Planning to start a YouTube career as a podcaster? Do you want to know how your podcasts can reach a wider audience at the start? Starting a YouTube podcast channel might seem daunting at first. However, with the right guidance and uploading the podcast to maximize views and engagement, the goal becomes a lot more manageable.
With this post, let’s learn how to upload the podcast on YouTube in the correct way to achieve.
What You Need Before You Upload
To start with, you should have a basic outline of the things you must have to upload a podcast on YouTube.
Here is the list of the crucial starting kit for a YouTube podcaster:
| You Need | Mandatory/Optional | What For |
| A YouTube Channel | Mandatory | To gain access to the creator features of YouTube |
| A recorded video podcast episode (MP4/MOV) | Mandatory | Can’t publish a video if you haven’t made one |
| Podcast branding (Logo, Description, Thumbnail) | Mandatory | It’s what brands your podcast and reaches your desired audience base |
| Intro/Outro, Captions, Background Music | Optional | It will be required as an additional feature for your video podcast, but it is not immediately mandatory |
Table: Requirements for Uploading a Video Podcast on YouTube
So, the first three aspects of this list are mandatory for a YouTube Podcast. This means that without these, you will not even be able to make an attempt to upload a video podcast on YouTube.
However, intro and outro clips, captions, and background music can also immensely help your podcast reach the audience, as these are accessibility features. But, they are not immediately mandatory. It is advisable, though, that you keep them in your content for optimum audience engagement.
Tools to Convert Audio Podcasts into Video
Suppose you have all the things mentioned above. However, the primary ingredient has not been discussed yet. And what is that? It’s about putting the VIDEO in a video podcast.
How to Add Video To Existing Podcasts
Let’s suppose you have a podcast episode ready. But you want to convert it into a video podcast for higher audience engagement. More than 70% of the audience around the world watches YouTube podcasts, getting more direct attention than audio-only podcasts.
However, the podcast episode you made only has audio. You can create a video from audio clips and animations using different tools. There are several options you can consider, such as Canva, Adobe Premiere, and Headliner.
Using these applications/tools, you can create a video overlay for your podcast that matches the audio content. Thus, your podcast can access and retain a higher level of audience engagement.
Already Got A Video? Here’s What YouTube Needs
If you have already made a video podcast, then you have already crossed most of the hurdles. All you need now is to know what YouTube needs to accept your video upload request.
In this context, you need to keep two key factors in mind:
- YouTube only allows one aspect ratio in its videos, which is 16:9.
- YouTube is also optimized for HD resolution. This means that keeping your video resolution at 1080p will be preferred.
Step-by-Step Guide to Uploading on YouTube
There are two ways to upload your video podcast to YouTube. The first way is through YouTube Studio, the in-house video podcast hosting service of YouTube. Let’s walk you through how to upload video podcasts using this measure:
- First, access YouTube Studio. You get free access to it if you have a YouTube channel.
- Navigate to the “Create” button on the YouTube Studio User Interface.
- Then you navigate to the “Upload Videos” section.
- Now, you select the video file you want to upload.
- After that, you add details to your video. The details will include your title (it should be max 100 characters), description, tags, and the privacy settings. After this, tap “NEXT” again.
- Add a custom thumbnail
- Choose a playlist. If not yet created, create a Podcast playlist.
- Now, you need to set your audience settings. Here, you have to click one of the two available options: “Yes, it’s made for kids” or “No, it’s not made for kids”.
- If applicable, set the monetization system and the video accessibility setting (Public, Private, Scheduled).
- Finally, click on the “Upload video” option and make it go live.
Or, you can skip all these steps and just use a video podcast hosting platform that supports YouTube podcasts. Such a platform will provide you with a guided pathway towards uploading an optimized video podcast.
Not only that, such a platform will also offer you the options for analytics, to keep track of how many viewers are watching your clips, the location where your viewers are most concentrated in numbers, your captured audience niche, most-favored episodes, and so on.
So, why not take the stress off your shoulders and strengthen your podcasting career early by choosing a video podcast hosting service?
Optimizing Metadata for Podcast Discovery
However, to maximize the audience engagement of your YouTube podcast, just creating and uploading content is not sufficient. You need to make sure it is Search Engine Optimized (SEO). This way, your video will appear on top of search results and more easily grab audience’s attention.
These are the steps you can follow:
- Make your episode titles SEO-friendly.
- Detailed description of episodes with timestamps, guest bios, and resources.
- Your hashtags should be consistent.
- You must also add relevant tags to your uploaded video, as it will work with search terms and keywords. These can include topic, guest name, and industry.
Creating Engaging Thumbnails and Visual Branding
Also, if you want to attract the right audience consistently, here is another thing that will be necessary:
- Make sure that the thumbnails capture the attention of the right niche.
- The thumbnails need to look professionally made and click-worthy.
- Include the episode name, add an image of the guest, and align the color-coding with your brand.
- Ideal editing tools for this can include Canva or Adobe Express.
Also, if you are going to upload your podcast through a video podcast hosting service, they can provide you with the right editing tools to design the perfect and attention-worthy thumbnail.
Summing Up
YouTube is viewed by several people all over the world. Therefore, it can be the ideal platform for your podcasting career to grow. It can not only help increase your subscriber numbers but also raise podcast visibility and audience engagement.
Thus, with the right setup, a YouTube podcast can absolutely set you on the path of a successful podcasting career.
Ready For a Video Podcasting Career?
Looking to become a YouTuber focused on podcasts? Set up an account on a notable video podcast hosting platform today! Using such a platform, get the right insights into uploading a podcast and the optimal analytics for your channel. So, what are you waiting for? Raise your subscriber count and become a video podcaster today!