How to Have Different Cover Art With the Same Podcast Feed
Did you make a bad cover design when you first started your podcast and now want to change it? We've been there, and we know how to fix it. The good news is that changing your podcast cover art is easy!
Yes, you can change your cover art on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and other podcast directories all at once.
In this article, we'll cover the importance of podcast covers, risks associated with unnecessary frequent changes, how to make a new podcast cover, how to change your podcast cover art, and how long it takes for these changes to show on podcast directories.
Why podcast cover art design is important
Your cover art attracts the listener. It's easy to get your podcast on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. When your audience browses for new shows on these platforms, your podcast cover art is the first thing they see.
An attractive cover art can encourage audiences to try listening or learning more about your podcast. Potential listeners may start listening to your podcast, simply because they liked your cover art. Needless to say, good quality content is the main contributing factor to growing your podcast audience. However, your podcast cover is the first line of defense you must get right.
Make sure that all the designs, pictures, texts, colors, and other elements work together to accurately communicate what your show is all about. If you haven't designed a podcast cover art yet, are in the process of setting up and starting a podcast, here are some tips to get your creativity rolling!
When and how often you should change your podcast cover?
As we have covered earlier, podcast cover art is the first impression listeners get out of your podcast. That being said, your podcast cover plays an important role in your show's branding.
Frequent drastic changes to your podcast cover design can therefore give the impression of instability, the lack of direction, uncertainty, and unprofessionalism. Worse, audiences familiar with your previous cover art may lose sight of your podcast from the stark change. These can be detrimental for your show's growth, resulting to lost subscribers or lack of credibility (depending on what your show's about).
This is why it's so important to maintain your branding and design, as much as possible, unless the change necessary. When making changes, you can improve on the quality of your cover image, the color scheme, and change some elements without affecting the unique branding elements of your cover. This way, existing audience can still quickly identify your podcast.
Despite the risks associated with frequent changes, it can still be a good idea to change your cover art for each season, especially if you have a seasonal theme. This can keep things fresh and interesting for your audience. Just make sure that the main branding elements are kept more or less consistent (and present) across all seasonal covers.
You should still be able to tell that these podcast covers are for your show.
How to make a new podcast cover?
There are many different ways to create a cover for your podcast. One way is by using simple graphic design software that will allow you to place the text and images on a canvas. A popular example of this is Canva, which contains a wide collection of templates for you to choose from.
Another option is to use free stock photography sites like Pixabay or Unsplash. You can edit and add in some more elements and texts to those images using some graphic design software. You can also use Canva for this.
If you're experienced in graphic design and photo editing, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop would give you much greater flexibility, creativity, and ownership over your design.
View our complete graphic design software recommendations and podcast cover art design guide:
How to change my podcast cover on Spotify, Apple, and other sites?
If you have a podcast hosting site, changing your podcast cover art should be a very simple process. Hosting platforms distribute your show onto podcast directories; this means that any changes you make on your podcast on this hosting platform will also reflect on Spotify, Apple, and other sites your show is on.
Using Firstory as an example, you can simply Edit Podcast Info and upload your new podcast cover from Firstory Studio. It's more or less the same process for other hosting platforms.
To change the cover on a per episode basis, simply upload your episode cover when uploading a new episode. To change the cover of an episode that has already been published, edit your podcast episode and upload your new cover. When you don't upload a cover when putting up a new episode, your podcast cover art would be usually be used by default.
How long does it take for changes to show on podcast sites?
Any changes you make on your podcast hosting site should reflect on podcast directories within a reasonable amount of time. On average, I would say give it an hour or two; a day at most. If it doesn't change, you can either contact your podcast hosting provider or the directory's customer service for podcasters.
When your cover, for example, was updated on Google, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and Stitcher but not on Spotify, you may want to directly contact Spotify in this case.
Firstory: We let you make podcast changes in seconds!
Firstory is a podcast hosting service that allows for quick updates to podcast covers, among other things. It's simple enough to use and can help with making podcast changes across all directories you're distributed on.
If you're just starting out and are looking for a podcast hosting site that has more to offer, I warmly welcome you to try out Firstory's all-in-one podcast platform. It is packed with detailed analytics, audience engagement integrations, and promotion tools to help your show grow.
Source: https://firstory.blog/change-podcast-cover-art/
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