How to Get Your B2B Podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes)

August 6, 2020

Making a B2B podcast is hard enough. You have to come up with content, plan, practice, and record, all while doing all of the million other things you probably have to do for work or your personal life. Getting your podcast on iTunes shouldn’t be a final mountain to climb, or even a low hurdle to jump. It should be something you can celebrate, because you’ve finished an episode, created something useful and valuable and are finally putting it out into the world.

So how do you get it out there??

There are actually a ton of sites that want to help you with that. A ton.

But sometimes too many can be too complicated. Which one is easy? Which one is the best? Which one is fast for you to use? Rather than slogging through tons of long articles and flashy, branded websites to try to figure out what’s right for you, give this article a scroll and see what stands out to you. It’ll be worth it.

So...

How do I get my b2b podcast on iTunes? To get your b2b podcast on iTunes, you should use a podcast hosting site such as:

Each of these sites makes it easy to go from hosting to publishing directly to iTunes and all other podcast platforms.

Podcast hosts help you store your podcast files, and distribute them to various podcast platforms. Without one, you won’t have an RSS feed (basically, a list of all of your podcast episodes) to submit in order to be on some podcast platforms.

Libsyn

Sweet Fish uses Libsyn, so you can trust me when I say it has rock-solid performance. I think it has a lot of pros with very few cons, making it a great choice.

Pros of using Libsyn

With Libsyn, you keep ownership of your content. They say they never put advertisements into a podcast without your permission, and they never edit your content (because it’s yours).

Libsyn works to publish your podcast to tons of platforms and apps, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora. Some plans also offer great audience analytics.

Users also like Libsyn’s customer service, brand-customized apps for iOS and Android, and mobile-friendly player with a mini site for your show, a Podcast Page.

If you’re looking to monetize your podcast, Libsyn would be a great choice because you can take advantage of paid content subscription options.

Libsyn has several paid tiers allowing you to take advantage of as much storage space and distribution power as you need.

Cons of using Libsyn

At a minimum, Libsyn costs $5 monthly. However, some Libsyn fans have pointed out that if there were a free version, you might have issues with advertisements that have to be added to your podcast or data privacy concerns so they can cover their costs.

Also, with Libsyn your podcasts aren’t immediately distributed. There are some additional steps, though they’re not difficult.

To go from Libsyn to iTunes:

To publish from Libsyn to iTunes:

Record your podcast using your preferred recording method
Fill out your show settings on Libsyn so they have all the information they need to send to iTunes
Upload your episode recording to Libsyn and publish it
Go to the Apple Podcast Podcast Connect site and log in with your Apple ID
Copy your RSS feed URL from Libsyn under Destinations, and enter and validate it on Podcast Connect
Submit! It can take a week for approval, and another week to show up in search results on iTunes

Anchor

The best way to describe Anchor is “you do almost nothing,” which is pretty telling. If you’re a beginner or a one-person operation, this is the one to use.

Pros of using Anchor

Anchor can be used to record and edit your podcast in addition to distribution (and monetization) which can be really useful if you’re still finding your footing, since it keeps everything together in one place.

Anchor is totally free with no storage or distribution limits. And it automatically distributes your podcast which is crazy convenient.

If you’re looking to monetize, it can match you with paying sponsors, and you can get help growing your brand from their analytics which feature great visuals.

As an added bonus, Anchor can transcribe small chunks of your podcast to create a visually appealing promotional video you can post across social media to generate traffic.

Cons of using Anchor

Anchor is free, and free is great, but some data privacy experts have concerns about anything that is “free” to the user — you may be paying with your data, not your money.

Most social media sites are free, though, and knowledge of data collection doesn’t stop users so it’s really a question of what matters to you.

To go from Anchor to iTunes:

To publish from Anchor to iTunes:

Create your content inside the app
Make sure you have at least 1 episode
Push “publish to all platforms”
It can take 24 hours to show up on iTunes

Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout is a popular podcast host, probably because it has nice features and is in some ways a hybrid of Libsyn and Anchor.

Pros of using Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout distributes your podcast widely and easily, and they encourage you to start working with the equipment you’ve got. They offer to help you if you decide to upgrade your gear, which is pretty sweet.

Buzzsprout gives you a podcast website, an embeddable audio player (so you can put it on other sites, like your website), good analytics, and promotional tools.

A favorite aspect of Buzzsprout that they proudly advertise is the ability to schedule podcast releases ahead of time.

You can also transcribe your podcast which can make it easier for hearing-impaired fans of your podcast to enjoy your content, and can help your search engine listings.

