How to start a podcast on YouTube in 5 easy steps

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Getting people to discover your podcast can be one of the toughest aspects of podcasting. It’s one of the reasons we strongly believe in being “platform agnostic” and getting your podcast on as many players as possible. While many focus on the two biggest players in the market — Apple and Spotify — learning how to start a podcast on YouTube can be a real asset for a few different reasons.

Why your podcast should be on YouTube

First and foremost, YouTube is massive. According to Statista, 77% of U.S. internet users under 36 years old use YouTube. With 800 million monthly active users, YouTube more than doubles Spotify’s 365 million monthly active users. If we’re talking about building more awareness for your podcast, that’s a lot of eyes and ears you could be missing out on. And with Google potentially looking at YouTube as a podcast delivery method, jumping on the platform early could be a smart investment.

The second most important reason has everything to do with search. YouTube — like its parent company Google — is a big player when it comes to internet searches. With good titles and descriptions that focus on searchable keywords, you have an opportunity to find completely new listeners organically. That’s something yet-to-be-released apps like Marbyl are promising they’ll be able to do, except YouTube already does it right now.

Third is all about the money. While YouTube’s monetization and copyright systems have earned the ire of content creators over the years, there are few easier ways to begin making money on your content than building a following on YouTube. Like it or not, but YouTube has helped a lot of independent content creators blow up and expand quickly thanks to ads.

How to start a podcast on Youtube:

So, there are clearly a ton of benefits for being on YouTube but how do you start a podcast on YouTube in the first place? It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is and can be accomplished in just 5 steps. Let’s kick it all off with producing your podcast.

Step 1: Produce your podcast like normal

If you already have a podcast, this should be the easiest step for you because you should already be doing this. We don’t need to tell you about the importance of a well-produced podcast that has been properly edited and mixed, right? Get the audio exactly as you want it and let’s get ready to add some video.

If you’re just starting out, you’ll need the right gear to get up and running. Izzy wrote an amazing article with help from our lead audio engineer John about the essential podcast equipment you’ll need to start a podcast on YouTube. Best of all, it’s under $200!

You’ll need to come up with a concept and title for your podcast along with a good image for podcast apps to use. Then, simply record what it is you want the world to hear and you’ll have a very basic podcast. There’s far more that goes into planning and producing a high-quality podcast, which we cover throughout our blog and on the Q’d Up Podcast on Podcasting.

Step 2: Add video

YouTube is for video content, so you’re going to need to add a visual element to your podcast to have the best shot at creating and retaining an audience on there. There are a few ways you can accomplish this but each option has pros and cons, especially for different types of podcasts. What works well for an interview series won’t be as effective for a narrative horror story. This guide will give you the broad strokes on a few different options but as always, think about what your target audience is expecting.

Webcam

If you have an interview podcast or it’s just you talking to the audience, turning on your webcam can be one of the easiest ways of getting video for YouTube. However, most people don’t necessarily love the idea of putting themselves out there on video, so there are some hurdles you’ll have to contend with.

You need to get your guest’s permission beforehand so they can prepare themselves for being on video. That could mean cleaning up the mess behind them, putting on makeup, or even wearing the right type of clothing for the vibe they want to give off. But it also prompts the guest to have their tech ready. As any interviewer will know, getting guests to do anything with technology can be a frustrating experience on the best of days and it can impact your guest’s experience, so keep that in mind if your guest is hesitant.

The quality of your video will have a massive impact as well. So, you’ll need a good lighting setup and a quality camera. You don’t need to be shooting in 8k with studio lights but you probably shouldn’t be using your laptop’s built-in webcam in a dark room either. 1080p webcams can be had for well under $100, which will look good on most screens (including televisions) and is all you’ll really need. If you want to go crazy, DSLR cameras with HDMI inputs can give you a truly professional look but it’s expensive and overkill for most podcasters. You can buy key lights from a number of vendors but the placement of your lights is far more important and you can get away with some floor and desk lamps if you’re savvy enough. This lighting and camera guide from B&H Photo will help you get your camera and lights set up to make you look your best.

