Podcasting Power Tools

You want to embed a video in your podcast show notes, but you don’t want to make viewers watch everything that leads up to the clip that makes your point.  You can set your embedded YouTube video to begin playing at a given time.

You see this video on YouTube and you decide to embed it:

Click the embed button:

Copy the embed code:

Paste it in your text editor and you should have:

How far into the video do you want it to start playing? 

Calculate how many seconds that is.  Less than a minute is easy, but if you want to start 2:10 into the video, that would be 130 seconds (2 minutes x 60 seconds + 10 seconds = 130 seconds) 

In the following code, replace “SECONDS” with the number you just calculated:

&start=SECONDS

the example would be “&start=130”

Now you get to edit the embed code.  Add the above code to the end of each URL in the embed code

The embed code should now look like this:(but with your seconds value)

(First change is highlighted and the second one is under the pointer.)

Now, use this code to embed the video.  It looks the same as any other embed, but when you press play, the video will skip to the point that you selected.  Try it below:

To submit your podcast website to the Yahoo search engine, go to:

https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit

Click on “Submit a Website or Webpage”:

Type your website’s URL and click “Submit”:

Congratulations, you have successfully submitted your site:

You can also submit your rss feed at the link above.

Create a link that will directly subscribe them to your podcast in iTunes.

Replace the http:// prefix on your podcast’s iTunes page URL with the following prefix:

itpc://

If your podcast’s iTunes page URL is:

http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=208529334http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-answer-man-focused/id208529334

Your direct subscribe link would be:

itpc://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-answer-man-focused/id208529334

Please note that people clicking this link to subscribe will not count toward moving your podcast up various charts in the iTunes store.

There are several ways to find the direct link to your podcast in iTunes.

The simplest:

Search the iTunes store for your podcast:

Click the title to go to the main detail page:

On the main detail page, right click on the title:

Select “Copy Link”:

Now paste the link somewhere so you can see and edit it.(like a text editor):

It should look like this:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-answer-man-focused/id208529334

Congratulations, this is a direct link to your podcast in iTunes.

Another method is to combine your podcast Feed ID with the following URL:

http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=FEEDID

Replace “FEEDID” with your podcast’s Feed ID.  Don’t know your Feed ID?  Check out this tutorial on how to find it:

Find your iTunes Podcast Feed ID

This link will take you directly to your podcast page in the iTunes Store where visitors can subscribe, rate, comment, view episodes, etc.

Use this link on your website or in emails to direct people to your podcast.

To submit your podcast website to the Google search engine:

• Go to: www.google.com/webmasters/tools
• Sign in with your google account
• Click “Add a Site”:

• Enter your site’s URL and click “Continue”:

• Verify you own the site:

There area three ways to verify:

1. Copy the provided meta tag into your header.  The instructions are self explanatory.
2. They provide a specific HTML file for you to upload to your site root folder.
3. Add a DNS record

You only need to choose one of the three.  The first two are probably the simplest.  Once you have followed the instructions, click “Verify”

When verified, your site will be listed on your Webmaster Tools Home Page with the option to add or remove owners.

Congratulations, you have successfully submitted your podcast website to the Google search engine and it will be indexed soon.

Many podcasters want a simple way to embed an audio player in their WordPress web page and the Audio Player Plugin for WordPress is as simple as it gets.  Here is a quick tutorial on how to install the plugin:

Search for the plugin:

• In the left-hand column of your wordpress dashboard, click “Plugins”
• Then click “Add New”
• Type “audio player” in the search box
• Click the “Search Plugins”button

Select and install the Plugin:

• Make sure you have the correct plugin by Martin Laine
• Click the “Install Now” link

Activate the Plugin:

Congratulations! You have successfully installed and activated the Audio Player Plugin.

Check out this post about inserting and using the audio player.