There are some in the blogosphere who say podcasting is dead. To them I ask: if podcasting is dead, then why is my book currently #1 in the broadcasting category on Amazon

In chapter one of Promoting Your Podcast, I talk about how to get maximum exposure in the podcast directories. At the end of the chapter, I share a list of my top recommendations of directories to submit your podcast to. Since the aforementioned podcast directory owner didn’t like being in my book, now is a good time to update the list.

Below is my new list of most important podcast directories to submit your show to. Compared to the list in the book, a couple directories have been removed and a couple added. To form this list I used my original list from the book and the first page of a Google search for podcast directory as a reference. Then I added a few more based on my experience.

To provide some insight into how much traffic each of these sites gets, I created a table containing the following statistics.

1. The number of links to the site according to Yahoo! Site Explorer (a measurement of authority as perceived by Yahoo!)
2. The number of blogs linking to the site according to Technorati (a measurement of authority as perceived by bloggers)
3. The Alexa Rank (a somewhat controversial but often quoted estimate of traffic; lower rank is better)

Then I calculated an admittedly unscientific rating of my own. I added the Yahoo link # to the Technorati link # and divided it by the Alexa Rank (since lower is better) to get a sort of proportionate “overview” stat to look at.

Note that for the iTunes podcast directory none of these metrics can be measured. The same goes for Yahoo! Podcasts and Digg’s podcast directory since they are both sections of much bigger sites.

iTunes is still an undisputed leader in the podcast directory space. It most likely gets more traffic than any other directory, but there is no way to know that for sure. Yahoo! Podcasts, while disappointing due to its apparent stagnation since launching in 2005, is still arguably a leader in the space as well—after all it’s Yahoo!. The jury is still out for me on the Digg podcast directory, but given the popularity of the site, it’s worth submitting to.

Now here’s the list:

Here are a few more notes about sites that appear on page one of the Google search for podcast directory, but that are not in the list above.

1. The directory from Podcasting News is a sub-section of the site and so I wasn’t able to get stats for it. It is worth mentioning, but it doesn’t quite make my list above.
2. Podcast Zoom seems to be new to page one of the Google results. This is the first I have heard of it. It wasn’t performing strongly enough yet to include in my list.
3. iPodder.org (aka indiepodder) is no longer being maintained as far as I know.
4. You can’t submit your podcast to the NPR podcast directory so I didn’t put it on the list.

Now…who did I remove from the original list? There were a couple podcast directories that I initially had high hopes for, but that didn’t live up to my expectations. A lot has changed in podcasting since my original list. Podcasting was much younger then. Here are the ones that dropped off:

1. Transistr – this podcatcher (formerly ioOdderX) showed promise to take a strong second place to iTunes in market share. Because they included a directory right in the software, it seemed a good idea to have your podcast listed with them. When I wrote the book a new release of the software was supposed to be right around the corner. A year later…we’re still waiting. I’m not holding my breath.
2. Zencast – This directory is produced by Creative to go along with their Zen line of MP3 players. Because they place second in market share to the iPod, I hoped that they might be able to compete with iTunes as a podcast directory. It just hasn’t happened.

Keep your eyes peeled for a Zune podcast directory.

And now….the rest of my story…

There’s one more podcast directory that is no longer on my list, Podcast Bunker. Originally they were on the list for two reasons:

1. They were a curated “quality-not-quantity” directory that carefully chose the shows they listed. These kinds of directories often become authoritative sites and provide powerful Google juice.
2. They had been rated one of the top 50 coolest web sites of 2005 by Time.

Now they’ve been removed from my list for three reasons.

1. Their numbers wouldn’t even put them in the list above—scoring far below the last one in the table.
2. They no longer appear to be taking submissions.
3. The owner (or someone claiming to be the owner) clearly did not want to be included in my book. He made this apparent on the phone amidst swearing and yelling.

He told me that I should have asked permission to recommend their site. He also complained that I misrepresented them by stating that they required those who were listed in their directory to link back to their site. He claimed that has never been the case. I told him that all the info in my book was taken straight from their submission page (which now no longer exists).

So I consulted the Wayback Machine, an online project that archives snapshot versions of web sites through time (kind of scary, eh?). I pulled up the submission page as it existed when I wrote that chapter of my book in February 2006. You can see the archived page here.

The language clearly states:

(Important -please read) We also require that you place a link to The Podcast Bunker on your site. When you submit your site to The Podcast Bunker, you agree to place a link on your site if we add your Podcast to our listings. We will email you the location to the images for linking when we list your Podcast.

Maybe he’s forgetful. I don’t understand why someone would be so upset about me promoting their site in a book that is specifically targeted to their demographic. Like I said, it was surreal. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe it wasn’t the owner at all (although that seems an odd prank to pull). If you own the Podcast Bunker and didn’t call me, please let me know.

Anyway, which podcast directories didn’t I list that give you a nice stream of traffic? Please share your experience and suggestions in the comments.

And with that, here’s the first update.

In chapter 4 of my book, I talk about how to research and choose keywords that will attract more search engine traffic to your site. I recommended Nichebot as my favorite tool for collecting keyword data to create keyword reports.

As Murphy’s Law would have it, Nichebot recently changed their site. The service is no longer free to use as it once used to be. However, there is an alternate source for this information.

Nichebot pulls its data from the Keyword Discovery service. If you visit Keyword Discovery, you can sign up for a free account and get limited access to their keyword tool. To use the tool, select Keyword Discovery and then the Research sub-tab. Then just type a search term and click search. Instead of using the “Count” statistic, it’s now simply called “Searches”