Is Anchor the Right Choice of Podcasting Host for me?
You’ve recorded your podcast, you’ve edited and it sounds great, and you’ve even made a nice logo for it. Now you want people to hear it. For your polished audio file to truly become a podcast, it needs to be uploaded somewhere and included in an RSS feed.
Choosing the right podcast hosting platform and plan can be a little overwhelming. When I started the tartanpodcast in 2005, I had no clue what to do with the episodes I’d recorded (they sounded terrible, by the way, considering I was using a cheap PC microphone). Then I learned that I needed a hosting platform! In those days there were very limited options. I went with a company called Libsyn, and because I was their first non-North American customer, they gave me a nice discount.
Anyway, fast forward almost 20 years and there are rafts of companies offering you hosting platforms and plans for your podcast episodes. And some are free.
One such podcast hosting platform is Anchor.
In this guide, we’ll look at whether Anchor is the right choice of podcast hosting platform for you.
One of the biggest advantages of using Anchor is its ease of use. The platform is user-friendly, and it's easy to upload and publish episodes. Additionally, Anchor offers built-in tools for creating and editing episodes, as well as for distributing your podcast to different platforms. Due to the fact that its owned by Spotify - a company that’s looking to make a huge splash in the podcast publishing universe - your Anchor-hosted podcast will be available to listen to as soon as you click “Publish”*.
One of the cons of using Anchor is that it's not a great choice for podcasters who want more control over the look and feel of their podcast's website.
Anchor's website templates are basic and not very customisable. Additionally, Anchor's analytics are not as robust as some other hosting platforms, so it can be difficult to track your listenership.
Another disadvantage is that Anchor will insert ads in your podcast if it meets certain criteria, which can be annoying for the listeners.
Can I Make Money With My Podcast By Using Anchor?
Some of the ways to make money using Anchor include:
Sponsorship: Anchor offers a sponsorship program that allows podcasters to earn money by including sponsor messages in their episodes.
Donations: Podcasters can enable donations from their listeners, which can be sent through Anchor's built-in donation feature.
Affiliate marketing: Podcasters can include affiliate links in their episodes and earn a commission on any sales made through those links.
Premium content: Podcasters can create exclusive episodes or bonus content that is only available to paid subscribers.
Merchandise: Podcasters can sell merchandise, such as t-shirts, mugs, and stickers, through Anchor's built-in merchandise store.
Anchor also offers a variety of tools and features to help podcasters grow their audience and promote their content, such as the ability to distribute episodes to multiple platforms and the option to embed episodes on a website. However, it's important to note that Anchor is a free platform and that the way to monetise your podcast is through the options mentioned above and not through the platform itself.
At the Podcast Studio Glasgow, we think that Anchor is a great solution for podcasters who are just getting started. If you’re a hobbyist or you’re podcasting for your own personal brand, Anchor may be the right choice of hosting platform. But if you’re a company, a high-street brand, for example, we would steer you in a different direction, which we’ll cover in subsequent articles.
Book a consultation and you’ll not only get a tour of our high-end Glasgow-based podcast studio, but we’ll also help you go from “fantastic idea for a podcast” to growing a loyal audience in no time!
*Anchor was acquired by Spotify for $140M on Feb 6, 2019
