YouTube recently announced that users can now publish podcasts through YouTube Studio or set an existing playlist as a podcast.
Creating your podcast
On YouTube, a podcast is a playlist, with each episode being a video in that playlist. To publish a podcast, you simply go to YouTube Studio and click the Create button to select New Podcast. You can also choose a title and description for your new podcast. In addition, you must add a square thumbnail image and choose the visibility settings you want. Now you have created your podcast playlist you can add new or existing videos to it.
Adding your videos
To add a new video to your podcast playlist, you simply select it at the upload stage. You can also add existing videos from the Content tab. In addition, you can convert an existing playlist to a podcast. Again from the Content tab, you just click to select your playlist and then choose Set as Podcast from the drop-down menu. Note that you will need to add a square thumbnail again. This is a specific YouTube requirement for podcasts.
Sorting your episodes
Your podcasts will all be visible through the Podcasts tab on the Contents page in YouTube Studio. You can edit the details of your podcast as well as choose how to order the episodes. As well as newest to oldest, or the reverse, you can also drag and drop episodes into the order of your choice.
Special features
Your podcast playlists are eligible for additional podcast features on YouTube. As a podcast creator, you can use special video and playlist badges and you are eligible for official search cards. In addition, if you are in the U.S., your podcast can be featured on the youtube.com/podcasts webpage. Podcasts will also soon be available in the YouTube Music app, although this is again the U.S. only.
Analyzing your podcast’s performance
You can use the Channel Analytics tab in YouTube Studio to see how well your podcast is doing. From the Overview tab, you can see an overview that includes details such as number of views and watch time in hours. However, you can also go to the specific Podcast Analytics view for a more detailed breakdown.
Podcast Analytics
From the Podcast Analytics screen, you can find out your estimated earnings and which episodes have performed the best. You can also access statistics such as key moments for audience retention and how your viewers found your podcast. In addition, there are details of your audience demographics including age and geographical location.
What we think
YouTube is working hard to capture more of the podcast market. By offering ways to promote and manage your podcast through YouTube Studio the company clearly hopes to tempt content creators away from rival platforms. It’s disappointing that some features are currently only available in the U.S. Hopefully, if it’s successful, these features will be rolled out worldwide before too long.
