As you podcast constantly, you may construct up a again catalog of episodes. However must you preserve all of these episodes out there, or must you restrict what number of are in your podcast feed?
This topic was impressed by suggestions from my listener Marc Johanssen:
I am looking for an educational useful resource (aka a hyperlink) that I can ahead to a podcaster with a purpose to “nudge” them to take motion(s) wanted with a purpose to permit entry [to] ALL their earlier podcast episodes. At current, one can solely entry [the latest 50 episodes] through an app or through their web site ….
Listed below are some issues to think about!
1. Podcast feed versus web site archive
Take into consideration the principle two locations your episodes reside: in your podcast feed and in your web site (you do have an internet site on your podcast that has a separate webpage for every episode, RIGHT?).
Many publishing methods will allow you to limit how many episodes are in your RSS feed (the most-common defaults are 10, 50, and 100), however such limits almost definitely will not have an effect on your web site. If an episode is not in your feed however nonetheless in your web site, it’s technically nonetheless on-line and out there, however it’s not very sensible as a result of it isn’t out there in your viewers’s podcast apps. Except they’ve good instruments for transferring web site audio right into a podcast app, the one manner your viewers may hear or watch that outdated episode is thru the webpage and their browser. That makes it troublesome on your viewers.
Thus, most of those concerns will give attention to what’s in your podcast RSS feed, however preserve your web site in thoughts, too!
2. Is your content material nonetheless helpful?
When your podcast episodes from months and even years in the past are nonetheless helpful and related at present, you then’ve made timeless content material.
Timeless content material is very helpful for each you and your viewers. It offers you extra content material you could promote, both by advertising or direct suggestion. For instance, I nonetheless ship individuals to my episode from 2014 about whether episode numbers are really necessary. Even once I thought-about reapproaching that content material (and finally made a completely new episode about episode numbers in titles), I listened to that outdated episode and realized it was nonetheless simply as related at present as again then.
Timeless content material additionally offers your viewers extra nice stuff to get pleasure from or be taught from—both for the primary time or to replay later!
The opposite form of content material is time-sensitive. It is when your podcast episodes have a form of “shelf life.” Think about a “finest if utilized by” date in your episodes. That is widespread for podcasts about present occasions (just like the information). Podcasts about present traits (resembling a TV present) are principally time-sensitive—as a result of most individuals will likely be solely when that development is present—however this may nonetheless have some timeless worth. Within the case of a simultaneous TV aftershow podcast, the worth is perhaps tougher as individuals can extra simply binge the present and your episodes will likely be simply outdated. But when somebody will get your podcast whereas watching the present, because it was again when the present was reside, then they might expertise all of it the identical manner, besides with out the direct engagement along with your podcast and neighborhood. Alternatively, a rewatch-style podcast (resembling Workplace Girls) weighs extra on the timeless aspect as a result of such a podcast can focus on the present with out theorizing or worrying about spoilers, and it is designed usually for individuals who have already seen the present and never essentially watching it for the primary time.
Ask your self, “Will most of my episodes nonetheless be related in a 12 months?” If sure, you then in all probability have timeless content material and will think about retaining your episodes out there. But when not, it might in all probability be okay to restrict what number of episodes can be found.
3. Does your outdated content material have good web optimization?
Most podcast apps will search episode titles. So your episodes grow to be a portfolio that helps your podcast be discovered for every kind of key phrases! As a substitute of trying to stuff those SEO terms into your podcast title (and risk getting kicked out of podcast apps), make separate, well-titled episodes about these topics you need individuals to seek for and discover your podcast. This helps in podcast apps, web sites, and social networks.
In case your outdated episodes have good search-engine optimization (web optimization), then I extremely suggest retaining them out there, each in your web site and in your podcast feed. This can guarantee your podcast can nonetheless be discovered for these stuff you talked about and located wherever persons are trying.
4. Do you promote your again catalog?
A great way to monetize a well-liked and deeply partaking podcast may be to restrict the variety of publicly out there episodes (within the feed and on the web site) after which promote entry to the remaining.
There are a number of methods to promote entry to your outdated episodes:
- By way of a creator-support platform like Patreon, Glow.fm, or Supercast
- By way of your individual membership system, like with WordPress and MemberPress
- By bundling episodes collectively and promoting them as downloadable packages, like with WordPress and Easy Digital Downloads
- Utilizing podcast subscription platforms just like the Apple Podcasters Program and extra (and these may combine with Patreon, Glow.fm, Supercast, and the like)
This strategy works nice for podcasts that are not designed to promote one thing (like your individual services and products) apart from their very own inherent worth. And this solely works when the viewers will truly need these outdated episodes. I see this used most frequently for entertaining podcasts, like a comedy present the place your outdated episodes are simply as humorous as the brand new episodes, or the older seasons of a drama can be found just for sale when you preserve your present season free.
In case you promote your outdated episodes, please keep in mind to take away any promoting from them! And this is able to be the best scenario to restrict your feed and web site to solely your newest episodes.
