Top Hosting Services for Legal Podcasts
Podcasts can be a great way for a law firm to communicate with their online audience. They’re a perfect way to capture the attention of people who are interested in what you’ve got to say, but don’t want to sit down and read an article. Podcasts allow people to absorb information while they’re doing other things like traveling to work, exercising, or even just sitting on the couch enjoying doing nothing.
There are quite a few benefits to making podcasts a part of your firm’s marketing strategy. They’re much easier to create than video content, and easier for the audience to consume, too. They create a more personal relationship with your audience than blog posts and written media. They are also incredibly easy to share through any platform. We’re almost a year into our Legal Marketing 2.0 podcast with almost 50 episodes and it’s been an incredible experience meeting and sharing with thought leaders in legal marketing.
Whether you’ve already put together some recordings or you’re just thinking about getting started with them, you’ll need a host for your podcast content. Podcast hosting is somewhat specialized in order to make things easier for both content creators and listeners. Following is a comparison of some of the best and most popular podcast hosting companies to help you find the one that’s right for you. See, also: Podcasting Tools and Tips for Producing a Successful Show.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout has a reputation for being very easy to use with a simple dashboard that streamlines podcast management tasks. They provide full tracking and statistics so you’ll always know how your podcasts are doing with your audience.
You can get a free trial for 90 days that will allow you to upload 2 hours of new content per month. Paid hosting plans start at $12, allowing 3 hours of new content per month, going up to $24, which allows for up to 12 hours of new content monthly.
Blubrry
Blubrry is a very popular podcast host that is often recommended to beginners. The site offers professional statistics, uploads through FTP or web interface, and a content delivery network that spans 35 data centers around the world.
Two unique features that stand out at Blubrry are their no-fault overage policy and what they call long-tail podcasting. The no-fault overage system allows you to go over your monthly storage quota by up to 25% without being charged extra. The long-tail podcasting options allow you to modify older podcast episodes, such as adding new intros or advertising, without it counting against the current month’s upload limits.
Blubrry’s hosting plans start at $12 for 100MB monthly storage and go up to $80 for 1000MB storage per month.
Libsyn
Libsyn is one of the oldest podcast hosting sites. They’ve been online and in the business since 2004. They offer a wide selection of tools to help both beginner and advanced podcast producers do what they need. It’s not the most intuitive site but its proven longevity and reliability makes it stand out from other podcasting hosts. This is the one we chose to go with for our marketing podcast.
Libsyn’s hosting plans start at $5 for 50MB of monthly storage and go up to $75 for 1500MB of storage. Advanced plans also have access to some extras such as custom mobiles apps and subscription services.
BlogTalkRadio
BlogTalkRadio offers a complete package for beginning podcasters. Going beyond just hosting, the site offers podcast creation, monetization and distribution tools as well. The biggest stand-out feature is their built-in studio functionality that allows you to record, broadcast live and even take guest callers from anywhere in the world. Although it’s more expensive than other hosts, if you’re starting from zero and want to test the waters before setting up any of your own recording equipment, BlogTalkRadio could be the perfect option.
Paid plans start at $12 per month if you don’t want to use the studio features. With the full studio recording features, plans range from $39 to $249 monthly. In most cases, their $39 package will be more than enough.
PodBean
PodBean provides much of the same functionality you’ll find with other podcast hosts, but overall their pricing plans are a bit more economical, especially if you are willing to sign up for annual billing options. The feature that sets them apart from most other hosts is that on all but the cheapest plan they offer, you’ll get both unlimited storage space and unlimited bandwidth.
PodBean’s hosting plans start at just $3 per month and go up to $129 depending on the features you need and the billing schedule you choose.
Another podcasting service that reached out to me and that I’m considering for another podcast I host, is Pippa.io. I’ll report back on my experience if I take the leap.
it’s important to research the host you’d like to use for your podcasts before you make any decisions. It’s a bit of work if you run into problems and decide to change hosts later. Take advantage of free trials where you can and don’t be afraid to contact a support or sales rep to ask questions.
Whichever host you decide to go with, just concentrate on creating useful, quality content.
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