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How to get universal links to your podcast for everyone

· First published · By James Cridland · 5.1 minutes to read

This article is at least a year old

Not everyone uses iPhones: in fact, across the world, only 20% of people do. But many podcasters only link to Apple Podcasts pages, which don’t work too well for Android phones or for most laptops.

Instead, there are a number of tools that you can use for your own podcast that, when clicked, sense what your listener is using and opens the right app: so, an iPhone user would go to Apple Podcasts, while an Android user would go to Google Podcasts, as one example.

So, it’s as easy as just putting a link like https://podnews.net/listen on your social media, instead of a set of links to Apple, Google and Spotify.

Universal links

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Podfollow gives everyone a link like http://podfollow.com/1325018583, and lets you claim your podcast to get customisable links like https://podfollow.com/podnews which point wherever you’d like it to. You can also link to specific episodes. It has a web player if you need one; and it has full stats, in beta. It’s free.

Available On gives everyone links like https://availableon.com/podnewspodcastingnews, and contains a set of links to different podcast apps.

Podlink gives everyone a link like https://pod.link/1325018583, and contains a set of links to many different podcast apps, episode links, and a player. It’s free; you can upgrade to get a “vanity link” like https://pod.link/podnews too.

OnlyPod Link offers a customiseable Linkedtree-like experience, with analytics and links to your latest episode. Ours is at https://opod.one/podnews.

Pod1 is very customisable, letting you link to apps, give a clear call-to-action, and plays the audio then and there, too. We’re at https://pod1.co/podnews if you want to take a look.

Chartable’s Smartlinks lets you claim your podcast to give you a link like https://link.chtbl.com/podnews, which can be customised to point wherever you’d like. You can link direct to episodes, too. The emphasis of this service is the integration with Trackable, its statistics product, letting you monitor exactly how many clicks, unique downloads and even “new downloads” you got from your smartlink - and you can set a number of different smartlinks, allowing you to monitor how successful each marketing campaign was. It’s free to start.

Podkite’s Kitelinks let you claim your podcast to give you a link like https://kite.link/podnews, and you can also link to episodes. Paid users also get a method for their users to submit reviews directly to Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Podchaser. It’s free to start.

Plink gives everyone a link like https://plinkhq.com/i/1325018583 and a page like https://plinkhq.com/i/1325018583?to=page with more options. It’s free; you can upgrade to get custom links like http://plnk.to/podnews with additional features.

Linktree gives you a link like https://linktr.ee/podnews - it’s not built for podcasting really, but works okay for it if you type in all the links manually. It’s free to start.

SmartURL isn’t built for podcasting either, but allows you to set automatic redirects for device or also country (which might be useful if you’ve different language versions). It’s free to start: in our test, it said that Podnews was an “unknown URL” and wouldn’t let us link to it.

ShortIO is also not built for podcasting, but offers the same redirects. It has a free tier, which even allows you to use your own domain, and gives you a lot of statistics. It will capture Android and Apple devices and send them to different places, too. It looks to be extremely capable. Our test is at https://listen.pod.news.

Podnews is - wait, it’s this site. But it gives everyone a link like https://podnews.net/podcast/i5hv2/listen which opens Apple, Google or a web player depending on what device your listeners are using. Podnews also gives you this code for putting on your own site, too - find that on this podcast’s links page (scroll down for that). Get started by searching for your podcast.

All these universal links work really well with a QR code, too - so you can just scan and click with any phone. Podnews has a QR code on every podcast page, pointing to our own universal link; but you can use sites like QR Code Monkey to generate a QR code for whatever universal link you’d like to use.

QR codes are great for use in business cards, or on exhibition table stands, too - and could be the fastest way to get new subscribers to your podcast.

Your own podcast host

Your own podcast host’s page may well offer a simple, clear method of listening on any device - whether it’s just a set of links, or some more clever services. Pros: it’s what you pay for; cons: if you ever change podcast host, all these old links will stop working.

Your own website

This is by far the best solution, as long as your website is clear and simple for listeners to see how to listen on their own device.

Your own website is also a great choice. We recommend it displays the official Apple, Google and Spotify badges above the fold, so people instantly know what to click on. (For those buttons, search for your podcast and click the “link to this podcast” link towards the bottom).

Don’t have a website? No problem.

RadioPublic’s Podsites are free to start and you can use your own custom domain on any paid account.

Podpage are free to start, and a small monthly fee for a custom domain and other features.

Podcastpage charges a small monthly fee including a custom domain.

We’d highly recommend using a custom domain with these services: it means you remain in control, and can switch to a different provider at any time.

Spotted any other great ways to link to your podcast? Drop us a mail to let us know.

James CridlandJames Cridland is the Editor of Podnews, a keynote speaker and consultant. He wrote his first podcast RSS feed in January 2005; and also launched the first live radio streaming app for mobile phones in the same year. He's worked in the audio industry since 1989.

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