Buzzsprout offers monetization via affiliate marketing through their partners, which makes the whole process very simple.

Cons of using Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout offers a free option, which, you know, data privacy… it depends on what you want.

They also have several paid options, which, like the free version, scale up in terms of how many hours you can upload each month.

The paid versions host your episodes “indefinitely” while the free version is a set 90 days, and you can’t remove ads from the free version podcast website.

To go from Buzzsprout to iTunes:

To publish from Buzzsprout to iTunes:

Record your podcast using your preferred recording method
Fill out your show information on Buzzsprout so they have all the information they need to send to iTunes
Upload your recording to Buzzsprout and publish it
Go to the Apple Podcast Podcast Connect site and log in with your Apple ID
Copy your RSS feed URL from Buzzsprout under “iTunes and Directories,” and enter and validate it on Podcast Connect
Submit! It can take a week for approval, and another week to show up in search results on iTunes

Bluehost

Bluehost is not a podcast-specific host, but some users like the freedom and flexibility it offers to tie in to your own website.

Pros of using Bluehost

You can host media files on Bluehost and trust it as a well-known company. They have great customer service and don’t have too many plans to have to decide between.

Also, since it is known primarily for website hosting, you end up with a place to put podcasts on your own website instead of managing several platforms.

If you decide to give Bluehost a try to get both a website and a podcast host out of one location, and then decide it’s not for you, they have a money-back guarantee.

Another plus of Bluehost is if you start with your own website hosting your podcast and then decide you need to upgrade, you still have your website and can migrate your podcasts easily.

If you decide to try Bluehost to host your podcast, check out this article for help.

Cons of using Bluehost

Bluehost doesn’t really want you to store lots of big files, since it takes up space and has to be stored somewhere. Also, if you’re expecting a lot of monthly podcast downloads, it’s not the way to go.

There are no free versions of Bluehost, but you get a website in addition to podcast hosting.

The biggest con for Bluehost is it’s more complicated, since it isn’t specifically designed for podcast hosting.

To go from Bluehost to iTunes:

To publish from Bluehost to iTunes:

Create and set up your website and hosting on Bluehost
Record your podcast using your preferred recording method
Upload your recording using a podcast Chrome extension such as PowerPress from Blubrry, or Seriously Simple Podcasting
Go to the Apple Podcast Podcast Connect site and log in with your Apple ID
Copy your RSS feed URL from your Chrome extension and enter and validate it on Podcast Connect
Submit! It can take a week for approval, and another week to show up in search results on iTunes

Podbean

Podbean offers all of the standard podcast hosting tools and perks, but what makes it stand out is the livestream capability it offers.

Pros of using Podbean

In addition to offering live streaming, Podbean has an app where you can record, edit, and publish your podcast.

You can monetize your podcast with built-in advertising, or by using premium subscriptions. It offers analytics, wide distribution to podcast players, and the ability to publish video podcasts.

You can brand your podcast page with your domain name, schedule podcast publishing, and don’t have to worry about hosting limits.

There’s a free version, as well as a few paid tiers offering more and more capabilities.

Cons of using Podbean

With Podbean you get the standard data privacy concern with free, versus the negative of having to pay money for the paid tier. It’s really a choice of what you want and need.

A negative is that the paid versions are unlimited in terms of storage space and bandwidth, meaning if you upgrade from free there isn’t a middle option where you can pay less if you don’t need unlimited.

To go from Podbean to iTunes:

To publish from Podbean to iTunes:

Record your podcast using your preferred recording method
Fill out your show information on Podbean under “Settings” so they have all the information they need to send to iTunes
Upload your recording to Podbean and publish it
Go to the Apple Podcast Podcast Connect site and log in with your Apple ID
Copy your RSS feed URL from Podbean under “Settings” → “Feed,” and enter and validate it on Podcast Connect
Submit! It can take a week for approval, and another week to show up in search results on iTunes

So which one’s the best?

All of these podcast hosts are well-known and well-liked by users, so you can really only go wrong if you pick one that doesn’t have what you need or doesn’t work for you.

If Bluehost sounds too complicated and you don’t want to take advantage of the money-back guarantee and try it, then don’t! You’re busy and any of these sites can do the basic job of hosting your podcast so you can get it going on iTunes and other sites.

If you just want a one-and-done, Podbean or Anchor is probably what you want.

If you want a little bit more control, Libsyn might be the right fit, or Buzzsprout.

At the end of the day, consider if (and what) you want to spend, and if there are any non-standard services or tools you want from your podcast host.