Best WordPress Podcast Plugins

Been interested in starting your own podcast show? With over 2 million active podcasts, you can join in reaching over 125 million listeners. If you’re using WordPress, you can definitely run your own podcast. Aside from learning a little about podcasting, you’ll learn about some of the best WordPress podcast plugins to get you started.

A podcast is an audio recording you can subscribe and listen to.

Topics vary from one show to another. While some people also have video, it’s not technically a podcast, as it has visuals. That is an entirely different thing. Now you can create a video with an image, and add audio for a podcast, and upload it to places like YouTube or Vimeo, but podcasts are generally audio only.

You can download and listen to podcasts via a website, or apps like Apple iTunes.

• Responsive audio player
• SEO-friendly
• Ability to upload or add link from where podcast is hosted
• Connects with Apple iTunes or other apps for podcasting
• Fast loading

Responsive audio player

Your podcast should offer a responsive audio player so it can be easy to listen to in any device-width.

SEO-friendly

Yes, you can actually make your podcast SEO-friendly. WordPress offers some SEO benefits, but if you also use a podcast plugin that offers some SEO options, you can help get your show indexed more favorably on the search engines.

Ability to upload or add link from where podcast is hosted

Your podcast plugin should offer you the ability to either host your audio file in-house or link from another podcast optimized host.

Connects with Apple iTunes or other apps for podcasting

While it’s nice if you can have a podcast on your WordPress site, it’s smarter to offer it for download in other places too. Some podcast plugins have options and directions to help you get started on connecting your podcast to apps like Apple iTunes.

Fast loading

No one likes waiting for your audio to load because your podcast plugin might be slow. Choose a WordPress podcast plugin that will fire up right away for your listeners.

• Don’t host your podcast on your web host.
• Add a transcript to accompany your podcast.
• Add an area or section to your website solely for featuring your podcast episodes.
• Add an overall summary post to accompany your podcast.

Don’t host your podcast on your web host.

While WordPress gives you the ability to upload audio files like MP3, it might not be ideal. Those files are usually larger and if you have a lot of listeners, you can end up slowing down and timing out your website. Be smart and use a podcast-optimized host like LibSyn to host your podcasts.

In doing this, you can still use WordPress, but also the power of optimizing your podcast audio file for website speed, so your podcast loads up fast, your site stays up, and your listeners won’t experience any lag time.

Add a transcript to accompany your podcast.

While podcasts are for listening, you may have people who have accessibility needs in which their hearing isn’t so great. Having your podcast transcripted is a smart way for including those with hearing disabilities. It’s also a SEO benefit, as the text is something that Google can pick up and index.

Add an area or section to your website solely for featuring your podcast episodes.

Make sure that people know you have a podcast. Include an area on your website’s front page, and even a separate page to feature some of your shows. If you don’t give any space for your visitors to actually see that you offer a podcast, then they won’t be able to take advantage of listening to your episodes.

Add an overall summary post to accompany your podcast.

If you don’t offer a transcript to accompany your podcast, at least add a decent summary to go with each of your podcast episodes.

1. PowerPress Podcasting by Blubrry
2. Seriously Simple Podcast
3. Libsyn Podcasting
4. Fusebox
5. Podlove Podcast Publisher
6. Buzzsprout Podcasting
7. Podcast Player

1. PowerPress Podcasting by Blubrry

PowerPress Podcasting by Blubrry is a super robust podcasting plugin. It is one of the best and most recommended WordPress podcast plugins in the market. You can take advantage of hosting your podcast files at Blubrry, which is a hosting platform specifically optimized for audio, embed from YouTube, and much more.

PowerPress Podcasting also provides a way for you to use a shortcode to display episodes, track stats, and even provides a podcast RSS feed too.

2. Seriously Simple Podcast

Seriously Simple Podcast is super straightforward where you can manage your own podcast show, and even restrict episodes with password protection, so only paying customers or subscribers can access them. This plugin also supports video podcasting.

3. Libsyn Podcasting

Libsyn Podcasting puts together the power of using your Libsyn hosted podcast, and brings it into WordPress. This eliminates the worry of your podcast going down in the event that either you get a lot of traffic and it overloads your website. While many podcasting plugins have Libsyn integration, this WordPress podcast plugin is specifically designed for that platform.

4. Fusebox

Fusebox is a podcast hosting platform that does offer a WordPress plugin integration. This service offers different and nice looking ways to display your podcast, track the traffic of your listeners, and even offers transcripting.

5. Podlove Podcast Publisher

Podlove Podcast Publisher provides a player that supports both audio and video formats. You can create a post type to manage all of your episodes. Podlove even has a traffic tracking feature too.

6. Buzzsprout Podcasting

Buzzsprout Podcasting is a podcasting platform that offers a plugin integration with WordPress. This platform offers stats, and helps your podcast get listed on most of the popular places people love to listen to, like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more.

7. Podcast Player

Podcast Player adds a podcasting feed URL that you can submit to different music platforms. You can give your podcast listeners a whole page on your WordPress site to access all of your episodes. Podcast Player’s audio player is slick in design, and even allows you to change some colors and fonts, in order to help it fit with your site’s theme.

Hopefully with some of the podcasting tips, as well as this list of the best WordPress podcast plugins, you’ll find something to suit your needs. Try each plugin out, and see what works for you.

And if you want to ensure your podcast WordPress website is built on a solid platform, consider using Verpex web hosting. Our hosting plans for WordPress are optimized for speed and excellent performance.

Happy podcasting!