5. What P.R.O.F.I.T. are you looking for along with your podcast?
I make “P.R.O.F.I.T.” stand for one thing! It is what each you and your viewers can acquire out of your podcast: reputation, relationships, alternatives, enjoyable, earnings, or tangibles.
In case your episodes commonly assist construct your PROFIT, then it might in all probability be most worthwhile so that you can preserve them on-line so long as attainable. If they’ve good web optimization, they will proceed attracting individuals. And if they’ve good calls to motion or different PROFIT-building worth, then they will in all probability proceed returning that worth for so long as they keep on-line!
For instance, I nonetheless get a request now and again for me to design an internet site or podcast cowl artwork for somebody as a result of I had promoted these personalised companies again once I supplied them myself—years in the past! (I now refer that out, so you are still welcome to ask for my really helpful referrals!) And I proceed to obtain new subscribers to my electronic mail e-newsletter by previous episodes that promoted unique sources. I additionally proceed to obtain new members to My Podcast Reviews and prospects to my different services and products due to how they had been relevantly promoted in timeless content material, even from years in the past!
If I took my outdated episodes offline, I’d be shedding all these alternatives to construct my model, authority, and affect!
So in case your podcast itself is a type of advertising for one thing else you provide, you then would in all probability wish to preserve the older episodes on-line.
6. Is your feed getting too huge?
A complication arises when you might have so many episodes and such giant notes for every episode that your podcast RSS feed grows to a number of megabytes (MB). With my very own article-style notes for every episode, multiplied by the lots of of episodes I’ve printed, I solely just lately realized my very own RSS feed was over 5 MB! I by no means actually seen as a result of I exploit Blubrry’s Podcast Mirror service as a proxy for my RSS feed, to maintain it quick and steady. Nevertheless it was nonetheless so huge that some podcast apps and companies had been beginning to choke on it, even inflicting some outdated episodes to not show anymore.
I may have decreased the variety of episodes in my feed, however then that might have price me web optimization (#3) and PROFIT (#5). And until my proposal to support notes in chapters is adopted into Podcasting 2.0, or PowerPress modifications the way it generates podcast feeds from WordPress, I did not wish to take away my full articles from my RSS feed. As a substitute, I enabled PowerPress‘s “Feed Episode Maximizer,” which permits full content material on solely my newest 10 episodes, after which minimal content material (particularly omitting my prolonged articles) on all older episodes. This decreased my feed with almost 400 episodes from over 5 MB to the candy spot of underneath 1 MB.
I extremely suggest you hearken to or learn these previous three episodes/articles to be taught extra about feed limits and concerns:
So think about the complexity you is perhaps introducing by permitting all of your episodes to stay in your feed, and search for optimization choices.
7. Consider carefully earlier than increasing your RSS feed
In case you’ve determined you need extra of your outdated episodes in your feed, it’s worthwhile to know what may occur should you broaden the restrict.
First, there’s the dimensions to think about, as I addressed in #6.
There are additionally potential penalties for automations and the viewers expertise.
Most podcast apps monitor every podcast episode by the episode’s globally distinctive identifier (GUID). That is an RSS tag you do not have to fret about until you are migrating internet hosting suppliers or publishing instruments—wherein case, fear so much as a result of the GUIDs ought to by no means change! Some apps will keep in mind solely the GUIDs that also exist within the feed and overlook something not within the feed. Whenever you broaden the feed to incorporate extra outdated episodes, these outdated episodes may look utterly new to podcast apps as a result of the apps have forgotten the GUIDs or they’ve by no means seen these episode GUIDs). Then, the app will in all probability obtain or redownload these outdated episodes, even when they had been already performed. At least, they is perhaps displayed as new and unplayed, and thus confuse or frustrate your viewers.
Sadly, how these apps deal with your reappearing outdated episodes is exterior your management. So think about whether or not this “price” is value it to you and your viewers.
Alternatively, you can create a separate RSS feed to carry your older episodes, like 100 episodes at a time, every with its full-text content material. This might preserve these outdated episodes out there (particularly should you submit the archive feeds to podcast apps and directories), however their very own web optimization would construct the archive feed’s rating, not that of your lively feed. In case you make archive feeds, this is able to be a fantastic alternative to do two essential issues:
When outdated episodes reappear in your RSS feed, you may even have related troubles with some automation instruments. For instance, one thing that routinely tweets everytime you publish a brand new episode. However from my observations, most of those instruments search for solely what’s new on the high of an RSS feed (the place new gadgets are) or solely episodes the have a date newer than the final time the automation ran. Thus, reappearing outdated episodes in all probability will not set off any automations, however it’s nonetheless attainable, and also you may not even know till it occurs.
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Disclosure
This put up might include hyperlinks to services or products with which I’ve an affiliate relationship. I could obtain compensation out of your actions by such hyperlinks. Nonetheless, I do not let that corrupt my perspective and I do not suggest solely associates.
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