Creating a podcast is time-intensive, so having an easy-to-use, reliable website platform that aggregates everything — from your reviews to your YouTube videos — can make all the difference.

On this episode of The Podcast Club, Molly, Marcus and Adam talk to Brenden Mulligan, creator of podcast website builder Podpage, about the importance of a solid podcast website.

Having a website for your podcast that you can navigate seamlessly is crucial, both for presentation and as a direct connection to your audience.

On this episode of The Podcast Club, Molly, Marcus and Adam sit down with Brenden Mulligan, the founder of podcast website builder Podpage, to talk about the importance of having a podcast website, and current trends in the industry.

With a background in the music industry, Brenden saw how artists invested in building their fanbases on MySpace back in the day when it was a thing. Musicians often built their following on MySpace rather than developing their own websites. When MySpace fell apart, so did those fanbases.

“I was searching for some podcast a couple years ago. And I was like, you guys don't have websites, you're relying on these distribution channels,” Brenden says.

When he discovered that podcasts are syndicated through RSS feeds and the data is available for anyone to use, he realized he could easily build a website because he only needed to build the frontend. He created Podpage, which allows you to set up a website for your podcast that won’t be time-intensive or difficult to set up or maintain. 

“There are a lot of people who set up one of these pages and then never come back again,” Brenden says. “They don't have to worry about the website, we’ll automatically Tweet and post to Facebook if you want.” 

Tune in to hear their thoughts on using tools to automate processes, why the focus needs to be on creating good content, as well as trends that have emerged and waned since the beginning of the pandemic.

Guest of the Pod: Brenden Mulligan
🎙️ What he does: Brenden is the founder of Podpage, which helps podcasters build a professional looking website for their podcast quickly and easily.

💡 Key quote: “I don't need to build a database. I just need to build a front end that reads the feed and puts the data on a website. And because it's structured, we can do all kinds of great SEO work.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram


Podcast Pro: Molly Ruland 
🎙️ What she does: Molly is the founder and CEO of Heartcast Media, a full-service podcast production company and content creation lab based in Washington, D.C. 

💡 Key quote: “I want to set people up for success, and force them into it.”

👋 Where to find her: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

 

Podcast Pro: Marcus dePaula
🎙️ What he does: An audio engineer, podcast producer and website designer, Marcus runs Me Only Louder, a podcast production company in Franklin, Tenn.

💡 Key quote: “I feel like there's this contingency of people that feel like it's the apps job to help podcasters be discovered. And I think that is complete bullshit. I do not think that is a realistic way to live.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram


Podcast Pro: Adam Levin
🎙️ What he does: Adam is the manager of Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center and is the founder of Podcast Outfitters, which specializes in podcast equipment. 

💡 Key quote: “They gravitate towards one thing and another thing and I see what the consumer behaviors [are] as it's evolved. Cameras are not the requirement anymore for everybody, it just depends on how you create and how you're doing it.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Tips for Podcasters 
Top takeaways from the episode 

⭐ Having a podcast website that you can control is important. Create a website that you can use to engage with your audience directly. Relying solely on outside distribution channels to reach your audience isn’t a good strategy, because it takes the control out of your hands.

⭐ Use tools that allow you to focus on the content. Don’t spend 10 hours editing an episode when a professional could have done it in 40 minutes just because it’s free. “You got to know when to hold them, and when to fold them.”

⭐ Have guests provide their information to automate processes. Scrolling through social media profiles trying to find your guest isn’t a good use of time. Users of Podpage went crazy over a new feature that allowed them to send a form for their guests to fill out their own information.

⭐ Don’t rely on apps to get your podcast discovered. Content creators often believe it's the responsibility of the app to help listeners discover you — but it’s not. Creators should focus on building their own platform through creating great content, engaging with people using social media, driving people to your website and signing them up for your newsletter.

Episode Highlights
Inflection points from the show

00:05:15 Audience connection: Brenden talks about where he got the idea for Podpage, and the importance of having a website for a podcast in order to have a “direct connection to your audience and not relying on Apple and Google and Spotify.”

00:06:23 The simplicity: When Brenden discovered how podcasts are syndicated, he realized how easy it would be to create a podcast website builder. 

00:12:20 Focus on content: Brenden sees many people who are so focused on getting a specific mic or their home podcast studio set up perfectly that they never end up launching the podcast. “If the content is good, everything else will be fine.”

00:13:47 Keeping it simple: Brenden discusses which features he’s chosen to focus on building for Podpage and why he limits customization. “If we go that direction then people who find it simple will no longer find it simple.” 

00:18:08 To embed or not to embed: The discussion turns toward the difficulty of connecting a Podpage website with a WordPress website, and the question of whether someone wants the podcast to be its own brand, or a part of another brand. 

00:26:01 Template for success: Brenden talks about a feature on Podpage that allows hosts to send a form for their guest to fill out all of their information, and the hosts discuss how it saves hosts time. 

00:34:33 Industry trends: With people increasingly living lives similar to what it was like before the pandemic, Adam asks about trends as the world is returning to somewhat normal since the pandemic began, and Brenden talks about experimentations in different spaces, canceled podcasts, and how the open garden of podcasting is changing.

00:36:59 How to get discovered: The conversation turns to discoverability, and the expectation that another company should be responsible for bringing a podcast to the right listeners.