A quick note: If it’s not going to look good for whatever reason, it’s likely better to do something else than put out an inferior podcast or potentially upset a guest that can help grow your audience. Don’t sacrifice quality just to get it done.

Social video services

Online social video creators like Headliner and Animoto are a great way to pair your audio up with some visuals quickly and easily. You’ll need some photos or graphics from either stock photography websites or your own files but social video programs will allow you to display them as a slideshow while your podcast plays over the top. This is also a great opportunity to create some quick social content as well, using important or interesting clips that you can share on your social profiles or hand to guests to share within their networks. You’ll be a little limited to what these tools allow you to create but the tradeoff is that you can quickly put out an engaging video podcast this way.

Video editing software

For most podcasters, programs like Adobe Premiere and After Effects are going to be unnecessary and expensive. Plus it’s a new skill you’ll have to learn and when combined with having to do everything else for your podcast, it can be a bit much if you don’t need the quality and freedom you get from a dedicated video editor program. Unlike social video programs, you can get as creative as you want in something like but it comes with the tradeoff of being far more difficult to learn, cumbersome to use, and more expensive. However, for those high-quality video podcasts, it’s a necessity at this point.

Step 3: Title

In an era where attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, the title is one of the most important things you need to figure out. A catchy title can get people to click before they’ve even realized what they’re looking at. A bad one can ensure no one clicks on your content, no matter how great it really is.

Those short attention spans I mentioned and the sheer amount of competition on YouTube means you’ll need to lean more towards clickbait titles than you might want. How to write a great title is worthy of a separate article but as a general rule of thumb, you’ll want something that gets to the point quickly and concisely. Value-added propositions (ie: “Learn how to increase sales right now”) and numerical content (ie: “7 ways to improve your podcast titles”) tend to do better at attracting attention and getting users to click but don’t overuse them either.

As I mentioned earlier, YouTube is effectively a large search engine for video content so you should be thinking about your SEO keywords too. Use tools like Keywords Everywhere and SEMRush to do keyword research and make sure to include your main keyword in your title. That way as people search for that topic and keyword, your video is more likely to be shown to them.

Step 4: Thumbnail

On visual apps like YouTube, the thumbnail can make or break your chances of success. Much like a good title, a good thumbnail can entice people to click on your content or will drive them away. While there are no hard-and-fast rules for thumbnails, you should try to show what your podcast is about as clearly as possible.

A ton of text is hard to read, especially as people scroll down their feeds quickly to get to something worth watching. Bright colors attract attention but if you use them too often, people are more likely to either get used to it from you or completely skip your content out of frustration. Photos with multiple people don’t attract the eye nearly as much as a single person in a cool pose. If you’re unsure what you should be doing, look at how top-viewed content creators like the ones below do their thumbnails for good ideas.

Step 5: Upload

Once you’ve created your YouTube account, you can upload your finished video with your thumbnail and description. You can set a premiere date to tease upcoming episodes to your subscribers. It’ll show up on their feeds as a reminder, yet another tool you can use to drive engagement.

Step 6: Track your progress and metrics

This is a bonus step but one I feel is always important to note. Make sure you’re tracking how well each episode does, especially as you begin tweaking your video, thumbnails, and titles. Use those metrics to make decisions on what works for you and your audience, and which things don’t work.


See, it’s that easy to start a podcast on YouTube but it can net some really positive results. For relatively minimal expense — both in the form of money for stock photos and software, as well as what your time is worth — you get access to hundreds of millions of people you might not be reaching on standard podcast apps. While not every podcast is a perfect fit for YouTube right now, if Google starts looking at the platform for podcasting, getting in early can make you a huge winner later on.

Of course, if this is all a little too much for you to handle, we totally understand. Here at Q’d Up, we can help you produce your podcast to be ready for YouTube or even consult with you about the best strategies to get the results you want. Contact us today to get started.

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