Podcast Websites - Should You Create a Website for Your B2B Podcast?

There are basically two different strategic approaches you can take for creating a home web presence for your podcast. 

There is a standalone website, which is a great option for smaller businesses or new businesses who want to use their podcast for building a network and creating meaningful relationships in their industry.

The second option is to use the company’s existing website. This option is great for large enterprise companies that are already respected in their industry. In this case, your existing traffic and authority can be used to quickly build an audience for your podcast. 

There is also a secret option number three, which combines the best of both worlds. But don’t use this option without a strategic plan. Doing it wrong will cost you traffic and visibility in the end.

Should I Create a Standalone Podcast Website?

There are two main choices when it comes to publishing your podcast to a website, according to Jake Jorgovan, the CEO of a global B2B podcast company. The two choices are a standalone website or a podcast page on the company website. He also lays out a third option using both approaches in tandem that can maximize the SEO impact for both your podcast and your company. 

The first web strategy for publishing your podcast is to create a standalone website. To do this,  you need to buy a relevant domain name, build a website and start posting your podcast episodes there. 

A standalone website for your podcast creates a freestanding media entity or a new trade publication for your industry. This approach is especially effective if you are going to use your podcast for account-based marketing. Potential guests will be much more likely to say “yes” to being on a general industry podcast than your company podcast. 

If your company is small, relatively new or doesn’t have much presence online, this is usually the best strategy for your new podcast. If you’re not sure if a standalone website is right, check your company’s domain authority. If the score is below 40, a new website is probably the right choice.

Should I Publish My Podcast on My Company Website?

The second approach is to put your podcast on your company website, usually in the resources section where you have blogs and webinars. This approach favors large enterprise companies that are well established and that are probably already a household name, at least in your specific industry. 

If you are unsure whether your company is big enough to take advantage of the benefits of posting on your company website, check your domain authority. If your DA is 40 or higher, then your website is considered credible by the search engines, you have a substantial online history and you’ve probably invested some effort into SEO. 

If this is the case, you can publish the podcast directly on your website and your existing traffic will give a boost to the show’s visibility. Most companies will put the podcast in the resources or insights section of the site, where you would also typically find blogs, videos and webinars. 

The layout of the podcast page on your company website should be straightforward. You want to make it easily accessible for the listener to find and listen to each episode. A podcast page is similar to a blog post with an embedded video. You’re not hosting each episode on your site, you’re simply streaming it from a podcast directory, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

By posting on your company page, you can get a lot of SEO traction by repurposing each episode into targeted SEO articles and using backlinks from your guests. This makes the search engines an additional traffic source for your podcast.

Option Three, the Best of Both Worlds

There is a way to get the marketing advantages of having a standalone website for podcasts and the traffic and SEO advantages of creating a home for your podcast on the company website. But you have to be strategic about it or the two entities will cancel each other out.

There are many benefits listed above to make your podcast website a standalone media entity, one that is usually sponsored by your company. Your podcast can quickly become a voice of leadership in your industry and top guests are more likely to agree to appear on the show.

Sometimes there are other practical reasons to build a standalone podcast website. The most common one is necessity. In a large corporate structure with many layers of management, changes in the company website, even if approved, can take weeks or even months to occur. 

In either case, go ahead and build a standalone website. When the podcast finds a home on the company website, whether from the beginning or months down the road, de-index the standalone site from the search engines. This approach gives you the benefits of having a standalone site without running afoul of the Google algorithm by having duplicate content.

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This episode is brought to you by Content Allies. 

Content Allies helps B2B companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. From startups to Fortune 500s, we have helped some of the world's leading companies build and run profitable podcasts. Contact us for your free podcast consultation at ContentAllies.com