Tags can be thought of as an “index” to your website. You can even use a widget to display them on your website (if you wish, I don’t). If people were to click on them, they would be shown all the posts that had that word.  Useful? Well, maybe.

However, GOOGLE seems to love tags (based on the image to the left). Google brings eyeballs, which bring ears, which means they can be subscribers to this podcast.

Listener Feedback

We got some feedback from Daniel of Edgy Podcast Reviews on how he enjoy the last few shows, and my openness to share my numbers. If you are looking to get your podcast reviewed head on over to edgypodcastreviews.com

For the record 4 days into circulation show 211 has had 421 downloads. Whoop-dee-doo. I am more interested in influence and how connected I am with the audience instead of how big the audience is (quality vs quantity).

Another Podcast Experiment

I am turning the Weekly Web Tools Podcast (audio) into a Weekly Web Tools podcast that distributes pdf documents instead of mp3 files. Why? Because I can type faster than I talk. Also this makes it easy for readers to click on links to view the different tools. I will be monitoring the downloads to see if this works, along with clicks to see if it grows or reduces the amount of activity from the audience.

First off feedbruner is a service that allows you to track the number of subscribers while adding additional functionality to your RSS feed. One of those features is the extra tags for iTunes. However, recently feedburner changed their service and now you have a new RSS feed.. The old RSS feed will point at the new one, but for the future you need to update iTunes with the new RSS address.

In Podpress this is easy. There is a setting in the iTunes tab where you tell it what RSS feed to use, and on the left hand side you select “YES” to the “Is this a new feed” drop down. However, keep in mind that Podpress is no longer compatible (without tweaking) with the latest version of WordPress.

I’ve been recommending PowerPress from Blubrry. This has most of the useful features from Podpress and is compatible with the latest version of WordPress. However to update iTunes with your new feed you need to edit a bit of code. THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL. Login to your wordpress installation, and download the wp-config.php. Then make a backup copy of this in another folder. Go into the original download and add the text define(‘POWERPRESS_NEW_FEED_URL’, ‘http://yoursite.com/feed/’); (and put your new feed address from feedburner). Then upload the file to the exact location you downloaded it from. Over the next week or so (assuming you put out a podcast once a week), iTunes should read your feed, and update their system to reflect the new RSS address.

How do I know if iTunes has found my new feed? Subscribe to your podcast in iTunes, Then click on the name of the podcast (not an episode), and rich click and choose “Show Description”

New Public Webinars

ShopWurld Fundraising – Save Money While You Make Money February 26th at 9 pm EST. This is a free webinar.

Making Money From Your Podcast – March 3rd 9 PM EST. Fee $14.99 (Free for members).

My Gmail Account Was Hijacked.

I was very surprised when I couldn’t login to my gmail account that I’ve had for two+ years. Confused, I went through the hassle of having my password sent to me. The problem was when I went through this step it sent my password to an email address that wasn’t mine. Huh? That’s right I had lost control of my gmail account.

Now when I go through the procedures to have my account returned, I get this message from Google, “Thank you for your report. For account security, we limit the number of requests that can be processed about the same account. Please wait a few days and try filling out the form again. ”

I loved the Gmail service, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

Thanks google can you be a little more vague? In the meantime I’ve set up a new email (connected to my website) and a feature where people can upload audio comments.  See it all at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/contact

WordPress Tip

If you have a large archive, go into your widget and have it displayed as a drop down menu. This tip came from Dave Moyer of the Wordcast Podcast at www.wordcastpodcast.com

New Listener Survey

http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com/survey

Today I show how you can find out who is linking to your competitors using google. Then you can see if these same people might want to link to you. When a whole bunch of sites link to you Google may give you a higher ranking (and thus place you higher on a search).

To see who is linking to you simply type link:http://www.yourcompetitors.com

So to see who is linking to the schoolofpodcasting.com it would be
link:http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com

Your listeners may want to link to your website. So you go into whatever program you’re using (wordpress, front page, dream weaver) and you make a link to your website (either graphic aor text). You view the source code and when you past that into your website, it may not display. Instead it will simply show the graphic/link and NOT the text that you want people to copy and paste.

<a href=”http://www.schoolofpodcasting.com” target=”_blank”><img width=120 height=240 border=0 alt=”The pop up words” src=”http://media.libsyn.com/media/schoolofpodcasting/sop_120240.gif”></a>

(Now here I was able to simple coy and paste the code, this won’t work with all systems, it WILL work for most people using WordPress).

so to fix this, you need to replace the “<” and “>” so substitute the following:

&lt; = < (lt for less than)
&quot; = ” (quot for quotes)
&gt; = > (gt for greater than)

so

&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.schoolofpodcasting&quot;&gt;School of Podcasting &lt;/a&gt;  will show up like this

<a href=”http://www.schoolofpodcasting”>School of Podcasting </a>

If you’re not sure how to make a link, I have a detailed answer in the Frequently Asked Question section of the school of podcasting

I like the Zoom H4, I like its size, its battery, and the ability to record from XLR and 1/4.” It has built in compressors and automatic recording level. I compare it to the Marantz MD660. The Zoom H4 doubles as a portable recorder AND a USB interface for recording. It also has a built in 4track recorder (great for musicians working on songs).

The Zoom H4 is roughly $300. The Marantz MD660 is closer to $600

Last 5 in 5 From Brian and www.dimacast.com

Blowing Smoke (google could not find this pdcast)

Accidental Creative
http://www.samedaymusic.com/mc–518373

Today in iPhone
www.todayiniphone.com

The Rogues Gallery
http://www.thedividingline.com/rg

Podholes
http://www.podholes.com/

Intro from Big Al Wagner of www.projectstudionetwork.com one of my favroite podcasts.

Other sites Mentioned
Quiet Study Area www.quietstudyarea.com

Dave talks about how to conduct a PRE interview, we get a last 5 in 5 from Larry of daily-journal.com and Dave also points out that Google has a great tool for collaboration.

Last 5 in 5
Courtesy of Larry from www.daily-journal.com

HDTV Podcast http://www.htguys.com/
Podcast 411 www.podcast411.com
The Winecast http://winecast.net/
Daily Source Code www.dailysourcecode.com
Accident Hash www.accidenthash.com

Dave mentions a  free Google tool that you can use for note taking for podcasters. He also welcomes Coach Rob of www.spintexfitness.com as a new member to the School of Podcasting.

Thanks to everyone as we approach “Thanksgiving” here in the states.