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podcasting

How to Create and Grow a Podcast on YouTube

A YouTube podcast is a public playlist of full-length episode videos. Here’s how to set one up, organize episodes, choose a distribution route, and measure what viewers do.

By VGSources Team 4 min read
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To create a podcast on YouTube, make a public podcast in YouTube Studio—or designate an existing playlist—and add full-length episode videos in the order people should watch or listen. An MP3 by itself is not a YouTube podcast episode: each episode in the playlist must be a video. YouTube can make eligible podcasts discoverable in additional places, but no setup choice guarantees audience growth.

What counts as a podcast on YouTube?

YouTube defines a podcast show as a playlist and its episodes as videos in that playlist. A show can therefore be audio-led, but its YouTube episodes still need video delivery. Upload an episode video directly, or use an RSS feed or a supported podcast-hosting distribution option to deliver episodes to YouTube. An audio file alone is not enough.

YouTube’s official setup guidance is at Create a podcast in YouTube Studio; distribution options are covered in Distribute podcasts on YouTube.

Prepare the show and episode playlist

Choose the right playlist scope

Create one public podcast playlist for each show. Put complete episodes from every season in that playlist, and leave clips, Shorts, other shows, and unrelated uploads out of it. You can organize clips separately without designating their playlist as a podcast. Shorts made to support a podcast do not appear in YouTube Music.

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Name and describe the podcast

Use the show’s actual name as the podcast title. YouTube cautions against generic titles and unnecessary extra words—including “podcast” when it is not part of the show’s name. Write a detailed description that tells prospective listeners what the show covers. See YouTube’s podcast discovery tips.

Make a square thumbnail

A square podcast thumbnail is required when editing podcast details. YouTube recommends 1280 x 1280 pixels. Treat that as a platform design recommendation, not a promise that a particular thumbnail size or image will increase reach.

Create the podcast and add episodes in Studio

  1. Open YouTube Studio and create a new podcast, or select an existing playlist and designate it as a podcast.

  2. Enter the show title and detailed description, set its visibility to public, and add the square thumbnail.

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  3. Upload episode videos or add eligible existing videos. Keep the podcast playlist focused on complete episodes; use separate playlists for clips and other material.

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  4. Arrange episodes to suit the format. For an episodic show, order them newest to oldest. For a serial show whose story is best followed from the beginning, order them oldest to newest.

  5. Review the podcast’s settings and playlist before publishing. If you use RSS or a hosting platform instead of direct Studio uploads, check YouTube’s distribution guidance and whether your host supports delivery to YouTube.

Interface labels can change, so use the current options shown in YouTube Studio if they differ from these descriptions.

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Choose direct upload, RSS, or hosting-platform distribution

You can upload episodes directly in YouTube Studio, connect an RSS feed, or use a podcast host that supports YouTube distribution; YouTube also mentions third-party upload tools. Choose based on how your episodes are produced and managed: direct upload gives you a Studio-based workflow, while RSS or host distribution may fit a show already published through a podcast host. Confirm the current requirements and options in YouTube’s distribution instructions. Regardless of delivery method, the YouTube podcast is built from episode videos in a podcast playlist.

How YouTube may help people discover the show

Eligible podcasts may be included in YouTube Music and may receive podcast badges, placement on youtube.com/podcasts, Watch-page discovery, recommendations to people with similar interests, and improved search features. Eligibility and placement are conditional; they are not guaranteed outcomes. YouTube says its podcasts page uses social signals, machine learning, signals from other Google products and services, and human input.

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These are ways to structure a podcast in line with YouTube’s guidance, not guaranteed growth tactics. YouTube’s documentation does not promise that any title, description, playlist order, or discovery surface will produce a specific number of listeners.

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Measure performance and decide what to change

In YouTube Studio, review the podcast analytics available for your channel. YouTube describes views and watch time, with deeper views that can include traffic sources, audience demographics, audience retention, revenue, and other information. Its distribution guidance also lists impressions and click-through rate among available metrics. Names and availability may change, so confirm what appears in the current Studio interface.

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  • Use traffic sources to see where viewers found episodes.

  • Use retention to identify where viewers stop watching or listening.

  • Compare episode performance and audience information before changing topics, format, or release choices.

Use your channel’s observed data to guide editorial decisions; the available analytics describe performance but do not by themselves establish why an episode succeeded or guarantee that a change will grow the audience.

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Copyright, eligibility, and audio-only playback

Use content you own or have permission to use, and follow YouTube’s copyright policies. Content ownership and copyright-policy violations can affect whether a playlist is eligible for podcast features. YouTube podcast videos can be available for audio-only playback. YouTube says that to disable audio-only playback for a video, you must remove that video from all podcasts in its video settings.

Or let it run in the cloud

If you also want a YouTube channel to stay live around the clock using uploaded videos, StreamNeo is a separate option from podcast publishing: it loops uploaded videos on a YouTube live stream. Upload a recording or build a playlist, add your YouTube stream key once, and go live. Your computer can stay off; StreamNeo runs the stream in the cloud.

See StreamNeo for details, or start the free first day.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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