As podcasters, we at Blubrry understand the excitement you feel after publishing a new episode. It’s only natural to want that episode to reach your audience as quickly as possible. But, sometimes, episodes don’t show up in podcast apps/directories as quickly as we’d expect.
What to Do When Your Latest Episode isn’t Displaying in a Podcast Directory
The most important thing is, don’t panic! While delays like this can sometimes be caused by technical glitches, there’s often nothing more to do than just wait for your episode to appear. The suggestions below outline the best course of action for troubleshooting this situation.
1.) Subscribe to your show: Subscribe to your show’s podcast RSS feed using your preferred podcast-listening app. If your latest episode shows up within the app, everything is probably working fine with your show’s podcast RSS feed, and there’s nothing else to do but wait for your latest episode to show up.
2.) Validate your podcast RSS feed: A good way to know that your show’s podcast RSS feed is healthy and functioning correctly is to run your feed through Cast Feed Validator. This handy tool will run different tests against your podcast RSS feed and let you know if anything isn’t operating as it should be.
3.) Wait: We know it can be frustrating when things seem uncertain. But, if you’ve tried the suggestions above and everything came back fine, there’s not much else to do but wait. Podcast syndication platforms like Apple Podcasts, etc. can take up to 24 hours to pick up your latest episode. This is normal, and it’s how podcasting has always worked.
Podcast RSS feeds are Based on “Pull” Technology
It’s a common misconception that podcast RSS feeds “ping” or otherwise send a signal to podcast directories when new episodes are published. That isn’t true. When you publish a new episode, that episode is added to your podcast RSS feed. It’s then up to each different directory to refresh your feed and pick up that episode. The podcasting ecosystem is made up of many different listening apps/platforms, and they all have different algorithms that determine when to check your show’s podcast RSS feed. Most of these platforms check feeds once every 24 hours. But, that can vary. This variance is why it may sometimes take longer than other times for new episodes to appear in podcast directories.