Buzzsprout is one of the best podcast hosting platforms if you’re looking for a solid tool to host your shows and you don’t want to think about fixing the technical elements of your videos or editing sound, this is it. The podcast hosting platform does everything else for you once you record your show. It’s designed with the end-user in mind, offers incredible features, ease of use, and value for your money with its pricing structure.
In this article, we’ll give you a detailed review of Buzzsprout, what works, what doesn’t, pricing, and the features that make it a great podcasting tool for new and established podcasters alike.
Value for Money
Buzzsprout is the best choice for business people looking for a well-designed hosting tool with great features to run a simple show and have them deal with the editing aspect of the finished product.
It also helps podcaster who simply want to move their existing videos to a new host, and not necessarily record a new video. With Buzzsprout the transfer is smooth and fast.
Setting Up a New Show with Buzzsprout
You need to sign up first, and then Buzzsprout will take you through the setup process with easy to follow steps, beginning with initiating the show. Next, you will learn how to create the Apple Podcast title, types, and episode tags, and then learn how to upload your first episode. The final task is the distribution of your broadcast – Buzzsprout ensures that you’re listed on all the top-rated directories for faster online visibility.
In summary of the launch process, this is what a complete podcast set up involves:
- Creating catchy show titles
- Describe your topic
- Create unique artwork
- Record, editing and promoting your show
Moving your Current Podcast to Buzzsprout
When it comes to hosting, Buzzsprout makes the process smooth and easy. All you have to do is provide them with your current RSS feed, and they’ll pull out all your episodes, including audio files to the hosting feeds.
Once the transfer completes, Buzzsprout will guide you on how to redirect your RSS feed from your current host to theirs.
Publishing a New Episode in Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout has an easy publishing workflow set up guide on the front page of their website. Once you log in, click on the ‘Upload a New Episode’ icon and begin the process of creating a fresh episode.
Podcast Hosting Control Panel
Once you have created a new episode, upload your audio file and store it Buzzsprout’s hosting storage.
The podcast hosting site will save your audio file in bitrate or standard format. Fill out your episode specifics on the next page, which also doubles as your id3 tags and add to your mp3 file. This procedure requires details including:
- Title
- Description
- Summary
- Host and guest
- Tags
- Artwork
- Season/ Episode
- Type of episode – full/ trailer/bonus
- Rating
- Publishing date and time
You may save your episode as a draft, leave it complete, ready for publishing, scheduled to publish it later or publish it immediately once you’re ready to go live online.
Buzzsprout Automated File Conversion
Converting your audio file on the Buzzsprout platform is easy when you use a paid version. Some folks don’t want their files changed at all. Let’s say you pick the standard version for starters; your file is automatically converted to a mono mp3. Now good audio requires a balance of audio quality and file size, background music, etc.
The platform has a package that charges as little as $6 per month for downloading up to 192,000 audio files at 96kpbs. Now if you’re downloading large files, the speed is quite slow for the complexity of your show files.
This package may work for some folks and maybe a bit of a drag for others. But, are you interested in the quality of your audio sound or the speed of file conversions?
Honestly, most podcasters don’t care about bitrate speed rates, they just want a hosting site that works and does not alter the quality of their audio files at all.
With Buzzsprout, the conversion is easy; you can download them right from your zoom recorder to your smartphone without worrying about the edits. And Buzzsprout does the rest.
On the plus side, large files with studio-quality audio and lots of background music require the 192 kbps plan.
Advertising & Engagement Tools
Video Soundbite
Buzzsprout has a video soundbite feature that allows you to create a short preview with a punchy headline to promote your podcasts on all social media platforms.
To create an ad, pick the part you’d like to edit, pick the time you’d like it to run, and click “start”. The hosting site will do the rest for you, and you can view the trailer before sending it out.
Chapter Markers
Chapter markers enable you to comb through the entire video and pick out just the parts you’d like to listen to. It’s like picking out highlights of what a podcaster’s talking about before listening in to the entire video – which can be a bit of a drag if you just need to get to the crucial points.
For podcast authors, Buzzsprout has chapter markers that are easy to use in your hosting tools.
Other Features Include:
- Sharing tools across all social media platforms
- Transcription tools at an extra cost
- Creation of multiple accounts for your team members
Podcasting Statistics
After all the hard work you’ve put in your podcast creation, you need a good number of viewers or listeners.
It all comes down to the download stats.
Buzzsprout has all the stats you need to know about your broadcast displayed on the dashboard.
The stats section looks quite appealing with neat layouts and clear to read. You can’t miss them. Buzzsprout displays your recent episodes at the top of the page followed by popular episodes.
You can also see your subscribers based on your listening stats and a great feature showing your growth which has the ‘all-time total plays’.
You can also see the location of your viewers/listeners per episode, displayed for 90 days – a great feature showing your fan base and future subscribers.
Pricing – Hosting Packages
Buzzsprout cost depends on the length of your shows. All shows are subject to the limited bandwidth of 250GB.
Here’s what to expect:
- 3hrs of audio – $12 per month
- 6hrs of audio – $18 per month
- 12hrs of audio – $24 per month
Hosting Upgrades include:
- High quality audio (192k stereo) @ $6 per month
- Transcription – 10c per minute
Distribution
Buzzsprout has a distribution section, labeled as ‘Directories’ where you can see the standard podcast directories that you can enlist in with complete instructions on how to go about it.
Conclusion
Buzzsprout appeals to podcasters who prefer to keep things simple and quick for busy show runners who do not have the time to sit through hours and hours of recording, and editing (tedious task) and all the other nitties that come with preparing a great podcast show.
It simply allows you to concentrate on content creation, and the rest is done for you. The design is awesome compared to other podcasting dashboards, solid features, and friendly prices even for beginners.