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January 15, 2006
Blogging 101 - iTunes Valid Feeds
By QBlog in Blogging 101
So, you've figured out how to publish a podcast and even got it listed in the iTunes Music Store podcast directory. But you haven't quite figured out how to make your plain, generic listing look slick, professional and personalized. Well, pay attention because I'm here to help.
Enhanced Super-Cool Listing
By now you're familiar with the iTunes podcast submission process. Fill out a simple form and your podcast will be listed as soon as it's reviewed by Apple's esteemed "Podcast Approval Team." Easy! However, the submission process does not provide a way to add things like artwork, author name and extended descriptions. Such extras must be included in the RSS feed and adding them can be a complicated and confusing exercise.
For example, take a quick look at Apple's podcast tutorial. It's a lengthy page filled with lines of code, iTunes-specific tags and confusing jargon. Not exactly helpful unless you're a l337 h4x0r. What's the average podcaster to do?
Obviously you don't want to hand-code your RSS feed for each new podcast as one tutorial suggests. Whenever a podcast tutorial includes the phrase "open up a text editor, like Windows notepad" you should run away — fast! What you want instead is an application, service or plug-in that simplifies and automates the iTunes tagging process.
Create A Graphic
There
are several solutions and you should pick which one meets your specific blogging
needs. But before making your decision you need to create a graphic. You know,
that cool image that makes your podcast look like it belongs on iTunes. Your
graphic doesn't have to be fancy. It could be a personal photo, some cheap
stock art or simply the title of your podcast. The only requirement is that
your image be a square jpeg
measuring 300 pixels wide and 300 pixels high.
I suggest using an image that looks good as it shrinks because it will be displayed at smaller sizes on the main iTunes directory. Some tools even suggest creating a 144x144 pixel image for thumbnail views.
The Solutions
I found several solutions that should meet the needs of most podcasters. Some
require a bit more knowledge than others but they're all much easier than hand-coding
your RSS feed for each new podcast.
- Feedburner - Possibly the easiest way to get your podcast feed published. Feedburner makes promoting your podcast to iTunes a cinch and it's FREE! Just follow the simple instructions and you're done. (Recommended for Blogger.com and those who don't host their own podcasts).
- Audioblog - Get started for $4.95 a month and your feed is automatically ready for iTunes. Provides hosting of your podcast files too. Recommended for those who don't mind spending some money and who don't want to be bothered with running their own site.
- Loudblog - This free application runs on your PHP server and supports iTunes valid feeds.
- WP-IpodCatter - A free, easy to install plug-in for Wordpress-powered blogs that really works. It's what I used to get my iTunes valid podcast information uploaded.
Who's Missing?
Sadly, I can't find any solutions for Movable
Type or TypePad. If you're
using either of those tools to get your podcast feed published you'll probably
need to use something like Feedburner to generate your iTunes tags.
Blogging 101 publishes every Sunday and provides blogging tips, advice and tutorials for blog newbies and veterans alike.
Comments
I'm not mad at Yahoo. I like Yahoo. Link me up. I didn't see this in my research. Thanks!
Qblog,
Sure, Just go to:
http://sbs.smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting/compare.php
At the bottom of the plan comparison, click on "detailed technical comparison"
Integrated installation of wordpress and moveable type.
How timely!
I spend like 6 hours yesterday trying to figure out a solution for Typepad. (Mine is the plain jane podcast example!) I finally went with feedburner, but I'm not sure if it will keep the same feed and listing as I had before?
Lil' help?
Ty,
Have you tried just resubmitting your feed to iTunes? I'd try that route first. I can't think of any other way to do it.
Qblog,
I think Yayhoo's new blog hosting package has an option for movable type compatible with podcasts too. After what those yahoo's did to you last year, I can see why you'd neglect to mention them...
Posted by: Michael | January 16, 2006 3:42 PM