Preparing your podcast and website for YouTube
Before you submit your podcast RSS feed to YouTube Studio, make sure you meet the following minimum requirements:
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Email Address in Feed: Ensure you have a valid email address listed in your RSS feed’s ownership tags. YouTube will use this email address to send a verification code during the submission process. (If using PowerPress or Blubrry, this is easily configured in your settings).
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Ad-Free Audio (Important): To comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service, podcast content you upload to YouTube via RSS cannot contain dynamic or third-party inserted advertisements. However, host-read ads, sponsorships, or endorsements are allowed, provided you declare them during the setup process.
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Show Artwork: Ensure your podcast artwork meets standard RSS feed requirements, as YouTube will use your artwork to automatically generate a static-image video for your audio-only podcast episodes.
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Published Content: You must have at least one published episode in your RSS feed.
Submit your podcast to YouTube via RSS Feed
Currently, submitting your podcast to YouTube must be done via YouTube Studio.
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Log in to YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com) using the Google/YouTube account you want associated with your podcast.
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In the top right corner, click Create and select New podcast from the dropdown menu.
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You will be presented with three options. Choose Submit RSS feed.
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Read and accept the RSS Ingestion Tool Terms of Service, then click Next.
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Paste your Podcast RSS Feed URL into the provided field and click Next.
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Verify Ownership: Click Send Code. A verification code will be sent to the email address associated with your RSS feed. Retrieve the code, enter it into YouTube Studio, and click Verify.
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Select Episodes to Upload: Choose whether you want to upload all existing episodes, episodes published since a specific date, or only future episodes. Note: If your episodes contain host-read sponsorships, ensure you check the box indicating your feed contains paid promotions.
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Click Save.
YouTube will now begin ingesting your RSS feed. Your podcast will initially be set as Private while the episodes upload and process.
Publish your podcast feed
Depending on the size of your back catalog, it may take several hours or days for YouTube to process all your episodes.
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Once processing is complete, you will receive an email stating, “Your podcast is ready to be published!”
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Log back into YouTube Studio and navigate to Content -> Podcasts.
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Find your podcast and click the Publish button.
Once published, your podcast will be available on YouTube and the YouTube Music app. As you publish new episodes to your RSS feed from Blubrry/PowerPress, YouTube will automatically fetch them and create new videos on your channel.
Track analytics from YouTube Studio
Because YouTube ingests the audio file once and plays it from their own servers, YouTube plays will not show up in your Blubrry Download Statistics.
To view how your podcast is performing on YouTube and YouTube Music:
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Open YouTube Studio.
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Navigate to the Analytics tab.
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Click Overview, then select See Podcast Analytics.
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Here you can view views, watch time, traffic sources, audience retention metrics, and audience demographics specific to YouTube.