iTunes Revisited – PHD014

This is show # 14 for April 11th, 2014… iTunes Revisited

Here we go again!

I get a TON of iTunes related questions so I’m going to revisit what iTunes is when it comes to podcasting. How to get your show listed. How to KEEP your show listed. How to make your listing say what you want it to and other issues with the #1 place people find and listen to your podcast.

Q. I uploaded my latest episode today and it’s not in iTunes.

A. The iTunes store listing and what appears in your feed are two different things. People that subscribe to your feed in iTunes will get the new episodes as you post them but the listing at iTunes can lag by a few days (or up to a week or so) behind your feed. There is no way to automatically tell iTunes that your feed is updated since they have removed their ping podcast feature. If you think there is a problem at iTunes please contact Apple Support at [email protected]

Q. How do I get my podcast to show up under XXX keyword in search on iTunes?

A. SEO on iTunes is a bit of a mystery, but, as near as I can tell, it works about the same as Google SEO but you have to wait longer for it to improve. Also, Apple gives more weight to shows that get a lot of subscribers. The best I can tell you is be patient and make your show title and description keyword rich like you would for google and bing.

Q. When I upload my episode to itunes……

A. No you didn’t! Stop it! … You do not UPLOAD to itunes. It is done by your RSS feed. You upload you show to your media host and you make a post on your website (if you do it the way I suggest) and your RSS feed, feeds iTunes and all the subscribers using iTunes.

AGAIN!!! YOU DO NOT UPLOAD ANYTHING TO ITUNES… STOP IT!!

Q. My show description / image / host name/ etc… won’t change. I changed it 2 weeks ago and it’s still the same as it was.

A. Apple takes it sweet time updating things like show information, Cover Art and Host info. Be patient. I’ve see it take up to 3 weeks to update things. On the other hand, I’ve seen it take less than 3 hours in the case of Podcast Help Desk a couple of weeks ago. As long as your feed looks right, iTunes will update. It does seem that putting out a new episode will help speed up the process. Also, the more consistent you are, the quicker it will update things like that including your next episode.

Q. Can I track how many people are subscribed in itunes?

A. No, not really. You can not really track “subscribers” to your RSS feed or in itunes. You can, however, with Blubrry and Libsyn stats, figure out a rough guess. The more important stat is downloads. I will have another show focusing on stats soon, but the answer to the question is no..

This show brought to you by Blubrry.com Media Hosting….

Use the promo code nobs for a free month of podcast hosting at any level at blubrry.com

The promo code also works for blubrry premium statistics 1 month free by using the promo code nobs.

That will do it for this session. The Podcast Helpdesk is now closed until next week.

If you would like me to answer your question, please email your question to [email protected] or use the speakpipe “Leave a voice comment” tab on the website. You can also tweet your question using the hashtag #podcasthelpdesk.

I’m Mike Dell. Catch me next time!

This is show # 14 for April 11th, 2014… iTunes Revisited

Here we go again!

I get a TON of iTunes related questions so I’m going to revisit what iTunes is when it comes to podcasting. How to get your show listed. How to KEEP your show listed. How to make your listing say what you want it to and other issues with the #1 place people find and listen to your podcast.

Q. I uploaded my latest episode today and it’s not in iTunes.

A. The iTunes store listing and what appears in your feed are two different things. People that subscribe to your feed in iTunes will get the new episodes as you post them but the listing at iTunes can lag by a few days (or up to a week or so) behind your feed. There is no way to automatically tell iTunes that your feed is updated since they have removed their ping podcast feature. If you think there is a problem at iTunes please contact Apple Support at [email protected]

Q. How do I get my podcast to show up under XXX keyword in search on iTunes?

A. SEO on iTunes is a bit of a mystery, but, as near as I can tell, it works about the same as Google SEO but you have to wait longer for it to improve. Also, Apple gives more weight to shows that get a lot of subscribers. The best I can tell you is be patient and make your show title and description keyword rich like you would for google and bing.

Q. When I upload my episode to itunes……

A. No you didn’t! Stop it! … You do not UPLOAD to itunes. It is done by your RSS feed. You upload you show to your media host and you make a post on your website (if you do it the way I suggest) and your RSS feed, feeds iTunes and all the subscribers using iTunes.

AGAIN!!! YOU DO NOT UPLOAD ANYTHING TO ITUNES… STOP IT!!

Q. My show description / image / host name/ etc… won’t change. I changed it 2 weeks ago and it’s still the same as it was.

A. Apple takes it sweet time updating things like show information, Cover Art and Host info. Be patient. I’ve see it take up to 3 weeks to update things. On the other hand, I’ve seen it take less than 3 hours in the case of Podcast Help Desk a couple of weeks ago. As long as your feed looks right, iTunes will update. It does seem that putting out a new episode will help speed up the process. Also, the more consistent you are, the quicker it will update things like that including your next episode.

Q. Can I track how many people are subscribed in itunes?

A. No, not really. You can not really track “subscribers” to your RSS feed or in itunes. You can, however, with Blubrry and Libsyn stats, figure out a rough guess. The more important stat is downloads. I will have another show focusing on stats soon, but the answer to the question is no..

This show brought to you by Blubrry.com Media Hosting….

Use the promo code nobs for a free month of podcast hosting at any level at blubrry.com

The promo code also works for blubrry premium statistics 1 month free by using the promo code nobs.

That will do it for this session. The Podcast Helpdesk is now closed until next week.

If you would like me to answer your question, please email your question to [email protected] or use the speakpipe “Leave a voice comment” tab on the website. You can also tweet your question using the hashtag #podcasthelpdesk.

I’m Mike Dell. Catch me next time!