Once you receive the RSS feed from your podcast host, you can submit it to popular RSS readers such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. The more directories you submit to, the wider your potential reach and visibility will be!
We suggest starting with the major directories first, as the vast majority of podcasters use Apple Podcasts and Spotify to listen to content. You can also embed an RSS feed into a website or blog, giving readers easy access to your latest episodes.
For the most part, submitting links to your feed to directories and optimizing your metadata is the extent of direct work with your RSS feed. But let’s look at a few ways to optimize your feed for better visibility and engagement.
Apple has RSS feed requirements before accepting a podcast feed. The good news is that most podcast hosting services will take care of this for you, so you don’t have to do much.
Fortunately, RSS feeds are maintenance-free. But there are a few ways to further optimize the metadata in your feed that can help you appear more often in search results and get more listens.
- Submit your podcast to as many directories as possible to make it more visible and easier to find.
- Make sure that all tags in the RSS feed are correctly filled in with accurate information such as episode title, summary, cover art, etc.
- Update the feed regularly with fresh content to keep listeners engaged.
- Use descriptive keywords for each episode to improve visibility in search engines, directories, and podcast apps.
- More clicks on your content ultimately means more engaged listeners. Engaged listeners can ultimately help you gain loyal support for your content and potentially more podcast reviews.
An RSS podcast feed is a bridge between your content and your subscribers, automatically delivering them up-to-date content so they don’t have to manually search for new episodes. By following the best practices we’ve outlined, you can make sure your podcast is seen by more people and gets the attention it deserves!