Spreaker Live Show #106 for March 29th, 2017

Our Topics This Week:
- All about Podcast RSS feeds
- Update on Coming Podcasting Conferences
-Tip of The Week: What is the takeaway from #TryPod Month


Show Duration: 44 minutes

Host: Rob Greenlee, Head of Content, Spreaker @robgreenlee - rob(at)spreaker(dotcom)
Co-Host: Alex Exum, Host of “The Exum Experience Podcast” on Spreaker

All about Podcast RSS feeds
What is a podcast rss feed and why do you need one

Is a specially formatted URL linked XML text file that is kept updated by your publishing platform with the latest episodes and is the foundation of being a “Podcast”.

If you don’t have an RSS feed for your show then you don’t have the ability to take advantage of podcasting distribution to places like iTunes, iOS Podcasts App, Stitcher, TuneIn and many other podcatcher listening apps like Overcast and many others that use the Apple iTunes Podcast Catalog of 350,000 podcast feeds.

Spreaker does not require you to use an RSS feed to build your audience, because we have millions of potential listeners using Spreaker apps, web players and website to listen to shows, but I recommend that you try to grow your potential audience by submitting to all the other listening platforms.

Why you may NOT want to host your own podcast RSS feed

Website Impacts, if hosting RSS on same server and

When your podcast RSS feed is on the same server as your website, you risk hindering your podcast downloads when your website has problems.

If you're featured somewhere and 1,000 people try to load your site at the same time, it could crash your website and bring your RSS feed with it.

2. Bandwidth Draw of Podcasting RSS Feeds

RSS feeds require lot’s of bandwidth to server for popular shows. This is oftentimes a surprise to most and thus it is wise to impose your own limit that the feed be below 512 KB, which is typically around 100 to 200 episodes depending on how long your show descriptions are. Many apps download that feed file every time their app checks for new episodes.

Now, consider the bandwidth needs to serve even a 512 KB file (1/2 of a megabyte). Whenever a podcast app checks for a new episode, it downloads that entire RSS feed in a single file. If you have 1,000 subscribers, that could be 500 megabytes (MB) of bandwidth for them all to check your feed.

But most podcast apps will check for new episodes multiple times per day—as often as once per hour as a background task. You are talking large numbers of GB to just serve the RSS feed for even a moderately popular show. If your feed was bigger, or you had more subscribers you better be on a podcast hosting platform that knows how to manage that much demand.

3. Feed Invalidness Risks and Volatility around Self-Hosting RSS feeds

Is the most-common reason for generating and hosting your podcast feed away from your website content management system, like WordPress.

Some themes, plugins, or buried website options can break your RSS feed.

Breaking your feed can happen by adding invalid characters to your feed in the textual input areas.

It is possible to error your podcast RSS feed with many popular plugins. With well-written plugins, the
chances of breaking your feed are generally low though to be fair.

4. Potential Issues with shared hosting

If you host your website and podcast feed on a shared hosting provider, ask around about this with your cheap hosting provider as getting on a shared server with other websites can impact your site performance.

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Tip of the Week: Update on Coming Podcast Conferences & #TryPod

NAB in April 23-26 in Las Vegas
Podcast Movement in Anaheim, CA on August 21

It’s a classic “tell a friend” word-of-mouth campaign month in March - #TryPod
Trypod# Recommentations


Key messages for podcast hosts participating in this Public Radio started campaign:
• All this month, we’re asking you to tell a friend about a podcast they’ll love.
• Right now, think of a friend, your mom, anyone you care about – what podcast would they really love.
• Got it? Now do it – tell them about it in real life or on social media, and if they don’t know about podcasts, show them how!
• Tell us what you recommended with the hashtag tripod. T, R, Y, pod. Thanks for spreading the word.

• Tell a friend about a podcast you think they’ll love.
• Right now, think of someone you care about – what podcast would they really love?
• Got it? Now do it – tell them about it in real life or on social media, and if they don’t know how to listen, show them how!
• Tell us what you recommended with the hashtag tripod. T, R, Y, pod. Thanks for spreading the word.

• Some people still don’t “get” podcasts – why they are special and how to listen.
• You can help change that with a click.
• Right now, think of someone you care about – what podcast would they really love?
• Got it? Now do it – hit the share button on the bottom left of your screen.
• If they don’t know how to listen, offer to show them how!
• Tell us what you shared with the hashtag tripod. T, R, Y, pod. Thanks for spreading the word.


See Blog.Spreaker.com


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