Simplecast Review 2021: BEST Podcast Hosting for Beginners?

Choosing a hosting platform is an investment, so it should be worth every penny. To find out if this media host is a good fit for you, let’s go over each of  its features:

Dashboard

Once you are logged into your account, the first thing you will see is the analytics. These are the basic yet important data you need to know and understand to better manage your podcast. It gives you a clear view of which podcast has the most or the least engagement, which topic you should explore further, and the like. 

Built-in Website 

Simplecast offers a secure (HTTPS), mobile-friendly, and responsive site that is aesthetically modern and clean. The colors are fully customizable to fit your show’s branding. In the settings, social media links and custom pages can be added to your site. It can also be connected to your custom domain when you already have one.  
Setting up a website on Simplecast is quick and easy. Even those who have not built a website before can make one in seconds. The theme is already set by default, but you have the basic options of changing the theme color to black or white, choosing the accent color, and adding texture.

Your show’s artwork will be displayed along with the title and description. Everything is already in position; there is no more tweaking that needs to be done!  

On the Site Settings, if you have yet to get a custom URL, Simplecast lets you have a custom subdomain. By default, it is https://name-of-your-show.simplecast.com/, but it should look better with a custom URL. 

You can also add a favicon to your site. When you have a custom URL and a favicon in place, your site can not look more branded and professional. 

As a podcaster, it is great to have a ready-to-use website in place without worrying too much about the technical aspect of it. 

If there is something you can look forward to on Simplecast’s website builder, it is the ability to create site pages. Once they have released this update, we can expect podcasters to have better, more full-featured websites for their shows complete with an About page, blog posts, etc. 

Embed Audio Player

Another feature that I can give full credit to Simplecast is the customizable, forward-looking embeddable audio players. Compared to others, I would say Simplecast has the most professional looking players. 

They have 3 options for you to choose from, depending on your plan:

Standard

Mini

Show
They have all the essential controls present, allowing listeners to skip parts of the audio at 15-second intervals and listen to the entire episode at 5 different speeds. Listeners can also share the podcast and subscribe to your show. 

The only option I would say is missing is the direct download button which carries its own set of pros and cons. 

Nevertheless, while you are still growing, it is more important to have the subscribe button in place more than anything else. 

Publishing

Publishing episodes on Simplecast happens in just a few clicks. The only drawback is that you cannot publish an episode without initially saving it as a draft. 

The good thing about that is your episode details are safe even if the site crashes. The downside: after saving a draft, you need to go to a separate page and publish it from there.
When it comes to keywords, the podcasting platform allows you to input as many as you need to target your audience. This is very helpful in building your first few subscribers. 

Another great thing, Simplecast allows you to publish private episodes! With this, you can create premium content exclusively for your subscribers. This gives you additional income too! 

As much as possible, add a transcript of your episode. This helps you gain new listeners! 
Before publishing, make sure all the details are in place. The right side of the screen is where you will find the action buttons. 

In my opinion, this is quite a flaw in the UX design. With everything happening on the left side of the screen or while scrolling down, locating the buttons can be confusing at first. 

This is just a minor thing and I do not consider this as a dealbreaker at all.  

Distribution 

Simplecast is proud of its multi-channel distribution that can be done with one click. This is actually an important feature because you would not want some of your audience to miss any of your new releases. This feature also spares you from manually distributing your show to different channels. 

Simplecast has 4 main distribution channels, but you are not limited to these networks. Apart from these, it also has TuneIn, Stitcher, etc. In fact, most of the popular channels are readily available.

Alternatively, you can copy the secure RSS Feed URL to list shows on platforms your audience prefers. 

Marketing & Monetization

Simplecast has released its API 2.0, which has impressive features; however, the update still lacks monetization tools (1). According to their update release notes, they are reworking the donation button on the web player and their monetization features are still in development. 

As of this writing, the only way to monetize the show via the platform is by linking sponsors on the show notes. While it is not as flawless, it has its benefits too in terms of SEO. 

What it lacks in ad integration, it makes up for in audiograms. Personally, I would say Simplecast has the best version which they call Recast™.

Simply put, podcasters include clips in their audiograms that they think their audience would love. However, listeners may think otherwise, and this is what Recast™ is all about. 

Recast™  is the first-ever listener-accessible audiogram sharing tool (2). That is, your audience will have the same controls in sharing snippets of your episode if they so desire. 

Honestly, if utilized well, I believe this is a great way to increase the audience base as it is the word-of-mouth marketing equivalent in the world of podcasting. 

Show Management

As mentioned earlier, Simplecast allows you to have multiple shows in one account. If you have shows from other hosting sites, importing them here is quick and easy. 

You can also add team members with different roles and permission levels.

As your podcast grows, you need to have a system in place; but you do not want to share your credentials and give others full access to your episodes and shows.  

Analytics Dashboard

This is, in my opinion, the best part about being on Simplecast! If you are a nerd for statistics, I do think this is the right platform for you because it provides, by far, unmatched data.

It not only tracks the performance of your show but also your listeners and their behavior. 

Let us dive deeper into each of the metrics: 

Downloads

Depending on your plan, the analytics will display the number of downloads made within 7 days upon the release of the 5 latest episodes. As you add more episodes, the top 5 changes, giving access to the latest data. This is important when you are experimenting on different topics for your show. 

Simplecast also identifies the optimal time to publish episodes. From here, you will see when most of your listeners are actively downloading your episodes. You can cash in on this by rolling out new shows during these times. 

Unique Listeners 

The platform’s analytics will also show you the times, dates, and weeks when unique listeners visit your show. 

This data is actually great because having 10 downloads, for example, does not always equate to 10 different listeners. You want to know how many regular listeners you have, and this metric gives you that. 

Location

This map shows which countries your listeners are from. 

When you hover your cursor on a country, you can see an overview of which episodes they listen to the most and how many downloads were made. 

Web Players

On the Web Players tab, you can see how many of your listeners are using the web players to stream your show – but that is not all! 

Simplecast tallies the number of streams and starts. Other platforms count these as one when they should be kept separate. 

Starts are the number of listeners who clicked play, while Streams are the number of listeners who stayed for at least 60 seconds on your episode. 

Apart from this, you can also see the average completion of each episode, the total number of hours listened, and the average playback duration. These numbers are vital in figuring out whether your audience is interested in your topic. 

Simplecast also monitors how your audience is playing your episode. 

If you notice most of your listeners are speeding up your episodes, you might want to consider increasing your talking pace. 

Technology

Simplecast also gives you socio-economic information about your listeners. 

Let me talk about each one of them: 
This graph displays the different listening methods of your audience. This can be filtered down to the exact app, web player, OS, and browser they use. 

In this section, you will know the devices they used. You can even see the exact model when you toggle the Device Details. 

Simplecast also identifies network type and the names of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) too! 

These data help you get to know your listeners a little more than other podcasters do. From here, you can tailor your shows and uploads that will best suit them.