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FOUR WAYS TO UPLOAD A PODCAST TO YOUTUBE
Learn four effective strategies to transition your podcast to YouTube and boost engagement.
YouTube often gets left out of popular podcast directories lists and you may be wondering if you even should upload your podcasts to YouTube. After all, podcasts are more like radio to YouTube’s television.
You’d do well to remember that YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine (after Google) and to be missing from its search results is to miss out on a huge potential audience. In fact, a lot of listeners will have an expectation that they’ll be able to find your podcast on YouTube.
If you're looking to start or further grow your podcast, YouTube should be the first place to turn to. Especially since doing so is a relatively painless process that can bring great results.
On that note, let’s dive into the four best and most painless things you can do to grow your podcast through YouTube:
- Different ways you can create a Video From Audio and Upload It to YouTube
- How to easily record video podcasts
- Repurpose your podcast as YouTube content
- Basics of YouTube SEO and discoverability
Four ways to upload a podcast to YouTube
It’s not possible to simply upload MP3 to Youtube. You’ll need to transform your podcast into a video first and then upload it. Any of the following solutions will help you make a video using only your recorded audio, but the best solution will depend on your content, audience, and ultimately, budget.
Video podcast with a static image
The easiest and cheapest way to “circumvent” making a true podcast video is to use a static image as a background and paste the audio on top of it using a service like Voice2v where you can simply upload your mp3 file and an image you would want to become your video cover.
Designing an image doesn’t have to be tough, you can simply combine the podcast & episode name, logo, and names of the guests. That being said, you may want to put in a bit more effort and possibly hire a freelance designer, as this image can also work as an eye-catching thumbnail for your video, standing out in suggestions among other videos, attracting more listeners.
Keep in mind though, static image videos don’t get the same view and engagement rates as actual video content, so if you’re serious about boosting your view count, you’ll want to consider one of the other options.
Visualize your podcast audio and upload it to YouTube
A neat way to build a visual style and make your podcast more recognizable without getting into the nitty gritty of video design is to use an audio visualizer template like the ones Videobolt offers. This way you can combine all the mentioned elements (names, images, topics…) into a reactive video that is uniquely branded for your channel.
The best part is you don’t need any experience with video creation, just find a podcast visualizer, upload your audio (up to 2 hours), replace the background picture, and fill out the text fields, like podcast and episode name, guest name(s), etc.
Bonus: You can connect your Videobolt account with your YouTube channel and directly upload the podcast to YouTube without wasting time on downloads and uploads.
Record a video podcast via webcam
A low-cost way to make an actual video recording of your podcast is to use a webcam. Nowadays, everyone is likely to have a webcam or phone camera on hand, so you can film your guests as well as yourself and have a video ready the moment you finish recording.
This option will require you to invest in quality recording software that takes internet speed and connection quality out of the equation. A software like Riverside.fm can record video podcasts in up to 4k video resolution thanks to local recording for all participants.
Record your video podcast with professional cameras
Where do you record your podcast? The setting in which you record and interview can help your podcast stand out on Youtube. Think of how many of Joe Rogan’s video podcasts came up in your social media feeds and you knew exactly which podcast it is, even if his face wasn’t front and center.
The background and lighting can set an atmosphere and become a key part of the podcast experience while also keeping listeners interested in the video they’re watching.
Ideally, you’ll be able to allocate a solid budget for this but other than high-quality microphones, the rest can usually be solved with your personal creativity and a smartphone with a good camera.
How to repurpose your podcast into YouTube content
YouTube rewards longer videos by serving a greater number of ads, meaning more revenue for you.
However, you may want to grow your audience on a different platform while using YouTube as a promotional tool. In this case, uploading the full podcast to YouTube could lead to decreased traffic on these websites, potentially leading to lower income.
A better alternative could be to upload snippets, teasers, highlights, or bloopers from your long-form podcast giving them the exposure YouTube offers and at the same time funneling the audience to the platform which brings you the most revenue, be it your website, Spotify, Patreon, or anything else. This way YouTube users are more likely to find your content, be impressed, and then take further action by visiting your main podcast directory.
These clips can be repurposed and be used to create compilations, guest comparisons, and video ads to promote your podcast.
YouTube SEO for podcast videos
One way of looking at YouTube is like one big video search engine. Like with Google, you’ll need to understand how YouTube SEO works in order for your podcast to appear in relevant searches and suggestion feeds.
Keywords are an essential part of your SEO strategy. These are the words users enter as search queries when they’re looking for content. Some of the words you use will flow organically from the topics your podcast covers, though it’s best to research what words users actually use most commonly when looking for content like yours.
There are free online tools like Moz you can use to find relevant keywords, while some of the paid ones, like Ahrefs, have YouTube keywords as a separate segment. You can also do your own research using YouTube’s suggestions.
Try to do keyword research before recording each episode, as Google indexes audio content as well as the text you enter to describe the video. Focus the episode around one keyword, and make sure you use it while talking, in the name of the episode, name of the YouTube video, as well as YouTube’s video description.
Hopefully, this article helped you start a podcast on YouTube by helping you overcome most of the obstacles that uploading to YouTube produces.
While you’re here, I encourage you to browse the templates on Videobolt and discover all the different visuals that could easily be added to your podcast, from animated intros and audio visualization to promotional ads and vertical videos for stories and TikTok.