podcast hosting – I recommend and use Acast for podcast hosting. There are superb in terms of service, support, and pricing as well. You can even get started for FREE!
• Behringer Audio Interface – You will need an audio interface if you are using an XLR microphone. This is my recommended audio interface.
• Zencastr – Zencastr is the easiest option to record interviews, both audio-only and audio+video. This is a must for an interview podcast.
• Audacity – This is the best and the most feature-rich free audio editing software. It gives you a lot of options while editing your interviews.
• Blue Yeti USB Microphone – My recommended microphone
• Tidycal – My recommended calendar and booking solutions
• Fusebox – Embeddable Podcast Player

Thank you for Joining

Thank you all for joining me on this episode today. I hope you found value in the information I shared and that you enjoyed this episode.

If you did, then I am sure you will love some of my earlier episodes on the basics of podcasting.

Do subscribe to the show in order to stay updated with the latest episodes. You can find the links to the prominent podcast directories below –

If you are new to podcasting, then you can join my FREE 10-day podcasting course that will help you get started with your own show.